Here is a quote by John Haught, taken from an interview with Amy Edelstein:
Sometimes people ask, “What is the evidence that the infinite exists?” For Augustine and for many religious people throughout the ages, the best evidence is the utter restlessness of the human heart. You could extend that also to the restlessness of the intellect itself. We all realize that no matter how much we know, there is yet more to be known; we all realize that no matter how much we get in life, how much we have, how much we possess, we are never fully filled up by it. So there is, in a sense, a God-shaped hole at the heart of our being. That’s what Augustine was saying—our hearts are restless until we rest in the infinite.
5 comments:
I know of none who have "filled" the hole in this life. Some have gotten closer than others.
That raises the question of whether it is ever truly possible to fill that hole. But maybe that's the point--the quest to fill the hole cannot be satisfied, but the existence of the hole leads many to try to fill that hole anyway. What matters is the trying, not the success.
To me it also raises the question of whether or not it's a God shaped hole, or if it's just something else. Of course, being an atheist leaning agnostic, I'm leaning towards "something else", but we shall see.
Yes, you're right, it could be something else. It is a matter of faith, I guess. To me, it isn't all that important what explanation is the correct one. I find the idea of a God-shaped hole to be a useful working hypothesis, but I can live with the idea that it might not be true.
"To me, it isn't all that important what explanation is the correct one."
For something such as this it's very possible that there is no correct answer, at least not one that would be true to all.
Post a Comment