It Is Time to Redefine God

Riaan Jacobs

Description

It is difficult for many people to make up their mind about the possibility that God exists or does not exist. Does it make any sense to simply believe what you are told about God if there is no physical evidence or any logical explanation for what you are told?This book is an honest, holistic approach to the concept of God, which focuses upon physical evidence, verifiable scientific facts, and logical arguments from a psychological perspective.Riaan Jacobs provides answers to many questions that people ask or are too afraid to ask, such as:Why do people believe that God exists?Why don''t religious people and science-oriented people see eye to eye? Is God a physical being, and what is the Holy Spirit?Where will the kingdom of God be?This book will show the reader why realistic facts should be reflected within religion.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Psychology

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
• Date de parution: 30 octobre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781645367666
• Langue: English

Extrait

It Is Time to Redefine God
Riaan Jacobs
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-10-30
It Is Time to Redefine God About The Author About The Book Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 Needs, Convictions, and the Concept of God The Influence of Natural Phenomena Society’s Influence and the Motivational Ability of a God Personification, Humanization, and Deification The Influence of Nurturing and the Need for Protection Accepting Simple, Uncomplicated Explanations Stories, Fables, and Myths The Need to Have Someone to Manipulate and to Take the Blame The Reluctance to Change Deep-Seated Convictions or Values Chapter 2 The Process That Created and Changed Everything Research About Our Subatomic Environment Atoms Evolved from Plasma The Wonder of Space The Program for Creation After the Big Bang The Principle of Structural Programming The Evolution of Complex Structures Inside the Universe The Progression of Time and Events Chapter 3 A Search for Ideas About God That Makes Sense A Sample of Current Ideas About God God and Nature The Creator The Eternal, Ubiquitous Body of God The Universe and the All-Knowing Awareness of God The Possibility of an Intelligent, Thinking Universe Everything Makes Sense If God Is Everything Chapter 4 The Evolution of Life Forms and Human Beings on Earth Chemical Compounds Became Alive Living Organisms Started Altering the Environment on Earth Biological Programming for Cooperation The Balancing Act of Biological Programs The Organization of the Cells Inside the Body Programmed Behavior The Structure in the Brain That Makes Us Truly Human Chapter 5 Speculative Answers to Interesting Questions What Is the Underlying Cause of “Supernatural” Phenomena? Is It Possible to Know the Future? Are We Still Subjected to Nature’s Trial-and-Error Selection Process? Does God Make Use of the Process of Natural Selection? Is God Consciously Involved with the Selection of People? What Is Good and What Is Evil? What Influences Us to Be Evil? Is Any Supernatural Life Form Possible? Was Jesus Really the Son of God? Was Jesus More Than a Very Remarkable Human Being? Chapter 6 The Future: Heaven or Hell on Earth The Development of the Concepts of Heaven, Hell, and an Afterlife Religious Traditions, Lies, and Symbolism Jesus Explained the Kingdom of God Hell on Earth The Coming of Heaven to Earth The Selection of Leaders and a Government The Conservation of Nature Science, Technology, and Altruism Pave the Way to Paradise No More Suffering, Inherited Diseases, or Untimely Death Epilogue References
About The Author
Riaan Jacobs was born on April 20, 1951, at Fauresmith in the Orange Free State, South Africa, where he grew up in a typical Afrikaans-speaking family that attended the Dutch Reformed Church.
After he matriculated in 1968, his mother remarried and they moved to Pretoria. From April 1969, Riaan received training at the Army Gymnasium in Heidelberg and served as an instructor at Danie Theron Military School near Kimberly until his recruitment ended in 1970.
From 1971, he studied at Normaal College of Education in Pretoria, where he received the Transvaal Higher Education Diploma (Industrial Arts) in 1974. As a teacher at two secondary schools (Staatspresident C. R. Swart and Menlopark) from 1975 until 1990, he studied part-time at the University of Pretoria and at the University of South Africa.
After Riaan received his Med. (Psychology) in 1990, he became a psychologist at the Department of Education in Pretoria. He continued his studies and received his PhD on March 29, 1996.
During his years as a psychologist, he mentored three post-graduate students and assisted them to get their dissertations ready for submission. He continued to work as a psychologist at the Gauteng Department of Education until he retired on April 30, 2016.
About The Book
It is difficult for many people to make up their mind about the possibility that God exists or does not exist. Does it make any sense to simply believe what you are told about God if there is no physical evidence or any logical explanation for what you are told?
This book is an honest, holistic approach to the concept of God, which focuses upon physical evidence, verifiable scientific facts, and logical arguments from a psychological perspective.
Riaan Jacobs provides answers to many questions that people ask or are too afraid to ask, such as:
Why do people believe that God exists?
Why don’t religious people and science-oriented people see eye to eye?
Is God a physical being, and what is the Holy Spirit?
Where will the kingdom of God be?
This book will show the reader why realistic facts should be reflected within religion.
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my children, who find it difficult to understand why I sometimes disagree with some traditional religious interpretations and convictions.
Copyright Information ©
Riaan Jacobs (2019)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Ordering Information:
Quantity sales: special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Jacobs, Riaan
It Is Time to Redefine God: A Psychological and Natural Science Perspective
ISBN 9781645367666 (ePub e-book)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019914323
The main category of the book — PSYCHOLOGY / General
www.austinmacauley.com/us
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
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New York, NY 10005
USA
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Acknowledgements
My genuine appreciation to:
Janus and Alet Jacobs, my son and his wife, who gave me a book with blank pages as a present for my sixtieth birthday. They sowed the seeds for this book when they asked me to use the blank pages in that book to write down the lessons I’ve learned during my lifetime.
Eré Rudman, a dear colleague of mine who shared the office with me when I worked at the Gauteng Department of Education. She gave me the courage to persevere with this book, because she was able to comprehend what I tried to explain.
Gayle Goddard, who did the manuscript’s initial proofreading.
Henriette, my wife, for all her sacrifices, as well as her love and patience during the time I wrote this book.
The staff at Austin Macauley Publishers for their hard work, especially the senior editor, Ashley Pascual, who recognized the potential of this book.
Introduction
Like most people, I often had doubts about the existence of God. One part of me wanted to believe that God is like a good father to us, but another part of me told me that this idea is nothing more than wishful thinking. Does it really make any sense to believe that such a compassionate being exists if there seem to be no physical evidence for his existence, or if some of the actions we ascribe to Him seem cruel and unfair? Maybe God is just a symbolic figure that represents the processes in nature, as well as certain concepts, such as justice, care, compassion, and destiny? However, if God is indeed a physical being, our inability to fully understand His ways may be because we are misguided about what we believe He is and how He functions.
In order to determine if God is a real physical being, I decided to ignore my personal needs, wishes, and expectations about God and focus upon physical evidence, scientific research, and verifiable facts. In this book, I share the information I gathered as a holistic discussion about my journey to investigate which of our assumptions about God may be valid, as well as the impact that this may have on our future.
To me, verifiable scientific facts and physical evidence are like the information that reliable instruments on a plane provide a pilot. A pilot of a plane should constantly check and trust the readings of his plane’s instruments because, without doing so, he may become disorientated and confused due to a lack of information or due to conflicting information from his senses.
My approach is different from those people who express their ideas about creation, an afterlife, what God is like and what He thinks, without any realistic facts to back up their ideas. For this reason, I first try to provide some scientific evidence, before expressing my views about God, religion, an afterlife, and so forth. I realize that some people may find these sections of scientific background information difficult to comprehend or even boring, but I suspect that most people will realize that they are relevant and interesting.
It is not my intention to promote or discredit any religion, sect, or movement in this book. I want people to appreciate the value of a factual and scientific approach to mysteries and uncertainties. This approach will allow them to integrate seemingly incompatible ideas about God, supernatural phenomena, religion, and science.
This book is nothing like the average novel that removes you from reality and helps you to relax. It will test your ability to concentrate and to think logically about the concept of God. You may even be shocked by certain sections in this book if you are unable to detach yourself from some of the ideas and beliefs that society and religion indoctrinated you with. However, if you keep an open mind, and if you are able to be honest with yourself, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that the information in this book mak