Looking for God in the Future, Not the Past (#46) - a podcast by Dan Koch

Dan is joined by philosopher John Haught (Georgetown University), who argues that many people think we should look to the past, the deep past, for ultimate answers. This includes certain scientists who want to look to the Big Bang for ultimate explanations, or religious teachers focusing on God’s perfect design in the Garden of Eden, before everything got messed up. Others might tend to look to the so-called Eternal Present for God, or for ultimate meaning and answers. Through prayer, we may feel like we can tap directly into a timeless God, letting go of our worldly concerns, and, of course, there is some truth to this. Many philosophers have also preached something similar, that true contemplation of the One, or of capital “T” Truth, can take us out of our mortal, perishing bodies into the realm of the sublime. But Haught wants to point our attention to a third option: the future. What if the truest meaning of the grand story that we are living in right now, which includes a big bang, billions of years of lifeless space, followed by the forming of carbon, then of unicellular life, and biological progression all the way to sentient and self-conscious beings like humans -- what if the meaning of THAT story is not clear to us yet because that story is not over yet? Perhaps we do have some guideposts given to us by God along the way, but rather than looking back, we should be looking AHEAD.

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The John Haught Reader: https://www.amazon.com/John-Haught-Reader-Essential-Writings/dp/1532661029
The New Cosmic Story: https://www.amazon.com/New-Cosmic-Story-Awakening-Universe/dp/030021703X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=john+haught&qid=1574117845&s=books&sr=1-1

Edited by Josh Gilbert (Gwall.Gilbert11@gmail.com)
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