Why did God create natural laws and causes or why does
he act behind these laws and causes?
In the next world, which is the realm of Power, God will execute His Will
directly without the ‘medium’ of causes so that everything will happen instantaneously,
the Divine Name, the All-Wise, requires that in this world, which is the realm
of Wisdom, Divine Power should operate from behind the veil of causes and laws.
Because:
Opposites are mingled in this world where man is tested how he will use
his free will and other faculties
Opposites are mingled in this world: truth
with falsehood, light with darkness, good with evil, white with black, and so
on. Since man, in whose nature are ingrained inclinations towards both good
and evil, is tested in this world whether he will use his free will and other
faculties in the way of truth and good or otherwise, Divine Wisdom has required
that the veil of causes and laws should be drawn before the operations of Divine
Power. If God had willed, He could be training the planets with His ‘hands’
in a way observable by us, or He could have them administered by angels whom
we could see openly, and we would then not be speaking of the laws of causes
involved such as gravitation. Or, in order to communicate His Commandments,
He could, without sending any Prophets, speak to each individual directly, or,
in order to compel us to believe in His existence and Oneness, He could write
His Name with stars on the face of skies. But in this case man’s earthly existence
could not be, as it is, an arena of trial. As a result of this trial, good and
evil have, since the beginning of man’s worldly existence, been flowing through
this world into the next one to fill its two mighty pools of Paradise and Hell.
God has made natural laws and causes a veil before His acts so that some
unaware of the wisdom and good behind the things and events disagreeable to
them should not criticize Him
Like the two sides of a mirror, existence has
two aspects or dimensions, one visible and material, the realm of opposites
and (in most cases) imperfections, and the spiritual realm which is transparent,
pure and perfect. There can be, and actually are, in the material dimension,
events and phenomena which appear disagreeable to man. Those who are unable
to perceive the Divine Wisdom behind all things may go so far as to criticize
the Almighty for those disagreeable events and phenomena. In order to prevent
that, God has made natural laws and causes a veil before His acts. For example,
so that man should criticize neither God nor His angel of death for the loss
of his beloved ones or for his own death, God has placed between Himself and
the phenomenon of death (among other ‘agents’ or ‘causes’) diseases and natural
disasters.
Again, on account of the essential imperfection
of this world of testing and trial, man encounters, and suffers from, many deficiencies
and shortcomings. In absolute terms, every event and phenomenon is good and
beautiful in itself or in its consequences. Whatever God does or decrees is
good, beautiful and just. Injustices, ugliness and evils are only apparent or
superficial and arise from the errors and abuses of humankind. For example,
a court may pass an unjust sentence on you; but you should know that Destiny
permitted that judgment because of a crime of yours which has remained hidden.
Whatever befalls a man is usually because of self-wronging, an evil he himself
has done. However, those who lack the sound reasoning and judgment necessary
to understand the Divine Wisdom behind events and phenomena, may impute directly
to God the apparent ugliness or evils, the imperfections and shortcomings, experienced
in worldly life. Whereas God is absolutely free from any kind of defect or imperfection.
Therefore, to prevent people from ascribing to God the ugliness and evils
they encounter in life, His Glory and Grandeur have required that natural causes
and laws should be a veil before His acts, while belief in His Unity demands
that those causes and laws should not be ascribed to any kind of creative power.
If God Almighty acted in the world directly, without the ‘medium’ of causes
and laws, man would have been unable to develop scientific knowledge, nor live
even an instant of happy life, free of fears and anxieties.
If God Almighty acted in the world directly,
without the ‘medium’ of causes and laws, man would have been unable to develop
scientific knowledge, nor live even an instant of happy life, free of fears
and anxieties. It is thanks to God’s acting from behind natural causes and laws,
that man is able to observe and study patterns in phenomena. Otherwise, each
event would be a miracle. The regularity within the flux and mutability of events
and phenomena makes them comprehensible to us, therefore awakens the desire
in us to wonder and reflect which is a principal factor in the establishment
of sciences. For the same reason we are able, to some degree, to plan and arrange
our affairs in advance; consider how life would be if we were completely uncertain
whether the sun would rise tomorrow!
If God manifested His Names and Attributes directly without the ‘medium’
of causes and laws, human beings could not endure them.
Whoever owns such attributes as beauty and perfection desires to know them
and make them known. God owns absolute beauty and perfection and is independent
of all things, needing nothing. He owns also a holy, transcendent love and therefore
a sacred desire to manifest His Beauty and Perfection. If He manifested His
Names and Attributes directly without the ‘medium’ of causes and laws, human
beings could not endure them. He manifests them from behind causes and laws
and by degrees within the confines of time and space so that we can build a
connection with them, reflect on them, and perceive them. The gradual manifestation
of Divine Names and Attributes is also a reason for our curiosity and wonder
about them.
These four constitute only some of the reasons
why God acts through the ‘medium’ of natural laws and causes.
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