Award-winning movie,
Life of Pi, reignites the debate: Can man’s great understanding of the world
around him enable him to find meaning and purpose in life?
In
the award-winning movie, Life of Pi, by director Ang Lee, we catch this
exchange over the family dining table. Pi, a young boy then, shares with his
parents his search for the living God which has led him to explore three major
religions of the world.
Santosh Patel, in an attempt to tone down his son’s spiritual
hunger, says, “In a few hundred years science has taken us
farther in understanding the universe than religion has in 10,000.”
Pi’s mother, Gita Patel, replies, “That
is true. Science can teach us more about what is out
there, but not what is in here.”
Can man’s great
understanding of the world around him enable him to find meaning and purpose in
life?
Man’s great scientific
knowledge enables him to tap into vast reserves of energy hitherto unknown to
his forefathers (read atomic energy). He may hold the key to the fountain of
youth – what with advances in the field of stem cell therapy – or may even be
able to indulge his fantasy as a space tourist in the near future.
But can his great
intellectual prowess give him satisfactory answers to the metaphysical questions
of life?
Is man a product of
creation, a handiwork of a Supreme Being? Or is he just a chance conglomeration
of atoms and particles?
What is man’s purpose in
life? Is it just to go through the cycle of life – being born into the world,
getting oneself educated, finding a job or business, getting married, raising a
family, finally dying and leaving an inheritance or legacy?
In another scene in the
movie, the naïve boy Pi tried to get up close to a tiger which was caged. He
wanted to offer a piece of meat to the beast through the bars of the cage. In
the nick of time, his father pulled him away, chiding Pi for the dangerous situation he had put himself in. The lesson he wanted to instill in Pi was that
animals are driven only by their instinct.
Later, Pi learnt that even
a fierce Bengal tiger could be tamed when the two were stranded in a boat, adrift in the ocean after a shipwreck. The notion that animal behavior was merely instinctive
was being challenged.
Science sees man as
another animal, albeit the most intelligent of them all. But is that all? Does not
man have a spirit? A “God-breathed” spirit within which sets him apart from the
rest of the animal kingdom. Do animals pray? Do animals have souls which live
on after they pass away?
Ironically, two world wars
– and an imminent third – have demonstrated that man often behaves instinctively
like the Bengal tiger in the movie. And when he robs, rapes and murders his own
kind, he has lost his sense of reason, something which science cannot
adequately explain. At the push of a button, he can launch a nuclear warhead to exterminate thousands. Isn't man more akin to the animal kingdom, driven by his own selfishness and lust for power?
While it is true science
enables man to understand a great deal of the world around him, it does not have
adequate answers for the troubling metaphysical questions that confound
philosophers and scholars through the ages.
One who stands out among this distinguished group of people is Blaise Pascal, a 17th century French mathematician, physicist and philosopher. He objectively studied the concepts of vacuum, invented the syringe
and created the hydraulic press. Yet he recognised this truth: “There is a
God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any
created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
Unlike other
scientists, Pascal believed that “we know the truth, not only by the reason,
but also by the heart.” Man cannot know God
through the rational process — no matter how
great his intellect. Faith, the means by which man comes to know
God, is not against reason; it transcends reason. Reason may help to build faith but it (reason) can never ultimately
bring a person to know God.
Here was a genius who
happily discovered that God can be known – through faith – and that knowing
Him is not incompatible
with science or reason.
Like other fellow
scientists, Pascal looked for the absolute truth in science. But he eventually
found it elsewhere. He found peace and assurance in Christ as he lay on his death bed. He knew for
certain he would meet His
Creator, who with outstretched arms would be welcoming him to heaven.
Pascal will be
remembered as one of the few scientists who knew how to reconcile his faith in God with
his knowledge and understanding of science. He knew the rightful place of reason and faith – and how best to
apply these two faculties in his quest for scientific knowledge and God. He extensively
exercised his reasoning in his scientific pursuits. But as far as knowing God
is concerned, he was wise enough to tread along the path of faith.
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ReplyDeleteTossed about in the storm, Pi, the main character in the Award-winning movie, Life of Pi, questioned why God had allowed him to be shipwrecked for so long. It seemed chances of being rescued were grim. Later, he landed in an island paradise filled with meerkats and realised that God had been with him through it all, preserving his life and meeting all his needs, even though there were times when he was truly perplexed.
http://limpohann.blogspot.com/2012/12/why-well-never-know.html
Thanks for the article. We can only go far in science when we recognize God is the source of science and even that, science based on human thoughts is never complete - it helps to explain how and why something works but not the reason of existence.
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