Introduction 

I see in this world two views; two lives; two conclusions drawn. There is light and there is darkness, just as there is joy and there is sorrow; there is sunshine and there is rain; a wound and its healing; there is life and there is death. And this is what I’ve learned.

I have learned that death is not a moment, not a point on a timeline. Death is not the absence of life, nor the instant in which one ceases to be coupled both body and spirit. Death does not hurry to take its turn; it does not visit one in a moment, does not culminate the week of despair. But death is slow and it is gradual; it is cold and it is cruel. Death is the angel that keeps us in chains when we are both happy and sad. He blinds the eyes that see, and deafens the ears that hear. He pollutes the truth and holds the world in a lie. But most of all, listen what I’ve learned- death was there at our birth, and death is nigh all the lifelong.

Yet, there is another way that I have seen. This is the way of light and of life. The way of joy and of peace. The way of comfort and solace. The way in whose bosom flow only tears of mercy, grace, and truth from your eyes. But this way is not the natural way. This way was not present at our birth. This way is the foreign way; the despised way; it is the way rejected by men. From the hour of my birth have I despised this light; and yet, this light lingers still. And upon the corner street does it call aloud to the oblivious masses who are weighed down by the chains of death, even with a smile upon their face.

Now this is the mystery of what I write. Life is not a moment of birth, nor death a moment of dying. But life is an enlightenment of the truth, and its fruits are enjoyed by the mind that is enlightened. Conversely, death is the mind that is devoid of truth; the mind that enjoys a lie. For such that partake in this lie, though they may move and breathe and have their being in this world, surely, they are dead already. But for those who are elect; for those who know Him who is the truth; the promise is this, “though you may die, you shall surely live” (Jn. 11:25).

The Way of Death and the Way of Life

This way of death in which I speak has many things to say. But it begins most centrally, most significantly, with the denial of God. And since there is no God, there is no eternal, there is no immortal, there is no soul. There exists nothing in this world but that which is inside the box- the box which becomes a prison- that is this cosmos. No, there is nothing which exists outside the incarceration of the cosmos; and all there is, is confined to the extent of the natural world.

So let us think in this way for a moment. Let us explore and study this philosophy of death. The thought soon arises, do you exist? Then you blink, you breathe, you listen to the song of the bird, the roaring of the waves, and the shaking of the autumn leaves blown in the winds of a gentle breeze. You asked the question, so of course you exist!

But then, how do you exist, and from where do you come? What a silly question! Of course, it follows that the universe has always been, and so it is that life has always been. There was no beginning, because the cosmos is eternal, or so such a lie death would tell.

Only, it is then that you realize that it is the world itself which is dying. Yes, just as you came, so you will go, but the world itself will soon perish alongside you. But do you really say, and so do you really believe, that the world perishes from its eternal birth? I must then ask, from where comes death? Or ask the world, if indeed it is eternal, why does it die?

So it is that the cosmos, just like you, had a birth of its own. Now tell me, if you can, who gave such birth? Or by whose hands was the cosmos made? Perhaps you should thank them or curse them, but it’s another silly question indeed! For you already confessed that there is no God! And have I already forgotten that there exists nothing but that which is of the natural world? So, who is there to create nature but nature itself? And to the unbelieving mind, the mind of death, nature is enough.

So, the cosmos was born, only it birthed itself! an impossibility in defiance of reason; but what is reason without a standard?

And in the midst of this self-birthed nature, came from nowhere the essence of gravity; gravity which began to bind together the spontaneously generating matter formed during the cosmos’ self-birth. Dust formed stars, and stars formed galaxies. Yes, trillions and trillions of celestial bodies came from nothing and nowhere, and no mind guided them. Yet fate had not yet begun! Not until the slow, but ever so mindless, development of the only known planet suitable for life to evolve by chance and out of nothing. And so, life evolved!

Thus, the nature of this world, and its inevitable fate, is that it came from nothing and to nothing it shall ultimately return. And just as there was no point to its birth, so there will be no purpose in its death. And within this pointless world lies the lying man, the cheating man, the stealing man; the man who murders, rapes, and pillages. There is the backbiter, the traitor, the disloyal, and the covenant breaker. There is the broken heart, the broken home, the broken bone. And what are all these things to nature? In this world of death, the only fool is the moral man, the honest man, the loyal man. Yes, the man who gives his life for others is a hopeless man, an ignorant man, a man who knows not from where he came or to where he goes. Because just as there is no purpose for the world, so there is no point to your short and meaningless life.

Therefore, listen all you who follow this way of death, and be consistent with your doctrine! Plead no more for the minority, and make no mention of the oppressed. Judge no longer the God in whom you disbelieve for His ways that you say are crooked. For you have no standard by which to judge evil, and your very existence is only due to the oppression of the weak.

But there is another way, the way of life. And central to this way is the affirmation of God. This is the way that does not declare, “In the beginning nature,” but, “In the beginning God.” And thus, it is the contrary way, the antithetical way of the autonomous man. It is the way that grants freedom to man, but restricts freedom from man. It is the way in which man may have freedom to eat from every tree of the garden, but there is one he is not to eat of. For to have freedom without rule is to be accountable only to oneself, and this is the mind of man. But, to be forbidden in even one thing, is to be accountable to another- to be accountable to God, the lawgiver.

Though it is not desirable, this is the way of life and it is the way of reason; true reason. From where do you come? The way declares that nature did not birth itself, but it was created by an eternal God who does not die, decay, or corrupt. A God who is not subject to time, and to space, and to matter. And so it is that there exists more to this world than that which is of this world- a dimension not perceived by sight, or touch, or smell.

This is the eternal, the imperishable. And from the imperishable proceeded the perishable. Thus, nature is not immortal; it is subservient. For the natural came from the supernatural, and the supernatural reigns over the natural. And from the eternal proceeds the law- the law of God; the God that created, and made, and owns you and me.

And in His world lies the lying man, the cheating man, the stealing man; the man who murders, rapes, and pillages. But because of that great law, each one stands condemned, and so there is a basis for righteousness and depravity- and even so, God will be glorified in both.

Conclusion: My Confidence

I was born in darkness. I did not perceive the light. I was a slave to the way of death. And yet, my Lord called me in the day of my youth to walk another path, the way of life. And He charged me to proclaim its truthfulness, to carry its message, and to defend its honor. And this is my confidence. That the way of life is right and it is true, because it reconciles that which every man takes for granted. Indeed, there would be no science, no reason, and no ethic apart from the preexistence of the Living God. And thus, every argument that opposes Him, must first take the existence of Him for granted. Or shall I not bid you once again to live consistently with your doctrine, if indeed you say, and so believe, that there is no God? Yes, I taunt you to try!

From where does your science come? Or what mind governs the law of nature? By whose ordinance is nature accountable? And by what standard does the thinking man reason? What ethic guides the righteous? Or from what natural process comes the free will of man by which he is held accountable for his crimes? Is there any question you can answer without assuming God? Tell me if the finite creature will ever escape from His domain!

As for me, I have tried many times. Yet, both reason and grace will not let me go. I was once a slave to darkness, but now I am a slave to Christ. And I see now only two views; two lives; two conclusions drawn. There is light and there is darkness, just as there is joy and there is sorrow; there is sunshine and there is rain; a wound and its healing; there is life and there is death. And this is what I’ve learned- that only one leads to knowledge or makes knowledge possible.