Principle: 1(a): a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption b(1): a rule or code of conduct (2): habitual devotion to right principles c: the laws or facts of nature underlying the working of an artificial device 2: a primary source: ORIGIN 3 a: an underlying faculty or endowment of human nature such as greed or curiosity b. an ingredient that exhibits or imparts a characteristic quality.
The first foundational principle to acknowledge is that creation is founded on principles. I’m sorry if that sounds circular or like “word salad”, I’m not pulling a “Kamala Harris”. It’s axiomatic. There’s no other way to state it. What is “axiomatic”? All definitions are taken from Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition
Axiomatic: 1: taken for granted, 2: based on or involving an axiom or a system of axioms.
Unfortunately, this is somewhat circular. Let’s clarify this a little more. Why don’t we ask, “What is an axiom?”
Axiom: 1: a maxim widely accepted on its intrinsic merit, 2: a statement accepted as true as the basis for argument or inference, 3: an established rule or principle, a self-evident truth.
What’s the real stumbling block being addressed? The self-evident nature of creation. The idea of objective truth is anathema to society and especially religious organizations today. You may as well try to convince a vampire to sunbathe at the beach or drink holy water or convince a werewolf that a silver bullet is in fact a vitamin supplement.
Religious leaders whose worldview is formed primarily from their secular (mis)-education and protected by a religious façade (which has been tailored to their secular presuppositions) hate the idea of objective truth. They will say, “We can’t know what’s true.”
Ironically, that statement purports to be true. Moreover, it’s stated with an air of certainty. It claims to be true whether someone is willing to acknowledge it as such or not. We all must come face-to-face with our own self-refutation. How do we live in our subjective selves that denies the objective truth which has been intrinsically written on our hearts? When I hear leaders of religious organizations speak as mentioned above, it’s a major red flag. If they’re not willing to acknowledge the Truth, they cannot serve God. The Truth is intrinsic to his character. If they deny God’s nature, they cannot be in a right relationship with Him.
Why is creation based on principles? From where did they originate? What are those principles?
Principles, as stated in the definition, are an abstraction. They are not a “thing” you can hold in your hand and manipulate as you wish. Nonetheless, they’re very real in that they apply to and influence our lives whether we choose to acknowledge their existence or not. If we choose the right path, we live by principle and experience the harmony of living at peace with God and man. If we choose the path of fools (the left) we disavow the existence of principle and try to live in a self-refuting way. This is impossible. It begins with cognitive dissonance and will eventually lead to a darker and deeper level of insanity unless corrected.
Principles are not sentient beings. So…from where did they originate? Why are certain principles valid and others not? What or who determines what principles will work well and how they will work? Everything eventually finds its way back to a question of origin. There can NOT be an infinite regression of events. At the beginning there had to be someone to begin it. Yes, I said “someone”. Non-sentient objects cannot evolve themselves. They have no awareness of themselves. It’s therefore impossible for them to become self-aware to a degree where they would acknowledge their need for change.
As an example, if a rock somehow became self-aware why would it acknowledge a need for change? If it had nothing else to compare itself to it would consider itself to be perfect; therefore, no change would be necessary. If there were another object to which the rock could compare itself, a tree for example, from where did the tree come? These types of arguments are important to consider as they are common to all of us. Unfortunately, they allow for pointless speculation which does more to waste valuable time with endless conversations which are designed to go nowhere. These conversations exist primarily to inflate the egos of those who are educated beyond their intelligence and prefer fruitless pseudo-intellectual pursuits instead of performing the hard work of making a real difference.
Since we, and the rest of creation, are here, who brought this about? Who set the principles or laws that govern life?