Louisville Process Theology Network

The Purpose of Life

Nov 10, 2009

From Page 331:


?“One point of this book has been to challenge the conventional belief that science really has dispelled deep mystery and all evidence of purpose. As for the scientific assault on mystery: a truly scientific perspective shows consciousness ?…to be a profound and possibly eternal mystery, and a suggestive one to say the least.

And divinity isn?’t the only thing it suggests; by its nature, the open question of consciousness underscores the continued openness of various other questions, such as free will.

As for the scientific assault on purpose: A strictly empirical analysis of both organic and cultural evolutions reveals a world with direction ?– a direction suggestive of purpose, even (faintly) suggestive of benign purpose. Life on earth was, from the beginning, a machine for generating meaning and then deepening it, a machine that created the potential for good and began to fulfill it.

And, though the machine also created the potential for bad ?– and did plenty of fulfilling on that front ?– it now finally shows signs of raising the ratio of good to bad; or at least, of giving the human species that option, along with powerful incentives to exercise it.?”