Cosmo-Religious Concepts God, Man and Evolution

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1.

The concept of the Divine designates, amongst other things, four aspects of reality:
i. The whole of all that exists,
ii. The future of all that exists,
iii. The aspect of all that exists as living
iv. The ratio essendi of all that exists

In contradistinction, the concept of the known universe, as depicted by observation and induction, designates:

i. A section of all that exists,
ii. This section as experienced so far,
iii. The aspect of the known universe as not being dominated by life or indifferent as regards life or lifelessness,
iv. The matter-of-factness of the contents of the known universe, irrespective of their ratio essendi, and their rationality.

2.

Two different meanings of the Divine emerge from the above; together, they constitute an inherent but necessary paradox of the Divine.

a. Inasmuch as the actual world of facts forms part of and is related to the Whole of reality, it shares in the divine character of that Whole. In this respect, everything, every passing, destructive, negative phase or phenomenon, every feature of the world is necessary in its ephemerality and shares the divine character of the Whole. This is the indifferent, the neutral sense of the Divine.

b. Inasmuch as the actual world, especially its living superstructure, represents a process that aims at ever more lasting and powerful forms of existence, at overcoming disastrous and therefore passing forms of existence, the aim and direction of cosmic evolution has a preeminently Divine character. Its reversals, counterforms and roundabout paths must also be termed divine in the neutral sense.

In its proper sense, the Divine character of a trend, of becoming, is an ultimate superiority; it extends to phenomena and forms of existence that are demonstrably more powerful, capable of a fuller enjoyment of life, more lasting than others. Their opposite trends are bound to succumb in the long run; although they are Divine in the neutral sense - they are ‘playing their role’, they are anti-Divine in the proper sense.

In the first sense, God precedes and includes; in the second sense, God becomes and emerges.

3.

The essence and evolutionary direction of the universe is Life, notwithstanding the quantitative proportions of the living to the non-living; the essence and evolutionary direction of Life is the highest possible form of consciousness, i.e. the fullest possible enjoyment of life.

4.

The cosmic locus of the fullest possible enjoyment of life is the human species in its full extension, throughout time.

5.

The collective of individuals belonging to mankind is organised so as to bring about the fullest possible enjoyment of life and this organisation must be seen as belonging to the biology of the human species. Seen as a biological phenomenon, such organisation would ultimately be a coherent, real entity from a cosmic point of view. It would make mankind appear as a kind of organism; its organisational structure would be a kind of ‘field’-phenomenon.