n., pl., -ties.
- The fact, quality, or state of being certain: the certainty of death.
- Something that is clearly established or assured.
SYNONYMS certainty, certitude, assurance, conviction. These nouns mean freedom from doubt. Certainty implies a thorough consideration of evidence: "the emphasis of a certainty that is not impaired by any shade of doubt" (Mark Twain). Certitude is based more on personal belief than on objective facts: "Certitude is not the test of certainty" (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.). Assurance is a feeling of confidence resulting from subjective experience: "There is no such thing as absolute certainty, but there is assurance sufficient for the purposes of human life" (John Stuart Mill). Conviction arises from the vanquishing of doubt: "His religion . . . was substantial and concrete, made up of good, hard convictions and opinions. (Willa Cather).
Ah yes, Certainty.
One of linchpins of Christianity is Certainty.
I KNOW in who I have believed, said the Apostle Paul.
I have a KNOW-SO salvation, is a line often heard on Sunday Morning.
Doubt is of the Devil.
Saved or Lost.
Heaven or Hell.
Truth or Error.
Infallibility.
Inerrancy.
A supernatural God who has a supernatural book which tells us of a supernatural salvation.
You can know for sure_______
If you died today would you go to heaven?
If there is one error in the Bible then none of it is true.
Yet, for all the Christian-speak about certainty real life suggests that certainty is a myth.
We live in a world of chance, ambiguity, and doubt.
Will I die today?
Will I have a job tomorrow?
Will I be able to walk a year from now?
What does the future hold for my spouse, children, and grandchildren?
Climate change?
War?
Environmental degradation?
Pandemics?
Who will win the Super Bowl?
Will my garden flourish?
Will I get lucky tonight?
Life is anything but certain. Certainty is an illusion. Perhaps that is why Christianity is so attractive.
Christianity offloads the uncertainties of this life to a certain future in Heaven with Jesus. No matter how uncertain the present is, we can, with great certainty, KNOW that Heaven awaits us.
One problem though…
No one KNOWS for sure there is a Heaven.
No one has been to Heaven and returned to earth to give us a travel report.
In fact the Heaven that most Christians believe in isn’t even found in the Bible. Most Christians have a mystic, fanciful, non-Biblical view about Heaven.
Grandma really isn’t in Heaven right now running around praising Jesus. According to the Bible Grandma is in the grave awaiting the Resurrection of the dead.
I don’t know if there is a Heaven. That’s why I am an agnostic. I don’t, I can’t KNOW.
I have my doubts. lots of doubts.
We want to believe life matters.
We want to believe there is more to life than what we now have.
We want to believe there will be a world someday where there is no pain, suffering or death.
Personally I hope there is an after-life, a Heaven, a world without pain, suffering or death.
But, what is there is not?
What if this is it?
What is we truly only have hope in this life?
Should we not make the most of what we have NOW?
Should we take seriously the Bible admonition not to boast about tomorrow because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring?
Heaven will wait. Live.
You and I are given one life. It indeed will soon be past.
Live.
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