The ascendancy which the natural sciences have assumed over other branches of learning is due more to their applications than to any great truth which they bring to mankind. Many of the discoveries in this field have been spectacular, but they relate to only a small, external part of the ultimate reality. Just as the countless astral bodies spinning throughout the vastness of space are only peripherally representative of a far greater universe than our telescopes can penetrate, so are our scientific discoveries indicative of a physical, finite reality whose magnitude and complexity are understandable to us only within the limits of what the human mind can conceive of, albeit aided by the most sophisticated technology.
The riddle of man and the universe has tantalized the minds of men. If we are to unravel this mystery, there are two avenues along which we may travel. One is that of the slow accretion of human knowledge; the other is that of divine revelation. Many of us are still travelling along that first avenue, but we are still far from a glimpse of the ultimate truth. The second avenue is the one along which we are guided by the prophets—the divine messengers who came to this world to tell us that we, the world, the universe was created by an invisible all-powerful God, who continues to sustain us and everything around us. They came to tell us that this world is mortal and imperfect, but that it will come to an end and be followed by another world which is perfect and everlasting. It is only by imbibing the prophets’ words of enlightenment that we can become attuned to the Divine Voice and feel ourselves to be in the presence of Angels. It is only then that we can understand that what we had always thought of as our destination is really a thoroughfare—a passage from this world to the Hereafter. Worldly knowledge aids man in his relationship with his environment: prophetic knowledge unites him with his Creator.
A greater significance
- Advertisement -