THE RANGE OF PERFECTIONS OF OUR WORLD

Don't be angry with God (5)

Author: Paulino Quevedo, PhD.

Faced with our difficulty of conceiving a world until its last detail, a decreet, lets see and analyze, at least partly, how God created and conceived it.

Brief Prearticle

Speaking with my current eye doctor and also with other ophtalmologists, in an atmosphere of friendship and trust, I was curious to know their views and brought to the conversation the subject of my interest: are eyes not a masterpiece of design, but only the result of random mutations and natural selection, as indicated by the theory of evolution?

Faced with this question, perhaps unexpectedly, they invariably pause, as if they stop to consider whether they will answer what they "owe" or what they really think, or if it is better to avoid the issue. But given the friendly environment and given my sincere and casual way of talking    I don't have a formal aspect or inspire much respect    they say, somehow, that they accept the theory of evolution as the current scientific theory, but that, honestly, to them it seems that eyes are more than just the fruit of evolution, that in them they recognize a masterpiece of design. I tell them, very carelessly, that I share their opinion, and they show some relief.

Something similar happens if we speak informally and in confidence with other specialists, be it the ear, the nose, the heart, the nervous system, the reproductive system, and so on. Each of us is a masterpiece of design. And also every animal is a masterpiece of design, the same as every vegetable and every mineral. This reality has become apparent thanks to the wonderful photography of some modern television programs, regardless of their peculiar scientific explanations.

Not only every organ and every human, animal or plant individual, but the harmonious set of all of them is a masterpiece of design. Moreover, the entire universe, the entire Creation    which is the decree of the best of all worlds    is a masterpiece of design. In the previous examples, referring to medical specialists, the design work has been recognized by passing from the knowledge of the detail to the joint functionality of something more general: the master design of a true and great artist.

In what follows we will think backwards, from generalitites to specifics. We will see that the general plan of God    which in the previous articles we could conceive on our own   was put into existence by Him to the detail   that it is completely impossible for us to conceive on our own    as every true artist does: first he conceives his work and then depicts it in detail.

Although the articles in this series can be read independently, there is a relationship between them; due to which, the reading of each one will be better understood if it relates to that of the others, which can be found by activating the link offered immediately:

Don't be angry with God

Body of the Article

In the previous article of this series, specifically the fourth, and as a consequence of the previous ones, we managed to know on our own the basic and general plan of God, and we also managed to synthesize it in a single sentence. Obviously, because we did come to know it and decide it on our own, we made it our plan; moreover, we may even have the feeling that God has copied it from us. Let's reproduce that phrase now to have it in sight:

• We want to create the best of all worlds including the full range of perfections with magnanimous criteria and for love, so that evils disappear in the end and people reach happiness.

Now it will be convenient for us to break down the parts of that phrase in order to be able to comment each of its resolutions. In the remainder of this article we will comment the first one, and we will comment the others in new articles. Here is a breakdown:

1. Create the best of all worlds including the full range of perfections.
2. Create with magnanimous criteria and for love.
3. Let the evils disappear in the end.
4. Let people reach happiness.

Create including the whole range of perfections

It is very easy to recognize the possibility and even the feasibility and convenience of things when we see them already done and working well. Today we all recognize the possibility, feasibility and convenience of aviation, but in the beginning almost everyone thought that was impossible, crazy. We see the act of the virtuous, and we think: how easy! And when we try, we realize the difficulty, and then we recognize that it is the difficult ease of the master. Something similar happens with everything God does.

Let's think only of matter, that reality so common to us. God is pure spirit; in Him there is no matter. If we were pure spirits close to God, and He began to talk to us about the creation of matter, we would think that it was impossible, madness. Something like this happened with the angels that fell and became demons. Matter was also something unheard of before its creation and functionality.

God is most perfect and contains all perfections to the fullest extent. Therefore, the existing perfections in matter are also in God, but to a maximum degree, so they are not in the form of matter; God is still pure spirit. Also the perfections of a vicious man are found in a virtuous man, like an artist. The artist has in his mind the diminished perfections of the vicious man, and can translate them by painting them on a canvas. Given the differences, something similar happens with God and matter; He has in his mind its minor perfections and can create them in reality.

The fact that the perfections of matter exist in God, even to the fullest extent, does not diminish the objective we are trying to point out; quite the opposite, it just highlights it. It is what happens with all artists; they have realities in their mind that do not yet exist outside their mind, in the extramental reality, (in fact many human artists never managed to perform their conceptions out of their mind). We are amazed, after seeing them done, that they have been able to conceive them previously. Well, this same thing happens in God eminently.

The creation of creatures

What has been said in this subtitle, which may seem a vulgar redundancy, is perhaps the most notable thing of Creation. God has created spiritual and material entities in truly amazing ranges; but the truly amazing thing, almost incredible, is that he created creatures, that is, that he created (!) Most notable of all, is not that there is God, but that there are creatures, because God is self-sufficient to exist; not so the creatures. It speaks very badly of our current civilization that they accept plainly the existence of creatures and that, in change, they question and doubt about the existence of God.

We said that other pure spirits, such as angels, were witnesses who were amazed at the announcement of the creation of material entities. Note that those witnesses were creatures. To be amazed at the announcement of the creation of creatures, of whatever type, there could be no witnesses, for they themselves would be creatures. In this, the most amazing and wonderful, incredible and almost impossible thing to be noted, in the creation of creatures, is the very fact of creating.

And then, once the creatures are created and working well, we find it very easy to recognize their possibility and even their feasibility and convenience. Moreover, it seems to us very natural and common, bordering on vulgarity; and in such circumstances we question the existence of its Creator, and we tend to think that it is rather we who have created Him, in order not to feel alone and helpless. Oh, depths of ignorance and human stupidity! We don't need to create Him in order not to feel alone; we need to recognize his existence as an absolute requirement of not being us non-existent.

The range itself of perfections created

When talking about the range of perfections of Creation we usually talk about the three great kingdoms known: mineral, vegetable and animal. Then we place ourselves as rational, within the animal kingdom. Next we refer to the enormous diversity of minerals, vegetables and animals. And finally with great insecurity    almost fearing the refusal of the last bank loan requested    we venture to mention the existence of angels. And to talk about the various angelic degrees    cherubs, seraphim, etc.    we require a heroism like that of the legendary Ulysses.

All in all, the main or major division of creatures is that of the spiritual and the material. But it is not a division achieved by the excluded middle principle: it is or it is not, it is so or it is not so, without a third term or middle term. In that case matter would be and would be defined as what is not spiritual; and the spirit would be and would be defined as what is not material. That definition of spirit would be of little use to us, and that definition of matter would be of little use to angels.

Matter is very well known to us; It is what our bodies are made of. Spirit is what is free, that decides and loves, that has guilt and merit, like our self, our soul, our person. But not everything is material or spiritual; there are intermediate, immaterial realities, which are neither material nor spiritual, like the soul of animals, like Time and like Space.

What is between the Earth and the Moon? Certainly there is no matter; nor can it be said that there is nothing, because then it would be necessary to maintain that between the Earth and the Moon there is an average    between apogee and perigee    of about 384,000 kilometers of ... nothing! And so, we would have a nothingness that can be measured, and that, in addition, is conductive of light, but not of sound. Curious nothingness, isn't it? Between the Earth and the Moon there is a portion of Space, which is neither material nor spiritual, but which measures and conducts light.

We have to be open to all kinds of realities; that is being realistic. Are there aliens? We don't know for sure. We can't affirm that they exist, without proper evidence; nor can we affirm that they do not exist, without proper evidence. As long as we don't have the proper evidence, we must be open to both, its existence and its non-existence, to yes and to no. Beyond that is prejudice, close, fanaticism.

In case of doubt the possibility enjoys the favor of presumption, because, after all, divine omnipotence enjoys the favor of presumption. God can do everything, except the strictly impossible, the contradictory, as a square circle, whose points equidist and do not equidist to another point, called center. God cannot make a square circle; but not because God lacks power, but because the square circle lacks possibility; it is impossible, because of it's contradiction.

In order to maintain that something cannot exist, its contradictory nature must be rigorously proven. Beyond that, everything is possible, because "nothing will be impossible for God" (Luke 1:37). We must not diminish the omnipotence of God, nor must we deny the possible wonders of his hands. It's best to be attentive to everything He does and everything He says, enjoying the unexpectedness and amazingness of his works. And again we return to the same thing: we must not get angry with God.

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