The Bible is interested in the conviction that most of humanity has held from the beginning that there is a reality that transcends the physical world. Peoples of all times and in every place have concluded that there is something true that exists beyond measurable space and countable time, beyond the ability of our five senses to perceive. This reality is known by other sorts of senses, such as feeling and imagination and ecstatic experience. Moreover, people have not only concluded that such a reality exists, but also that it matters. This super-earthly reality is the source of ordinary reality. In other words, the unseen reality created the seen. Furthermore, this greater reality is the source of humanity’s other unexplainable convictions: for instance, that justice and fairness are good, that compassion is better than cruelty, that courage is better than cowardice. This Other is why we perceive and arrange random sounds and colors to create beauty – music and art – and why we feel that beauty is of value. This Other is why we believe that behind random experience is meaning and behind death itself is life. None of these are logical beliefs, and humans have always believed them. We lump all these strange convictions that have characterized humanity under the name “spiritual” reality.
Sermon Notes