Alan Watts in his book The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are asks if there is more to Christianity than doing good and imitating Jesus. He maintains that we need to discuss the universe and our place in it, who we are, life, love, pain, death, and does our existence have any meaning. [1]
Now Christians will say Christianity addresses all these issues. The problem is that we are finite. Given that, how do we know we have correctly interpreted what the Bible says about these topics? How do we know we have properly thought through these facets of our existence? As we have stated before, our beliefs are similar to scientific theories—they are based upon what we currently know but are subject to revision as new evidence surfaces.
What we do know for certain is how we should live our lives (John 16:7-11, Romans 2:12-16). Why did God give us certainty in this area of our lives? The reason is that God’s purpose for our lives is the change of our soul so it becomes like him. The universe, our place in it, who we are, life, love, pain, death, and the meaning of our existence are just tools he uses to accomplish that task. While we should learn all we can about the universe and our existence, they should not divert us from the main task of renovating our soul so it becomes like God.
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[1] Alan Watts, The Book on the Taboo against Knowing Who You Are, New York: Vintage Books, 1989, pp. 4-5.
