A Cleverly Designed Device

Q: Hi Audrey, I happened to read your entry titled ‘Amanda’ and am curious to know the answer to the question you posted in your concluding paragraph, if you would so take the time to share with me.Regards, Philip Stanton.

A: Hi Philip, I take it that you were referring to the question below:

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

The question was taken from Psalm 8 of the Bible written by a past ruler of Israel and Judah by the name of King David. So back to the question… Who or what is man? Interestingly, the psalmist answers himself. After he poses the question, he writes:

“You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

If we understand the answer, we would understand that (to quote Ravi Zacharias) the glory of what it means to be human is that we can celebrate the glory of the universe in its immensity and intelligibility. The universe cannot return that compliment. Our names, our identities, our relationships, our destinies all hinge on this starting point, a First Cause. King David’s answer, if understood, puts value on the individual as having transcendent worth. To dismiss man’s life as ultimately random is to also dismiss the mind with which one makes such judgment. I hope I have somewhat answered your question.

It really isn’t an easy question to answer without writing an essay, so if this confuses you, as always, I’d gladly accept that the mistakes are all mine. There are thousands of questions in my mind as well, and there are surely many things I have yet to understand or even accept… But if you do have more questions for me, just send them over.

Ask me anything only with no expectations.