The Natural Basis for Spirituality: Redefining the Inner Light

In past centuries, the evidence for God's existence seemed direct because a spiritual being was the only way to make sense of our world in its exquisite detail, beauty, and purpose. For uncountable millennia, it seemed obvious that the rising sun required a God to pull it across the sky. Springtime buds and flowers somehow had the spirit of an all-powerful God, who controlled the entire world and had obviously created it. Many believed that they could feel God directly, as an intangible principle or as an emotional force. But gradually, knowledge of the natural world has accumulated through philosophy and science. We understand how the sun rises in the sky, how atoms form molecules, which can engage in chemical reactions, and how bacteria and viruses cause disease. We have learned that humanity evolved from other animal species and that animals are related to plants and all other forms of life through their common genetic heritage. The facts are so well explained by physics, chemistry, and evolutionary biology that life on our world might appear inevitable. To some, these tentative conclusions may seem a diversion from the obvious spiritual base of our natural world. But the new knowledge is simply the result of an active pursuit of the truth, and can be understood in any language or culture. It enhances the beauty and miracles that we see in our everyday lives.