Q: Why are humans here on Earth?
A: Humans are a fallen lot. Because of original sin, God is
humanity’s Intimate Enemy. Since everyone is born
depraved, every other human is a potential tempter who invites you to revel
with them in sin. This is especially true of women who are temptresses as
their mother Eve was.
Intimacy as manifested through
the male-female relationship is the zone of temptation par excellence. Intimacy
is to be feared, and the intimate space cautiously entered.
Humans should intimately embrace solely for reproduction.
Consequently, spiritually, everyone is your Intimate Enemy. The only purpose of
life on Earth is to repent, to be saved by an act of faith, and then
to live so as to know, love and serve God so that you will be with
Him in heaven
for eternity. Humans must find salvation. This is only offered
by God through His Messiah.
The Abrahamic God has a providential plan for humanity.
As humans look at their world they can see this plan unfold, which
some call “salvation history” or “divine
providence.” God called Abraham of Ur and formed a covenant with
him. God said that if Abraham and his children lived according to
His rules, eventually revealed through Moses as the Ten Commandments,
then they would be saved when the Messiah, also called the “Son
of Man,” returns.
Some Abrahamics believe that Jesus of
Nazareth was the Christ, the only Son
of God. They hold that only through faith in Christ can you be saved.
They believe that Jesus was crucified, died on the cross and rose from
the dead. That by doing so he atoned for the original sin of Adam
and Eve. Faith requires accepting that Earth is a Vale of
Tears, an abode of suffering.
For many Abrahamics, suffering is
a redemptive act, and the purpose of life is to live in “imitation
of Christ” (imitatio Christi). These believers
endure harsh and painful ascetic practices and rituals to achieve
spiritual
union. The Jewish Abrahamics still await the return of the
Messiah—they
do not revere Jesus as Christ or Messiah. For all Abrahamics, there
really is no meaning to
life on Earth except to prepare to die well,
that is, as a just and moral believer in a state of grace and
faith.
Continue—Q&A
