The Comfort of God’s Orderly Creation; the Horror of a Random Universe

IN THE BEGINING Man’s understanding of science, his comprehension of the universe and the forces of the physical world were miniscule. Just as we ask ourselves “why and how” so did the ancients ponder the mysteries of what they observed.

Today we answer those questions with the benefit of thousands of years of accumulated knowledge, augmented by 300 years of previously unimaginable scientific discovery. The ancients answered them the best they could within the context of their culture and personal experience. All knowledge and experience was founded on one precept – it was focused on Man for Man or by men. Everything in their existence was species centric.

Since every primitive technology they had was a creation of Man, surely everything they did not / could not create had to be formed by a more powerful someone. And if the social construct included rule by a king, then surely there was a higher unseen king / god, or gods who demanded fealty and obedience by all in exchange for his gifts. It was only "logical."

Every earthquake was a sign, an omen, or an indication of a god’s displeasure with Man. Every flood, every lightning strike, every eclipse, every successful hunt or bountiful crop, every victorious battle was due to a god’s hand a sign of it’s presence and relationship to Man..

Everything in the sky was meant to serve Man, for why else would it exist? The moon differentiated time periods, segmenting the seasons in a predictable pattern …all for Man’s benefit. The stars and the moon gave light to better see at night… all for Man’s benefit. The Sun was a life force, possibly a god unto itself... all for Man’s benefit. These things could only be designed for, and presented to Man by a beneficent Being whose primary purpose was to interact with his creations -- rewarding them when he/she/it was happy and proud of them; and meting out punishment when they broke the societal taboos which offended it.

When in doubt as to a gods’ actions the Shaman was consulted. He knew the gods’ reasoning. He’d interpret it and give guidance. Invariably penance in the form of a burnt offering of grain, or animal, or human flesh would set things right. It was orderly. All the mysteries of the observable universe were understood; nothing had to be unknown: if Man didn’t do it, the god or gods did. It made perfect sense. What could be more comforting?

And what could be more horrifying than the obverse possibility… to think that all is not guided by super Being(s) just for Man’s benefit or a super Being’s personal edification? That there was no guiding force with whom they could reason, to whom they could implore, in whom they could trust to control their lives and world. How would they have coped with a universe that expands beyond their view, even beyond their imagination, all without any impact on Man and his world? How could the chaos and randomness of asteroid, meteor and comet impacts on billions of worlds billions of light years away be reconciled with the orderliness of a universe devised just for Man? Why would billions of suns shine their light and life sustaining heat on worlds that Man does not inhabit? How could the Earth, Sun, water, atmosphere, all plant and animal life not have been specially supplied to Man by the hand of that Being, instead be the result of a massive explosion of chaos, random combination of forces and elements, and natural selection?

To the Creationist religionists of today, just as it was with the ancients, the orderly guiding hand of a Super God King who made all, sees all, controls all and must be obeyed is still the great comfort. The chaos, randomness, and uncontrolled actions by mindless physical forces of the natural universe is the antithesis of orderliness and comfort… a horror that must be shunned and denied.

And while the discoveries of thousands of years of accumulated knowledge, and hundreds of years of the scientific age have whittled away what their Bronze Age predecessors once attributed to their Super God King, the remnants of that belief continues to control 21st century minds. That’s the real horror.