Mankind’s Greatest Question? by no author available

Before solving the question we should set some ground rules.

Firstly; any answer should be comprehensive. We must have the answer to the whole question of man, life and the universe. Without this any related questions or problems stemming from life, may be left unanswered.

Any answer must agree with the reality and be a verifiable fact, to meet this criteria, the answer must agree with man's nature and satisfy our mind or intellect.

To answer a question rationally requires that we limit ourselves to what we can perceive and sense. We cannot rationally assess something which is hypothetical or beyond our capacity to perceive it.

With these criteria in mind, we can proceed to challenge ourselves in this most important of questions. A challenge which can solve this issue with 100% certainty, or else we remain in the dark, and with the constant inefficiency and worry that doubt brings.

A Starting Point To solve the question of man, life and the universe let us start by observing what we know in certainty about these three. All of the previous information we have of these three, tells us that they have certain similarities and unchanging rules. Man, life and the universe are limited, indeed all that we can perceive is limited. What we mean by limited is that it all has a starting point and an end point, and is not unlimited and infinite.

We can see that man is born and dies, and man cannot grow beyond a certain size in height and weight. All of life is similarly limited, and the earth, moon and stars likewise have a starting and end point. The life of a star or galaxy may be a very long period of time, but they are definitely limited in that they all have a starting and ending. The universe is a very large place but it is a finite space, and is not unlimited. No scientist has been able to bring a definite evidence that suggests the universe has no limits. So to suggest that it is infinite means we are going beyond the bounds of what we can rationally assess. Such a thought requires us to challenge ourselves to find any example in our world of perception that is unlimited, no matter how hard we search we cannot find such an example. All we can perceive is limited, finite. A second attribute of man, life and the universe is that all of these are needy and dependent. Needy in that to exist, they must have assistance from something else, they are not self sustaining. Man needs food and water to survive. Plants and animals similarly are dependant on a water cycle, which in turn is dependant upon the sun, which is dependant upon the relationship with the galaxies, and burning mass. Nothing that we can perceive can survive independent of other things, there is nothing in our perception that is selfsubsistent.

So things exist but do not have the power of existence.

The fact that is inextricably interwoven with these facts of being limited, finite, dependent, and needy is that ultimately there has to be a Creator or initiator for it all. The sum of all finite and dependant things is something that is finite and dependant, dependant on what? Dependant upon something to start, and sustain life, and something to plan and develop the complex interrelationship between all living things. We see things that exist without any difficulty or question, but nothing exists of its own nature as independent and in complete control of its own creation, or able to sustain itself. There can only be one solution to the question of Creation, that an unlimited Creator has accounted for all we see and perceive. Anything that is finite must have a dynamic force to create it, otherwise it cannot come into existence. All limited things depend upon something for their sustenance. There can be no doubt over these points, challenge yourself to bring any example, all limited and dependant things are created.

A second way of looking at this argument shows that if we contemplate about all we perceive as being limited and dependant we can only explain it in two ways; either - All we perceive depends for its existence on something else, which in turn depends on still another thing, ad infinitum; - All we perceive derives its existence from something else that exists by its own nature and that is accordingly eternal, unlimited.

The first alternative is false because it does not provide an explanation of how anything came into existence to begin with, it simply puts off giving a reason.

It does not provide a reason why finite and limited things exist, or from whence they came, it is therefore illogical, incomplete and without an answer for us. Therefore we deduce that all limited and dependant things depend upon something that exists by its own nature. The arguments start when a description or perception of the Creator is desired.