Our God…hath done
whatsoever he hath pleased (Ps. 114:3).
The principle of purpose or the law of causality
Why? — How come? — These two questions are
inherent to each of us from our childhood, from the moment when thought
awakened in us, and we began to use language. "To what
purpose?" and "For what reason?"
The question "Why?" suggests the idea of
a result after a given event or occurrence. The religious point of view is
associated with this question.
In the question "How come?" one
expresses the idea of something preceding and providing cause
for a given event or object. The teaching of positivism as a view on the world
is closely associated with this question.
All our daily thoughts can also be defined as
"eternal questions." "Reasons" or "purposes" are
origin of all existence.
Modern thought, declaring itself
scientific, striving to depart from the religious idea and relying on the
principle of materialism, ignores the questions of "purpose." It
denies their leading role in the main questions of the world’s existence. In
everyday life all purposes are reduced to a minimum. One tends to be convinced
that all our acts, both social and private, which appear to be done of free
will, are in fact so much determined by past events that our personal will is
only a subject to "the law of causality." In this view, a
purposefulness of our acts is only imaginary, and in any case it is
pre-determined by "social" movements. Do we not then become, from
this point of view, just toys in the hands of fate?
This view is totally unacceptable to us. Aside
from"scientific" theories, we should provide solid ground for our
Christian position on this subject, not doubting that it is true for all
people. Our whole mindset will be determined by this principle.
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