My Thoughts on Universality...
Universality is the idea that there are things that transcend language and culture, things that are universal. This is an essay that I wrote in highschool about the issue of universality as it was discussed in the play "Our Town."
There are many things which are universal to life; birth, eating, sleeping, the idea of having a soul-mate, having children, suffering, and death are some of the easy ones. There is, however, another universality that I think is often overlooked, that is the knowledge of God. The Bible says that “God has placed eternity in the hearts of man,” and the stage manager in “Our Town” even concluded that deep in their bones, everyone knows that “somethin’ is eternal.” He never said what it was, only that it was.
I, obviously, do believe that a god exists and that that god is Jehovah, Elohim, the Father, YHWH. He has many names, but He has been known, loved and worshipped in every time period and by this time, not by every person, but in every nation at one time or another. The mere fact that El Roi exists, demands and dictates universality. A prime example of this fact is related in a book called Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand. The story goes that a Russian couple, who held Marxist beliefs, were sculpting a statue of Stalin. The wife noted to her husband the ingenuity and necessity of the thumb on the statue and how if we had accidentally evolved without a thumb, life would be much more difficult. She said, “‘We praise Edison and Bell and Stephenson who have invented the electric bulb, the telephone, and railway and other things. But why should we not praise the one who has invented the thumb? If Edison had not a thumb, he would have invented nothing. It is only right to worship the god who made the thumb.’” Her husband retorted that “there is no god” and “in heaven there is nobody!.” But she replied with an even greater wonder, “‘If in heaven there were the ‘Almighty God’ in whom in stupidity our forefathers believed, it would only be natural that we should have thumbs. An Almighty God can do everything, so He can make a thumb, too. But if in heaven there is nobody, I, from my side, am decided to worship from all my heart the ‘Nobody’ who has made the thumb.’ Their faith in this ‘Nobody’ increased with time, believing Him to be creator not only of the thumb, but also of the stars, flowers, children, and everything beautiful in life. It was just as in Athens in earlier times when St. Paul met worshippers of the ‘Unknown God.’” There are many more stories of this type, people who come to know God without any formal knowledge, instruction or the like. The Bible says that God has set eternity in the hearts of man so that man has no excuse when he comes before the Great White Throne to be judged.
The stage manager in “Our Town” hit on another universality when he said that something is eternal. He kept mentioning “something” without saying what it was. That “something” is our soul, God has given every person an eternal soul, but as soon as we are brought into the world we are bound eternally to sin and the only way out of that eternal bondage is through Jesus Christ, an offering to everyone. Our soul is eternal, whether we spend eternity with God, which is Heaven, or separated from God, which is Hell; our soul is still eternal. This is the horrid or glorious fate that awaits everyone. Not only is the soul universal, but so is sin, free will, and the offering out of bondage. These are the most important of any universality that can be understood. No other concept has as far reaching, eternal, and universal consequences as where you decide to spend eternity. This is the most universal ideology that exists, every single person that ever has lived and will live is approached with this decision, without exception.
Even more universal than marriage, even more than eating, or drinking, or choices, or the knowledge of God, is God Himself. Not only is His existence the very creation of universality, He is the embodiment of the idea that something can be universally understood. He is the only thing/person/idea that is perfectly universal.
There are many things which are universal to life; birth, eating, sleeping, the idea of having a soul-mate, having children, suffering, and death are some of the easy ones. There is, however, another universality that I think is often overlooked, that is the knowledge of God. The Bible says that “God has placed eternity in the hearts of man,” and the stage manager in “Our Town” even concluded that deep in their bones, everyone knows that “somethin’ is eternal.” He never said what it was, only that it was.
I, obviously, do believe that a god exists and that that god is Jehovah, Elohim, the Father, YHWH. He has many names, but He has been known, loved and worshipped in every time period and by this time, not by every person, but in every nation at one time or another. The mere fact that El Roi exists, demands and dictates universality. A prime example of this fact is related in a book called Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand. The story goes that a Russian couple, who held Marxist beliefs, were sculpting a statue of Stalin. The wife noted to her husband the ingenuity and necessity of the thumb on the statue and how if we had accidentally evolved without a thumb, life would be much more difficult. She said, “‘We praise Edison and Bell and Stephenson who have invented the electric bulb, the telephone, and railway and other things. But why should we not praise the one who has invented the thumb? If Edison had not a thumb, he would have invented nothing. It is only right to worship the god who made the thumb.’” Her husband retorted that “there is no god” and “in heaven there is nobody!.” But she replied with an even greater wonder, “‘If in heaven there were the ‘Almighty God’ in whom in stupidity our forefathers believed, it would only be natural that we should have thumbs. An Almighty God can do everything, so He can make a thumb, too. But if in heaven there is nobody, I, from my side, am decided to worship from all my heart the ‘Nobody’ who has made the thumb.’ Their faith in this ‘Nobody’ increased with time, believing Him to be creator not only of the thumb, but also of the stars, flowers, children, and everything beautiful in life. It was just as in Athens in earlier times when St. Paul met worshippers of the ‘Unknown God.’” There are many more stories of this type, people who come to know God without any formal knowledge, instruction or the like. The Bible says that God has set eternity in the hearts of man so that man has no excuse when he comes before the Great White Throne to be judged.
The stage manager in “Our Town” hit on another universality when he said that something is eternal. He kept mentioning “something” without saying what it was. That “something” is our soul, God has given every person an eternal soul, but as soon as we are brought into the world we are bound eternally to sin and the only way out of that eternal bondage is through Jesus Christ, an offering to everyone. Our soul is eternal, whether we spend eternity with God, which is Heaven, or separated from God, which is Hell; our soul is still eternal. This is the horrid or glorious fate that awaits everyone. Not only is the soul universal, but so is sin, free will, and the offering out of bondage. These are the most important of any universality that can be understood. No other concept has as far reaching, eternal, and universal consequences as where you decide to spend eternity. This is the most universal ideology that exists, every single person that ever has lived and will live is approached with this decision, without exception.
Even more universal than marriage, even more than eating, or drinking, or choices, or the knowledge of God, is God Himself. Not only is His existence the very creation of universality, He is the embodiment of the idea that something can be universally understood. He is the only thing/person/idea that is perfectly universal.
posted by Matt at 08:56
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