Growing up, I often wondered what the purpose of existence was.

I was curious. I wanted to know why we are here in this world. What the grand design or purpose is. How life began.
I struggled to appreciate the big bang vis a vis the genesis story.

'God created us to know him, love him, worship him, and to live with him for ever in heaven'. So we were taught in the catholic catechism as teenagers.

The whole enchilada made little or no sense to me, as I reached majority nay became an adult.


Could there really be God? Or could it be he exists but the bible or history misrepresented him?

But then I couldn't reconcile his existence --coupled with epithets such as omnipotence, omniscient and omnipresent-- with the realities and happenings in the world.
How can such a God allow evil especially when it happens to good people?

How could he have allowed Hitler kill over 6 million Jews? How could he have allowed the Rwanda genocide.

The answer I got was that evil came from our free will.
Okay, whose free will was it that inflicted a toddler with celebral palsy or a hole in the heart?
What about the hurricanes?

Others add that God knows the best as he could have a reason for allowing evil.

The answers were at best unsatisfactory and at worst puerile.

Theodicy, the conundrum is called.

At different times in search for meaning, I oscillated from theism to deism, to humanism. I was confused.

Is it better not to have been born at all, like Prof. Benatar thinks?

Is there an afterlife?

What's really the grand purpose of our sojourn in this world?

Is it to wake up, eat, grow, go to school, work, marry, give birth, die?

The cycle continues?


Note:I left so many things especially arguments and varying opinions so as to not make this long winded or verbose.

Dear poster,
I think your topic would get more responses if it was on the religion section?
I would even dare to say that many similar topics to this would be plenty there
The question why am I on earth brings me to something I read somewhere-
“I am an expression particle of The Divine (God)/The Universe “
I like and echo it
Cheers

The purpose is to find your purpose.

This journey you are embarking on will make your mind more ultra-confused and may affect you psychologically in all endeavor in life..

Beware!

Those who embark on it are now trying hard to erase all the trash they think they know

Sholaani:
This journey you are embarking on will make your mind more ultra-confused and may affect you psychologically in all endeavor in life..

Beware!

Those who embark on it are now trying hard to erase all the trash they think they know

It is right and normal to question religion and existence. It gives one a whole new perspective on life and the revelation that really, life is to be lived and enjoyed. It’s short and vain. Don’t live in ignorance.

2mch:

It is right and normal to question religion and existence. It gives one a whole new perspective on life and the revelation that really, life is to be lived and enjoyed. It’s short and vain. Don’t live in ignorance.

Ok

A Hard question

Sholaani:
This journey you are embarking on will make your mind more ultra-confused and may affect you psychologically in all endeavor in life..

Beware!

Those who embark on it are now trying hard to erase all the trash they think they know

God Himself want us to question our existence, this is why he gave us "Will Power" to prove you are not a robot. If you've never question your beliefs, then you truly don't know what you believe in. She's actually right in her quest.


@op, this is just one of the many reasons for existence. Finding MEANING! This answer you seek upon realisation, would lead you to either; lost your belief in God totally or Re-ignite your belief in Him. I pray it's the latter.

When you are close to your findings, you realize that life is not hard after all, you take things very simple and you care more about your fellow human being because everyone is just a victim of circumstance. We didn't asked to be Born. This is the "Love" that Jesus preached.

More importantly, you remain unshaken and cannot be swayed by any atheism talks, it also emancipate you from the claws of these fake Pastors and Imams. You talk to God and be in one accord with Him.

we are here just to die and go back to wherever it is we came from....then come back again to die and continue this endless meaningless forced cycle....