The Search for Proof of God’s Existence
An email in response to this PJ Lifestyle article:
Good Day Dave,
Great PJMedia article. Since you asked for suggestions I’m writing you one for your Spiritual Life #7.
You might enjoy this book, More and More unto a Perfect Day by Ray Harvey. It is a novel about happiness and one man’s goal of finding definitive proof of God.
http://journalpulp.com/more-and-more-unto-the-perfect-day/
It is a very philosophical book.
Enjoy,
..greg
Official Description from Amazon:
Publication Date: March 1, 2010
Nothing is as it seems under the sharp western sun. After recovering from an enigmatic and near-fatal illness, Gasteneau, a man with an iron will, suddenly glimpses something so extraordinary and so horrific that he feels his life irrevocably altered. But did he really see what he thinks he saw? In the aftermath of his sickness, he is drawn deeper into a resolution he made just prior to getting sick: to seek out a piece of evidence that shows with certainty God’s hand at work upon the earth. But in seeking this evidence, he finds instead that he’s growing more and more obsessed by the loss of his mother, whom he barely knew, and is pursued as well by a ghostly figure in black and a feeling of hypochondria he can neither shake, nor fully define. Part mystery story, part literary crime, More and More unto the Perfect Day is at its core a tale of philosophical intrigue, a metaphysical thriller that combines the surreal descriptions of Nabokov with the psychological complexity of Dostoevsky. The result is a novel of dreamlike strangeness and philosophical power.
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The harder we search for this proof, the more we overlook it. I have often wondered how an atheist comes to be. As a young man I thought I was responsible for everything and all, around me. With each success, a new coat of lacquer was painted on my soul. Of course! No one but me was responsible for my deeds and triumphs. And then, one day, I was fifty and my wife introduced me to a new family member. A stray shih tzu pup that began to teach me exactly what’s what. She’s still with me thirteen years later and rarely leaves my side. That damned dog has nursed me through pneumonia (twice), a diagnosis of lung cancer (misdiagnosis), a triple bypass, valve replacement, aortic stent and other minor and not so minor health issues.
So, today, everyday is beautiful. I’m anticipating the rebirth of Spring and its green finery. But I do love the quiet beauty of a cold, rainy Winter day.
Those gifts came from somewhere. They didn’t just fall from an apple tree like a piece of fruit. Over the years, those quiet kind acts of mercy from my (and your) God began to soften and strip away that old stained lacquer that had hardened over the years. I’ll end this before I become maudlin, but let me say this; don’t look so hard that you can’t see that proof of God all around you.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
Thank you for your insights.
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.”
The evidence of God’s existance is all around us. The biggest obstacle to seeing the evidence is human ego & pride. Softunderbelly above nailed it. If one can’t see the evidence of God’s existance all around them they aren’t looking for it or they can’t look past themself to see God at work.
I was converted from a pretty thorough-going skepticism into a believer by a sunset in Maryland when I was a teenager. I was sitting outside, the evening was so soft it was like a whisper of warmth on my skin. The cherry trees on either side of my driveway were so full of pale pink blooms that it looked like popcorn or cotton candy. I had a long view of the sunset over a line of trees. Then it just hit me. It didn’t have to be that way. Sure there is a scientific explanation which can describe how the sun hits the atmosphere in just such a way to create those colors but not why it is that way or, more importantly, why I am able to appreciate it. What survival value is there in mooning over a sunset? I could survive just as well without it.
There could be one reason for that blaze of color that affected me so powerfully. I realized that a sunset is a work or art, a thing not necessary, a thing which is just beautiful for beauty’s sake. The only explanation for that is a loving Creator God who wants to share beauty with us.
I became a believer in God that day. But it took me a long while after that to finally become a Christian as well. When I did though, it was because the Christian God is the only one that I recognize as the same one that I saw in that sunset.
Beautiful comment. Many thanks.
Did they mean the surreal description of things Nabokov plagiarized?
REALLY. In my youth I was a frequent and admiring reader of Nabokov. Will you elaborate on the above allegation of plagiarism? I’m intrigued…
You know, Fail Burton, I read your commentary on other pages in this site. And while I often disagree with you I appreciated what I thought was a rational logical argument. Today, though, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t see you quite the way I did before. You are a miserable man who thrives on showing us how bare of compassion your cupboard really is. Too bad. You could have been useful in this world.
Think about, really think about, the balance and interconnectedness of nature and the revolving seasons…….and this has been going on for how long now?
Think about the developing human embryo….and innate adaptability to different environments.
Think about fossil evidence. The vital interconnectedness of literally everything.
And, lastly….my favorite bit of Biblical English terseness:
“Let there be Light”. Think about that one.
[Gen.1:3]