A Signature From The Creator

One of the most important teachings of the Christian faith is the belief that all of mankind was created with a soul, each of us given a sort of spiritual core that elevates us beyond a mere animal. A signature from the Creator God if you will. It is our souls that give us identity, our personality, and make us individuals. Virtually everyone understands that no matter how similar we appear, each of us has a unique fingerprint, utterly unlike any other in the world. This is such an important teaching, and had it been taught more clearly, it would have been an effective antidote against the stains of racism and hatred that have existed for far too long.

It is with this in mind that I point you to a very recent statistic that perfectly encapsulates what has gone wrong with our world. A recent poll was conducted that showed 80% of Gen Z’ers would choose to marry an AI/android if given the choice. I find this to be a very serious failure to understand who we truly are.

The Spectrum of Life

For a brief moment, I want to take a step back and think very seriously about the experience that we call life. Take a broad perspective. Think about the joys, the pains, think about the entire spectrum of human emotion. Anger, fear, happiness, sadness, all of it. For thousands of years worth of recorded history, writers, artists, philosophers, and theologians have attempted to make sense of it all. There have been a few interesting attempts, but no one has ever managed to find that simple, succinct answer that would answer everything. I’ll tell you a little secret: the answer to perfectly explain it all cannot be found this way.

I know I have attempted to figure out how to make this all work theologically, and have failed spectacularly. I read a bunch of various works from theologians from varying traditions, St. Augustine, Brother Lawrence, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, AW Tozer, Abraham Kuyper, and guess what I learned? That for two thousand years, none of these guys came any closer than I ever did. We all understood and agreed that we existed because we were created by God, and that God created all of us to do good works. We all agreed that when we died, we would go on to live forever. What they could not explain was what I call ‘the great in between’. In between life and death, in between growing as a child, and then growing elderly, why do we go through this roller coaster of life.

I eventually did find out the answer. And it has everything to do with what has gone so terribly wrong with our society, so please pay attention. The reason no one has been able to find this answer is that it doesn’t exist. I’ll let you in on another piece of great advice I’ve learned over the years, which is that if you want to learn anything important, you have to learn to ask the right questions. This is in part why so many ridiculous philosophies and traditions came about. There are a bunch of cults and ideas that are centered around the wrong questions.

Does God Experience Emotion?

There is no real answer. At least, none that can be condensed down into words anyway. I’ve come to realize that there is a very profound truth that has been ignored in theology for far too long. Some time ago, I read a book by evangelical John Piper called ‘The Pleasures of God’. Incredible book, primarily because it illuminated me to something profound. I learned that God is happy.

This is a revolutionary concept for me. I had imagined that God essentially was this ethereal, aloof being that experienced absolutely no emotion and operated in a cold state. Piper made the point that God experiences emotions the same way we do, which in part explains why we feel the sort of emotion that we do. I was illuminated by the ways God expresses Himself throughout the Bible, and it transforms everything.

Actually, think for a moment about this: God expressing Himself. The very idea that God expresses Himself at all should be incredible to us. God expresses Himself in terms that are traditionally understood to be human: anger, jealousy, happiness, and sadness. If we grasp this, then perhaps the human experience makes more sense.

The Key To Life

I took the long way in order to come back around to my original point. The reason that so many would choose an AI/android over a human is that we have forgotten that we have souls. There is so much heartbreak, pain, and sadness in relationships that whoever voted in this poll would rather live in an insulated way. In a way, I get it. I doubt you’ll have an AI lie, cheat, or otherwise hurt you. You also will never experience the ecstasies, joys and love that makes our lives worth livin

The very fact that we experience pain, sadness, and loss is proof that we are alive, that we have souls, and that there is something beyond us and this life. We need to experience the fullness of life, and that means we have to go through the ugly parts as well. At times I wonder if there isn’t an important lesson to be learned here. This is just an opinion that I have, but I wonder if God doesn’t want us to learn a lesson about life before going to heaven. I can’t prove this at all, it’s simply an opinion I have.