For example, take the “Caramelized-Onion Proof for the Existence of God.” At my house, cooking dinner often starts with frying onions in olive oil. To me, it is one of the most beautiful smells on Earth. It smells like home, like comfort, like paradise. I started thinking about why that was. Was it simply memory, association with foods I like, or what? Whatever answer I came to, the conclusion was inescapable: If I live in a world where that much beauty can spring from something as ordinary and unexpected as cooking onions, there must be a God. Further, he must be a God who loves us dearly, and perhaps has a surreal sense of humor. There is no other coherent, meaningful explanation. All the alternatives- chemical pathways in the brain, Pavlovian behavioral responses—speak only to the effects of some prior context within which that experience makes sense as a meaningful part of human existence. Such naturalistic, anti-spiritual explanations (“It’s only learned behavior and your nervous system”) fail to speak to the meaningful depth of the experience. Something of the subtlety, beauty, and richness of that smell escapes the grasp of those who hold to this explanation. Only the complexity and depth of a personal and loving Creator can adequately explain the meaningfulness of something so simultaneously beautiful and commonplace. [Ted Turnau]
You won't want to miss Ted Turnau's book "Popologetics"!
No comments:
Post a Comment