Ex iusticia

I had kind of an insight earlier this week. One reason why I believe in God, and why so many other people have believed in God in this world, has to do with the notion of justice. I know, I've said before that we can't prove that God exists, but I'd like to think that there must be one.
I guess the main reason for this goes back to my last post. We, as humans, tend to be so corrupt. We shamelessly attack each other and often have no apparent sense of dignity. I wonder why we are like this, and many an atheist has used the evil world we live in as direct evidence of there not being a God.
However, many disciplines, chief amongst which are physics and philosophy, have taught us that every action has an equal recourse for it. Why is it, then, that there seems to be no real justice in the world? A thief breaks into a family's home and in the ensuing process kills a family member. All the rehabilitation or prison time, or community service won't bring that family member back.
Then I think of all the other atrocities we have seen in this world. We have so many people who commit so much injustice that seem to get away with so much of it. It is, needless to say, discouraging. But what is there to make up for it?
In Jewish theology, there is often times an apocalyptic motif. In fact, the entire Jewish view of history is one of a corrupt and fallen world being restored to a glorious and heavenly place. After being conquered by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans, I don't blame the Jews one bit for thinking that their God must grant a just future to them.
Christians have latched onto this idea as well. The Apocalypse of John is full of imagery of the wicked being punished and the righteous being saved. The rapture is supposedly the saving of all the righteous Christians on the earth and their delivery from the hands of the wicked. The Millenium is supposed to be a time of peace following the greatest battle in the history of the world.
I don't know that I would necessarily plan on some kind of glorious end of the world. However, it helps me sleep better at night trusting that there will be some kind of justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry, haven for the persecuted, clothing for the naked, reward for the meek, blessing for the poor in spirit, etc. It doesn't have to come in this lifetime. In fact, if history shows us anything, it's that the big things only happen after long and toilsome efforts. However, i do hope and fully believe that in the end, God will take care of those who had no one to take care of themselves.
I'm reminded of the power of the Church in the Middle Ages. A lot of people wonder why it is that Christianity had such great control over all of Europe during the Medieval Era. The truth of the matter is that the Church was able to procure the favor of feudal lords. But the reason why it was so successful among the peasantry is simply this: because of the nature of the lives the peasants lived, having a glorious hope to look forward to after they die was, essentially, the only thing they really had to look forward to.
Similarly, African slaves in America became very spiritual, singing songs of deliverance as they longed for nothing more than the freedom that all human beings deserve.
I am of a similar mindset. I see the world as an unjust place with the redeeming qualities being overshadowed by its vices. However, two atheists I have spoken to recently voiced the opinion that it is only those redeeming values that we have to live for. I would then surmise that perhaps we should seek the qualities that some people express, such as philanthropism, charity, selfless giving, environmental awareness, justice and others. However, even as we pursue these options, it seems like Nietzsche's Will to Power still proves true for most humans. And it is in this case that I am forced to think the only true happiness or justice that we'll ever find does not come from this world or in this life.

Finis Orbis (Eschatology Part 2)

REM once sang, "It's the End of the World as we know it, and I feel fine." The idea of an end of the world is not a new one, but it is one that can almost only be traced to Judaic origins.
Most ancient cultures viewed history as cyclical. If there were bad times, good times were always certain to follow. If one city was destroyed, another was rebuilt. With death comes life. All the cosmos followed a cycle that mimicked the seasons of the year. With every spring, there would inevitably be a summer and an autumn.
The evidence for this is seen in how some civilizations have no concept of the end all. The Greeks might talk of battles and deaths, but they never tend to move toward anything final.
Related to this is the notion of reincarnation. If we are in a cycle of reincarnation, then there is really no final destruction that the world is headed toward. As I mentioned yesterday, the Buddhists and the Hindus believe in a system of reincarnation. Similarly, Socrates, in the Phaedo gives us an account of the afterlife wherein souls are recyled, and Vergil, in the Aeneid presents an afterlife where souls eventually lose their memory until they are ready to be reborn into humans.
In fact, the only Pagan belief system that comes to mind when talking about some sort of end of history is the religion of the Vikings, wherein the earth is consumed in fire and flood in the final battle between the gods called Ragnarok.
But Monotheists have always had an idea of history being linear. Things start off positively, like the perfect Garden of Eden. Following this, there is inevitable wickedness. Mankind continues in his path of sinfulness, only getting worse and worse until the final pivotal moment of history wherein God justifies the oppressed, punishes the sinner and restores perfection and justice to the earth.
There are numerous texts that illustrate this idea. In the Old Testament we have books such as Daniel, Jeremiah and Isaiah. In the New Testament we have passages in the synoptic Gospels, as well as in Galatians and the Revelation. These passages (with the exception of Galatians and the Gospels) are part of a literary genre called "apocalyptic." They follow a set pattern, but inherent in them are symbols, a final judgment and knowledge previously unknown to the world. There are other instances of apocalyptic texts such as the Gospel of Abraham and other texts from Qumran.
Now, to get towards the point. Many men for centuries have taken the symbols of these books, especially numbers and places, and formulated theories about when the world would end. It is obvious that the early Christians expected Jesus to return before most of them died. Numerous groups have arisen throughout history, foretelling the end of the world at a specific date. Among these are the present day Seveth-Day Adventists.
Every one of these groups claims to have seen the "signs of the times." Miller was certain the world would end on May 6, 1840. Some saw the Great Depression as a sign of the last days. During the Cold War, the threat of nuclear annihilation seemed to come straight from scripture.
More recently, there was talk that January 1, 2000 would be the second coming, and now it is some time in May of 2012.
It is obvious that time and again we have been wrong about when the world would end. Why should we panic? Why should we stocking up our bomb shelters? I suggest that we live our lives as if each day is our last, but not as if the world will end. Why should we cease living the call to be in the world simply because we have used some strange math to calculate the end times? As Jesus himself says in Mark 13:30 "Of that day and time, no man knoweth."