1 Frank D. Felker 6 March 2011 INT 244 Brian C.

Alston, Professor Creation: Is the Shortest Route a Straight Line or a Circle? Nateh He Nay lay on the buffalo robe in his tepee and considered the Circle of Life. Strange that he should be thinking of this now as he waited for death. No man had yet come back from death to tell of what it was like. Yet, all the things he had seen in life told him that all existence consisted of circular patterns. Twelve hundred miles to the East, John Maynard Headley, Vicar of Christ Church of Philadelphia, also lay close to death contemplating life. His view was more lineal in concept and only one man had come back from life to tell what lay on the other side. The Lord Jesus Christ assured him of eternal life in the Kingdom of God Almighty; two very different men, two very different outlooks on creation and the meaning of life. In Nateh He Nays circular view of life, all things return to their beginnings. The rain falls into lakes and oceans, is caught up into clouds, and once more rains. A seed falls to the ground, sprouts into a plant that produces more seed that fall to the ground. When thoughts turn to the life of man, it follows that man is born, grows and plants his seed, and is reborn once more. In this outlook there are as many different stages to this pattern as there are cultures in the world. One common factor running through most of these patterns is reincarnation and the creator as an all encompassing intellect or universal consciousness. The object of life is to be reborn and in each consecutive life to live in a more moral and spiritually beneficent manner. This type of regeneration and improvement will, hopefully, lead to the point of a spiritual awakening of the individual, whereby they are once again rejoined with this Cosmic Consciousness, thence

2 completing the circle. The pre-existence of our soul is suggested by numerous instances of rememberance (sic) of past lives, in the common experience of dj vu...experiences which occur under regressive hypnosis or in meditation. Snider, A. (2007), Journal of Spirituality & Paranormal Studies, p. 78. Another consideration in viewing the circular outlook is the way in which evil is dealt with, or rather, not dealt with. In most beliefs dealing with reincarnation is the idea of Karma (what goes around, comes around) supplanting the notion of moral responsibility toward others. In other words the action of an individual is the root cause of whatever occurs to them in this life. The great attraction of the karma system is its reassurance that we are completely in control of our own fate. We receive this from an article by, Sharma, A. (2008), Philosophy East & West, p.572. In John Headleys Christian view on life there is a more lineal aspect to creation. Our present universe has a beginning, middle, and ultimately, an end. This ultimate end, however, does not include the end of existence for John Maynard Headley or, for that matter, the millions of others that believe as he does. In the lineal universe is the concept of eternity. The three major religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all considered as being lineal. A singular, eternal, supreme, God (or in Islam, Allah) created the physical universe. At some point in time this created universe will reach it demise at the hands of its Creator. These three, each in their own way, offer eternal life. Written in the Old Testament is, The sun will no more be your light by day, or will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. (Isaiah 60: 19, NIV). Written in the New Testament is, And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My names sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19: 29, NKJV). Written in the Koran is, You will have

3 there, all that your selves could wish for. You will have there, everything you demand. (The Koran, 41:31). The Supreme Being, Himself, is declared as eternal without beginning and without end and created the universe to His will and His purpose. In each of these religions, there is described a force for good and a counter balancing force for evil. Man is given the responsibility of moral uprightness, love of God, and an avoidance of evil. In each case righteousness is approved and rewarded. Evil acts are disapproved and vigorously punished. Each person in this world is faced with the choice of which path to follow in their spiritual lives. The heart rending fact is; the wrong choice, very possibly, could lead to eternal condemnation. This is not a choice to be taken lightly or spuriously. It very truly is a matter of life or death.

References

4 Holy Bible, Scofield Study System, NKJV. (2002), Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers Hopfe, L. M. & Woodward M. R. (2009), Religions of the World, 11th Ed., pp. 44-45, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Life Application Study Bible, NIV. (2005), Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House, Publications. Sharma, A. (2008). Karma, Rebirth, and the Problem of Evil: An Interjection in the Debate between Whitley Kaufman and Monima Chadha and Nick Trakakis. Philosophy East & West, 58(4), 572-575. Retrieved, 6 March 2011, from, http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? hid=13&sid=eb05ba3e-85ad-4714-9fc6-56a1fec515d3%40se Snider, A. (2007). The Pre-existence of the Soul: An Argument for Reincarnation, Journal of Spirituality & Paranormal Studies. 30(2), 77-79. Retrieved, 6 March 2011, from, http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/detail?hid=13&sid=eb05ba3e-85ad-47149fc6-56a1fec515d3%40sessionmgr4&vid