Summary:
• Earth is extraordinary because it is filled with millions of species and trillions of living things. Other planets like Earth may exist somewhere in the Universe, but the exact conditions that created Earth are so unusual that such planets are probably extremely rare.
• God is mysterious on purpose. God is not physical, and therefore science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God. This uncertainty allows people to form their own beliefs and experiences.
• If God’s existence were obvious to everyone, people would then obey moral laws but not as genuine choices, instead due to certainty or fear. Human life would lose much of its creativity, culture, and potential for spiritual growth.
• Spiritual freedom begins when a soul is born into a human body and forgets its past existence. A “veil of forgetfulness” allows for moral choices, personal discovery, and learning through experience. Just as a good surgeon needs real practice and not only book knowledge, a soul needs real challenges, temptations, and hardships to understand what love, goodness, and moral responsibility truly mean.
• Many NDE testimonies describe Earth as one of the most spiritually difficult planets in the Universe. Earth is like an elite school that many, many souls want to attend because of how much can be learned here, but without enough room for every applicant. Earth was created so that souls can experience genuine spiritual freedom, face difficult moral choices, and grow because of those experiences. That is why God is hidden instead of obvious.
These three questions share the same answer because all three ask about the motives of God. If God does not exist, then God did not create the planet Earth and it may not have a purpose. That does not mean Earth is not special, however. In fact, Earth is extraordinary.
Not so extraordinary is the size of Earth within the Solar system. The Solar system is named for the Sun, a star whose formal name is Sol. The planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are several times larger than Earth. Saturn has its famous rings swirling around the planet. The planets Mercury and Venus are smaller than Earth, but also much hotter because their orbits are closer to the Sun than Earth’s orbit. Mars is smaller than Earth but also farther from the Sun and therefore colder.
Earth is extraordinary because of a trait unlike any other planet orbiting the Sun: Earth abounds with life. Earth hosts several millions of species of life, ranging in size from microscopic bacteria to giant whales, from insects to eagles, from sea-weed to desert grass to towering Sequoia trees, and much, much more—including us. The number one-trillion is 1,000,000,000,000, equal to one-thousand-billions, or one-million-millions. When every member of the millions of species on Earth is counted together, including every person, Earth hosts several trillions of inhabitants. And their variety is as extraordinary as their numbers.
Earth might be unique. Or maybe it isn’t. The Universe contains billions of galaxies. A typical galaxy contains billions of stars, and many of those stars have planets orbiting them. With so many possible planets—billions times billions—the odds suggest that a percentage of those planets are similar to Earth. Still, the exact conditions and variables that formed Earth were so unusual, perhaps so unlikely, that planets like Earth could be extremely rare. Whatever the number is, all of those planets are very, very, very, very far away.
Light, if not blocked by anything, will travel every second a distance of approximately 300,000 kilometers, which is more than 186,000 miles. In a year, light travels 9.46 trillion kilometers or 5.88 trillion miles. That enormous distance is called a light-year. Outer space is so vast that the distance from the Sun to the next closest star, named Proxima Centauri, is more than four light-years. Outer space is so vast that light from the Sun shining on Earth takes eight minutes to arrive. When we observe the Sun from Earth, we do not see the Sun as it looks at that moment but how it looked eight minutes earlier.
Outer space contains multitudes of stars, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and other physical objects. Nevertheless,beyond Earth, most of outer space is empty. (Or nearly empty, other than some scattered hydrogen atoms, dust particles, cosmic rays, and radiation.)
For a sense of how empty outer space is, imagine if Earth were the size of a European football or a North American soccer ball, which is a ball about twenty-two centimeters in diameter. And imagine that everything else in the Solar system were scaled down in size, proportionately. The Moon would be the size of a tennis ball, one-quarter the size of Earth. The distance between Earth and the Moon would be more than six-and-a-half meters, or more than twenty-one feet. The Sun would be the size of an immense boulder, taller than a five-story building. The distance between the Sun and Earth would be more than two-and-a-half kilometers, or more than one-and-a-half miles. Somewhere between the Sun and Earth would be Mercury and Venus, each of them smaller than Earth. Mars, which is half the size of Earth, would be the size of a shot-put ball; the average distance between the Sun and Mars would be almost four kilometers, or nearly two-and-a-half miles. The other planets would be much farther away:
Jupiter, for example, would be almost thirteen-and-a-half kilometers away, or more than eight miles.
Starting from the Sun, the distance to the next star, Proxima Centauri, would be nearly 700 kilometers, or 430 miles.
So, while there are many, many planets in each galaxy, and many, many galaxies in the Universe, planets in comparison to the emptiness of outer space are relatively rare. And among all planets, Earth is especially rare.
If God exists, why did God create this extraordinary planet for us to live on?
Earth provides its inhabitants, including us, with an almost infinite variety of experiences. Consider how many experiences the average person can have in a lifetime. Multiply that number by the billions of people who live on Earth or who have ever lived on Earth. The multitude of possibilities is astounding. Within the privacy of the human mind, nobody is required to believe in a Deity, or in an afterlife, or in reincarnation. A person may prefer direct experience with material things and the material Universe. A person can choose to enjoy and accumulate material possessions. A person can choose to be religious: there are thousands of religions to choose from. Or a person can choose to be spiritual without associating with any religion. You may change your beliefs several times within a lifetime. Many people do, especially when a profound experience encourages a change. Nearly every lifetime contains surprises, and also challenges, opportunities, and risks, all of which are experiences.
One reason for this vast variety of experiences on Earth is because the existence of God is not obvious to every person living on Earth. God is mysterious. God is non-material, which means God is beyond the ability of science to investigate. Science can investigate only materialism, which means science cannot prove the existence of God and cannot disprove the existence of God. An individual person can have a profound experience which may feel miraculous, and perhaps it is miraculous, but that person cannot prove to the entirety of humankind that the experience was supernatural. Yet, that same person can live a lifetime influenced by that profound experience. Such uncertainties about spiritual matters allow Earth to accommodate a vast variety of ideas, opinions, religious beliefs, scientific theories, along with the remarkable diversity of people who hold those beliefs and opinions.
A popular belief throughout human history is that if the existence of God were obvious to everyone, and if the moral laws of God were clear and known by everyone, then everyone would probably obey those laws. If science could prove, convincingly, that God exists as a Divine Being who thinks and loves, is all-powerful and all-knowing, and knows you personally, then that scientific proof could radically change the behavior of all humankind. Likewise, the behavior of humankind could radically change if science could prove the existence of an afterlife, or reincarnation, or something else that is supernatural. And if that happened, then perhaps on Earth there would be no war, no crime, no abuse, no inequality.
Perhaps. There would be consequences, however. The worst consequence is that souls would be prevented from growing spiritually.
A society in which the existence of God is obvious to everyone—not mysterious, not questioned—has never existed on Earth. The following paragraphs describe such a society. These descriptions may imply some actual societies, such as medieval ones many centuries ago in Europe when the Christian Church was extremely powerful. But those societies had multiple social classes and were very hierarchical. To those people, God was not obvious, but mysterious. Most everyone believed in God, but people still committed abuses and crimes, still waged war, still obeyed the worldly ambitions of human rulers. And because God was mysterious, nobody knew for certain if God really existed or what God really wanted. There were plenty of religious disagreements.
Imagine if God were genuinely obvious to everyone on Earth, present everywhere and always, undeniable, inescapable, monitoring your every action, your every word, your every thought. And imagine that everyone knows that God has moral standards, which we can call moral laws, and that everyone knows that God will hold every violator responsible. In that society, would anybody violate the moral laws of God? Probably not.
In the world we know, religious institutions and their clergy have long acted as intermediaries between most people and the Divine. Religious rituals and ceremonies exist to remind people to be morally good. Worship services remind people to remain religiously faithful. However, would religious institutions and their clergy lose their purpose if God were obvious and everyone knew and obeyed the moral laws? Would there be any need for religious rituals or ceremonies? (In the afterlife, are any religious holidays celebrated? Is there any need?) If God were obvious, worship services would not be needed to remind people to be faithful. People would live their faith through their actions every moment of every day. If God were obvious and the moral laws were clear, why search within religious scriptures for any deeper moral insights? So, would anyone spend any time interpreting or debating religious scriptures? Would there be any need? Would there be any scriptures?
Historically, in our world, the economies of nations have prospered by satisfying the needs of consumers—but also by portraying many human desires as supposed needs. Examples of unnecessary human desires include extravagant clothes and jewelry, fancy grooming, cosmetic surgery, extravagant homes, ornate furnishings, bountiful feasts of food, fancy vehicles such as carriages, automobiles, boats, and airplanes, abundant toys for children but also for adults, and pleasures that can become addictive such as alcohol, tobacco, and other dangerous drugs. Those desires are not genuine needs. They exist so that people can pursue worldly pleasures and spend money which benefits the economy. If God were obvious, would people be ashamed to enjoy such things? Why buy or sell anything that appeals to only human vanity or selfishness? Would anyone manufacture such things? Which businesses would not exist? Which jobs would not exist? Would anyone want to earn more money than someone else, knowing that God is watching?
In a community where everyone knows everyone else because God commands that everyone actively care for everyone else, would anyone need to travel beyond their local community? Would any need exist for long-distance travel? Any need for highways, railroads, harbors, airports, or the means necessary to maintain and operate those things? If the needs of most people were satisfied by local communities obeying the will of God, would governments be only local? How small or how big? A village or town? A city? A nation? A nation of millions or billions of people? What purpose would a nation serve? If God were obvious, would there be any need for national patriotism? Any need for citizenship?
If God were obvious, how would people react to extravagant buildings and to destruction of the natural environment? How would people react to excessive farming that destroys natural habitats so that excessive amounts of food can be grown? How would people react to slaughtering animals for food? How would people react to hunting animals for food? Why kill, for food, any creature created by God?
Perhaps teachers would be needed to teach reading and writing, but would many academic scholars be needed? Presumably engineers and physicians would be needed, and maybe scientists, and maybe some administrators, but what about any other scholarly occupations? Any need for historians, or social scientists, or for scholarly expertise in art, music, literature, or drama? Perhaps they might be needed, but if communities focus on only local needs, people might not want to learn anything scholarly because that knowledge would be meaningless in the eventual afterlife.
If God were obvious, how would people treat art, music, singing, dancing, literature, dramatic plays or comedies, or ordinary jokes? Most artistic activities exist to be enjoyed, and they often overlap with moral or religious ideas. Yet, if God were obvious, why do anything artistic? Nobody would need any reminders that God and moral laws exist; therefore, anything artistic that is also somehow religious would be unnecessary. Would the artist or performer be perceived as seeking praise? Would seeking praise be treated as a form of vanity? Anything artistic that is not religious, what would its purpose be? Presumably to be enjoyed—but since God is watching everyone at all times, how much enjoyment would there be? If people enjoyed anything not religious, would they then feel ashamed for not feeling more religious? Would they be afraid to feel enjoyment?
If God were obvious, would competitive sports exist? At sporting events, athletes strive to outperform each other, whether as individuals or teams. Somebody wins and somebody else loses—that is the purpose of the game, and the winners ensure that result. If there are spectators, they cheer for one team against the other. If God were obvious, would competition itself—behavior meant to cause somebody to lose—be considered immoral? Why should anybody lose? Would striving to win be considered a form of vanity or selfishness? Would every form of competition, and not only in sports, be considered immoral?
Historically, military forces have existed for three reasons: to defend against foreign invasions; to satisfy the vanity and ambitions of a ruler, perhaps to conquer more territory; and for domestic security if not enough local police exist. Would any of these reasons exist if God were obvious and everybody obeyed the moral laws? A world without war is obviously desirable, but a world without military organizations would have some consequences. For example, many common technologies used by ordinary people were invented or developed originally for military purposes. Those technologies include computers, super-computers, the Internet, satellite-assisted navigation, radar, systematic weather forecasting, atomic and nuclear energy generators, microwave ovens, stainless steel, rockets, jet engines, drones, ambulances, blood transfusions, blood banks, penicillin, nylon and other synthetic fabrics, synthetic rubber, hand-held radios, night-vision devices, digital cameras, super glue, canned foods and freeze-dried foods. Military forces demand technological progress because wars involve extreme needs. Later, many of those technologies are used for peaceful purposes. If military organizations never existed, many common technologies might not exist either. This fact is not a justification for war, but it is a fact.
If God were obvious, human society would be profoundly different—but many things on Earth would not be different. Earth would still be a physical planet within a material Universe, which means people on Earth would still suffer diseases, still suffer injuries from accidents, still die from diseases or accidents. Time would still exist, which means human bodies would still grow old and eventually become frail. And because people would still have human bodies, they would still have sexual desires. People would still want to be noticed by other people who are sexually attractive, still want to attract a potential spouse or partner. People would still have sexual fantasies, at least in their minds. How would a person find and attract a romantic partner? Whichever method is used, God is always watching you, and you would always know that. Would you ever refuse a potential spouse? What if you did?
How would people react to somebody expressing lust? Or jealousy? Envy? Greed? Pride? Gluttony? Depression? Despair? The reaction ought to be love and understanding because God would command that, but would people be overly judgmental?
If God were obvious, what would be the purpose of a physical lifetime on Earth if you spend your lifetime waiting to die? Everyone would know that the afterlife is superior to this life, and so everyone would look forward to dying. Time itself could become a torment because nobody on Earth could hurry the arrival of death because moral laws discourage suicide or prohibit it. Many people might actually become angry at God. Would they show it? Would they pretend not to be angry? God would still know.
If God were obvious, what would souls learn on Earth that cannot be learned in a supernatural realm? Souls in human bodies, knowing that God is always watching, might avoid any opportunities to learn much of anything except obedience. How would you behave if you knew that someone you love and never want to disappoint—and whose moral authority is absolute—were watching you constantly? Would you do anything reckless? Anything adventurous? Anything morally questionable? Anything selfish?
If God were obvious, maybe most people would be happy most of the time. Or maybe everyone would be happy all of the time. Compared to the world we know, however, their world of extreme obedience might have almost no variety, almost no imagination, almost no artistic creativity, almost no culture, almost no travel, almost no discoveries about the planet or the Universe. There would be plenty of morality, but otherwise no religion. Compared to the world we know, their world might be boring. No war, no crime, perhaps no immorality or abuse—but also almost no spiritual learning. Souls in human bodies would have almost no spiritual freedom and, therefore, almost no spiritual growth.
Spiritual freedom is much more than religious freedom. Religious freedom is the right of a person to choose a particular religion and to practice it, or to choose no religion at all.
Spiritual freedom is sometimes defined as freedom from sin and from worldly desires and addictions—and that definition is true to an extent, but spiritual freedom also means exposing souls to sinful temptations, making those temptations possible so that souls can learn from those experiences. And from that learning comes spiritual growth. Anybody can be morally perfect in a world where no temptations exist and nothing sinful exists, but nobody would know why temptations are dangerous or why sinful behavior is destructive—unless they were told, which is not really actual experience. Without actual experience, nobody would truly understand temptations or the destructiveness of sinful behavior.
Imagine a medical doctor, a surgeon, whose entire knowledge of surgery comes from reading books written by people whose entire knowledge of surgery comes from reading books. That is what a lack of actual experience is like. If the doctor were to perform an actual surgical operation on a patient’s heart or brain, how well would the doctor do? Nobody knows, including the doctor, because learning without actual experience is not the same as learning through experience. Learning without experience can be valuable: we call it studying. But to achieve the same effectiveness as actual experience, much more studying must be done to compensate. A better method of learning is to combine actual experience with plenty of studying. And that is possible on Earth.
Spiritual freedom begins as a deliberate lack of awareness of anything spiritual. There are exceptions to this, but typically, when your soul incarnates into a new human body (usually into a baby waiting to be born), your soul forgets that you existed before. Your new brain has no certainty that God exists, no certainty that anything supernatural exists, and no certainty of life after death.
Forgetting all or part of anything supernatural is sometimes called the veil of forgetfulness. The veil is not a physical veil; it merely symbolizes that you forgot your existence as a soul before you were born. But the veil is not absolute. Some near-death experiencers report that, during their NDE, they were told or shown some pre-birth memories. An actual NDE is not required, however. Nearly every person, when guided under hypnosis, can access what seem to be some pre-birth memories. Some people without the help of any hypnosis can recall some pre-birth memories, such as from one or more past lifetimes or, perhaps, an experience between lifetimes when they were planning their current lifetime. Such people are relatively rare; the reason they can remember is because their current physical lifetime includes a spiritual mission that requires them to remember some pre-birth memories.
None of those pre-birth memories is considered to be scientific proof of life before life, or life after death, or reincarnation, or God. Skeptics say the subconscious mind only imagines such beliefs. Any material evidence, such as any historical record that seems to confirm some details of a past life story, that evidence is disputed by skeptics as only a coincidence, or maybe the person learned the details in this lifetime, which the person’s subconscious mind later included in an imagined story. Skeptics also note that many of these stories do contain inaccuracies.
Lack of scientific proof does not mean the supernatural does not exist, however. Lack of scientific proof could be deliberate—a mystery orchestrated by God, because if the existence of God were to become scientifically proven, that knowledge would demolish spiritual freedom on Earth. We cannot out-smart God if God wants to remain mysterious. When scientists lack a scientific explanation for a problem, they call that problem a mystery. When a person who was seriously sick or injured rapidly recovers in a way that doctors cannot understand, some people call it a miracle. Scientific and medical professionals say simply, “There is no medical explanation.” And that mystery preserves spiritual freedom on Earth.
Earth is not Heaven, Earth is not Paradise, Earth is not the afterlife. Earth is not Hell, either. Earth exists in a material Universe and experiences time. The afterlife is non-material, and time does not exist there. Beings on Earth have physical bodies which have limitations and burdens. Beings in the afterlife do not. Many people want Earth to be like Heaven or Paradise, but Earth is not the afterlife and cannot substitute for the afterlife, because Earth has a different purpose.
God created Earth so that souls, including your soul, can experience spiritual freedom and therefore achieve spiritual growth. That does not mean that life on Earth is easy. Spiritual growth is not easy. Learning everything about what love is, and what love means, is not easy. It is so difficult that multiple lifetimes are required. Not every lifetime is as difficult as your lifetime is now. Some lifetimes are easier. Some are harder. Nearly all lifetimes include a great multitude of situations and experiences, joys and sorrows, moral choices, obstacles to overcome, and sometimes horrors that no person deserves to suffer but every soul needs to know to fully understand love and the absence of love and how love can be abused. Spiritual growth is the point, although you do not need to believe in anything supernatural to realize that life is a learning experience and that learning about love is profoundly difficult.
That is why Earth was created. That is why you are here. And that is why God is mysterious.