A Beginning and An End

On some level, all of us are aware that everything has a beginning and an end - even us! Cosmologists tell us that our universe began with a Big Bang and will eventually come to an end (continuing to expand and die a cold death or collapse on itself in a fiery cataclysm). Interestingly, the Judeo-Christian Bible projects the same kind of narrative - that the universe had a beginning, and that it also will come to an end someday.

For humankind, the scientific/scriptural narrative of a beginning and an end makes sense. After all, our tombstones and obituaries mark the parameters of our time on this planet with a birth date and death date. In the United States, everyone has a birth certificate and a death certificate. In other words, we think of our own lives as having a beginning and an end. In other words, the concept is very familiar to us. In fact, if we really think about this, we come to the realization that this "beginning and end" narrative is foundational to the reality we inhabit!

Scientists speak of the birth and death of our Sun, and the formation and destruction of our solar system. They tell us that the earth was formed about four and a half billion years ago, and that our dying sun will one day expand into the orbits of the terrestrial planets and completely destroy the planet we currently inhabit. Moreover, many scientists speculate that humankind may very well face extinction long before the sun finally swallows the earth!

In the first chapter of the book of Genesis (which literally means the beginning), we read that God created the heaven(s) and the earth. The same chapter goes on to record the origins of plant and animal life on the planet's surface, and the origins of humankind itself (the creation of the first man and woman). The book goes on to explain the origins of the Israelites, beginning with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and continuing through the stories of the patriarchs of the twelve (13) tribes.

Indeed, the Hebrew Scriptures tell the story of how the Israelites came to inhabit the "Promised Land" and recounts the story of how their kingdoms began and eventually ended - of how the Temple was built and eventually destroyed. In fact, much of the writings of the prophets are concerned with the predicted end of the kingdoms as Divine punishment for their sins. Likewise, these same writings recount the origins of God's covenant with the Israelites (Mount Sinai), and the Israelites refusal to abide by its terms, and God's eventual decision to end his covenant with them.

In the New Testament, the oldest Gospel account (Mark) of Christ's life and ministry speaks of "the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." In the Gospel of John, we read: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made." In the book of Revelation, the glorified Christ declared that he was "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending," and "the first and the last."

Christ also spoke in terms of the "end of the world." In his first letter to the saints at Corinth, Paul wrote: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

Likewise, in his second epistle, Peter spoke in these terms about the end: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless."

In the book of Revelation, we read of a Great White Throne judgment and a "Lake of Fire," and a new heaven and earth. Moreover, in the chapters which follow, a glorious paradise is described where death, sorrow, and evil will not exist - a new beginning for the faithful. Now, this brings us to the major difference between the scientific and the Scriptural narratives about beginnings and endings. The scientific narratives are generally devoid of both meaning or comfort. There is either an eternity of cold nothingness or an endless contraction and Big Bang cycle where the Universe begins and ends over and over again - in a meaningless and never-ending exercise in futility. Which scenario makes more sense to you? And what about a being which claims to exist outside of our reality of beginning and endings?