Reality Check

I've recently been reading a book called A Beginner's Guide to Reality, by Jim Baggott. I've thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I'm particularly tickled by the cover, which includes a shopping list series of philosophical questions, topped by: "Does this book exist?" :-)

Jim Baggott's book provides a "beginner's guide" to the philosophical questions that have been asked by mankind, down through history, starting with Plato and Aristotle (or, even before Plato, with Parmenides and Heraclitus), and continuing into modern times with Decartes (of "I think, therefore I am" fame), Berkeley, Hume and Kant, to name but a few. In the 20th century, the philosophical mantle of determining the nature of reality then passed on to quantum physicists, who explored through scientitic theory and experiment the fundamental basis of reality, and discovered it to be fundamentally very strange indeed!

It's not my purpose in this post to give a running commentary on the nature of reality, or quantum physics for that matter (as much as I enjoy both topics), but rather to provide a "reality check." The book A Beginner's Guide to Reality seeks to answer some ancient questions that still ring in people's minds today, such as, "What is real?" and "What is the nature of reality?" But the Bible has been around a lot longer than A Beginner's Guide to Reality, and it has very clear answers of its own.

Before I answer these questions from a biblical perspective, I do want to note that I came to the conclusion long ago that without God nothing actually makes any sense. All the intricate paradoxes of quantum physics are resolved, at least in my mind, the moment you add God to the equation of physical reality. Without Him, simply put, there can be no reality at all. And this is not a brilliant conclusion on my part. It was in the Bible long ago. Not only does the Bible itself begin with the words, "In the beginning, God..." (Genesis 1:1), it also says in Psalm 14:1:

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"

So back to the ancient question, "What is real?" This is important, because what you believe to be real will determine how you build your life. The lure of consumerism and materialism is based on the assumption that the only thing real is material things, but this philosophical belief has disastrous consequences for a person's life, not to mention it being one of the most innately hopeless and meaningless of philosophies.

In The Message, we find this rendition of Proverbs 1:1:

"These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king -- Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality..."

So what does the Bible have to say about reality? First of all, the Bible distinguishes between the visible and the invisible levels of reality. In Colossians 1:16, Paul writes:

"For by [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible...all things were created by him and for him."

In fact, God himself is described as being "invisible" (Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17). Not only that, but God also sustains and provides continuity to all of visible reality (Colossians 1:17). In other words, the invisible underpins the visible.

Secondly, the Bible distinguishes between the temporary and the permanent levels of reality. In fact, counter to intuition, it is the visible reality that is described as being "temporary" while the invisible reality (i.e. God himself and the invisible spiritual realm) that is described as being "eternal", for 2 Corinthians 4:18 says:

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Seen in this way, the invisible realm of spiritual existence is actually, according to the Bible, more real than the visible, material universe in which we live -- the mountains, the oceans, the cities, even the stars and planets -- which we tend to call "reality"!

This is restated in Isaiah 34:4, which gives us a preview of what will happen to the physical universe:

"All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree."

In a similar vein, Isaiah 51:6 says:

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail."

Do you see what the Bible is saying? The salvation and righteousness of God will outlast the physical universe! So, once again, in the light of verses like these, we ask the question is more "real" -- physical or spiritual reality? The biblical answer is that the spiritual/eternal is, for all practical purposes, the "real" reality. This is backed up by Psalm 102:25-27:

"In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."

Once again we come back to the fact, pointed out time and time again in the Bible, that God is eternal and is therefore the solid "Rock" of reality upon which you can build your life (Psalm 18:2; 18:31; Psalm 62:2). In His parable about the wise and foolish builders, in Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus points out that it is important to "build on the rock", and identifies that "rock" with his own teachings. Further, in Matthew 24:35, Jesus declared:

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

In other words, if you want to build your life on that which is "reality," build them upon Jesus' words, because Jesus' words will outlast even the material universe!

I started off this post (more or less) with a quote from The Message's paraphrase of Proverbs 1:1:

"These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king -- Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality..."

The Bible is indeed a "manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair", but it is also there to "teach the inexperienced the ropes" of life, and to give us "a grasp on reality." So here's some more advice from the Bible (again, these are Jesus' words, as paraphrased in The Message). Matthew 6:30 says:

"What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."

It is the "God-reality" that counts in the long run, and for me, that is what I fix my eyes upon.

Here's another couple of quotations from The Message:

• Ephesians 4:17 - "And so I insist -- and God backs me up on this -- that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They've refused for so long to deal with God that they've lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can't think straight anymore."

• 1 John 3:18 - "My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves."

• Romans 1:19 - "But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is!"

So it turns out that you don't need to study Plato or Aristotle, Hume or Kant, in order to get a handle on what is real and what is not. Nor do you need to have a degree in quantum physics. All you need to do is determine what is eternal and what is not. And as I shared in yesterday's post -- "Numbering My Days Aright" -- a wise person would respond by "banking" on the eternal, not on the temporary (Matthew 6:19-21).

Once you've been able to distinguish between the two realities -- the material vs the spiritual, the temporary vs the eternal -- you need to decide which you will "bank" on for your life -- or, in other words, which of the two "realities" will be the "rock" upon which you will build your life. And just in case you're having trouble making that decision, can I remind you of a promise that God made? In Hebrews 12:26-27, the Bible says:

"At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' The words 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken that is, created things so that what cannot be shaken may remain."

That last passage, rendered in The Message, has these compelling words:

"...[God's] voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time -- he's told us this quite plainly -- he'll also rock the heavens: 'One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.' The phrase 'one last shaking' means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered."

What most people call reality -- their world of bank accounts and credit card statements, stock markets and job opportunities -- and even the very solid ground on which they stand, which seems so permanent and lasting -- is going to be shaken by God. And why will God shake this apparent reality? So that what cannot be shaken -- the "real" reality -- will remain! Let's be wise and not wait for earth-shaking events to re-adjust our view of reality. Let's build our lives now on that which will last!