Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction

Part One: Faith, Reason, and Identity

Chapter One: Deciding the Meaning of Happiness and Identity
I. Defining "Happiness" and "Meaning in Life"
II. Four Levels of Happiness Defined
III. Problems with Levels 1 and 2 When Taken by Themselves
IV. Levels 3 and 4 as the Remedy to Problems with Levels 1 and 2
V. From Level 3 to Level 4

Chapter Two: The Contribution of Reason to Faith
Introduction
I. Faith and Reason: A First Glimpse
II. The Domain of Reason
Conclusion

References for Part One

Part Two: Four Philosophical Proofs for the Existence of God

Chapter Three: Proof of a Creator of Past Time
Introduction
I. Past Time in Any Possible Universe or System Must be Finite
A. Analytical Proof of the Finitude of Past Time
1. Method
2. Proof
B. A Mathematical Proof of the Finitude of Past Time
C. A General Rule about Postulating Infinities
II. If Past Time is Finite, it Must be Caused by Something Outside of Itself
III. The Ultimate Cause of Past Time Cannot Itself be in Time

Chapter Four: A Metaphysical Argument for God's Existence
I. Step One: Proof of the Existence of at Least One Unconditioned Reality
A. Complete Disjunction Elucidating the Whole Range of Possibilities for all Reality
1. Definitions
B. Proof that "Hypothesis F" Must be False for Any Conditioned Reality (CR)
C. Proof that "Hypothesis ~F" Must be False for Any Conditioned Reality (CR)
D. Proof that a Circular Set of Conditions if False for Any CR
E. Conclusion: There Must Exist at Least One Unconditioned Reality in All Reality
II. Step Two: Proof that Unconditioned Reality Itself if the Simplest Possible Reality
A. The Principle of Simplicity
B. Unconditioned Reality Itself Must be the Simplest Possible Reality
III. Proof of the Absolute Uniqueness of Unconditioned Reality Itself
IV. Step Four: Proof that Unconditioned Reality Itself is Unrestricted
Combined Conclusions of Steps I. through IV.
V. Step Five: Proof that the One Unconditioned Reality is the Continuous Creator of All Else that Is
A. The Absolutely Simple, Unrestricted, Unique, Unconditioned Reality is the Creator of All Else that Is
B. The Creator Must Continuously Create (ultimately fulfill the conditions of) All Else that is Real
Conclusion

Chapter Five - Division I: A Proof for God's Existence: From the Distinction Between Actuality and Mere Possibility
I. Step One: The Necessity of Causation
II. Step Two: An Infinite Number of Causes Cannot be Achieved, and Therefore, Cannot Ground the Emergence of Actual States of Affairs from a Virtual Infinite Range of Merely Possible Ones
III. Step Three: The First Cause of the Emergence of Actuality Out of Mere Possibility Cannot Have any Intrinsic or Extrinsic Restriction (i.e., must be absolutely simple)
IV. Step Four: The Absolutely Simple First Cause Must be Absolutely Unique
V. Step Five: The One Absolutely Simple First Cause is the Ultimate Cause of All Actual States of Affairs

Chapter Five - Division II: A Lonerganian Interpretation of the Proof for God's Existence from the Distinction Between Actuality and Mere Possibility
I. Step One: Every Coherent Question has a Correct Answer
II. Step Two: There Cannot be an Infinite Number of Correct Answers to the Question "Why?"
III. Step Three: The Originative (beginning) Answer to the Question "Why?" Must be Ontologically Grounded in an Intrinsically and Extrinsically Unrestricted Reality
IV. Step Four: This Unrestricted Reality/First Cause/Unrestricted Act of Understanding Must be Absolutely Unique
V. Conclusion to the Proof
VI. A Reflection on the Presence of God in Human Consciousness

Chapter Six: Method
Introduction
I. Reasonable and Responsible Belief
II. Complete Disjunction in Metaphysical Assertions
III. Prohibition of Infinite Regression
IV. Causation
V. Conclusion: Via Negativa, Via Positiva, and the Infinite

References for Part Two

Part Three: Indications of Creation and Supernatural Design in Contemporary Astrophysics

Chapter Seven: Indications of Creation in Contemporary Astrophysics
Introduction
I. Standard Big Bang Cosmology
A. The General Theory of Relativity
B. Hubble's Red Shift
C. A Universal Isotropic Radiation
Conclusion to Section I.
II. Physical Corroboration of the Finitude of past Time
A. Entropy
B. The Improbability of Indefinite Oscillations
1. The Radiation Paradox
2. Increase in Cyclic Expansion
3. A Standard Universal "Black Hole"
C. The Open Universe
Conclusion to Section II.
III. The Possibility of Universal Origins at a Singularity
A. Evidence of an Inflationary Universe
B. Rules for Proper Ontological and Metaphysical Reasoning
1. Proper Discourse about "Nothing"
2. Proper Discourse about "Causality"
3. The Hilbertian Prohibition of Achieved Infinite Sequences
4. Proper Discourse about Infinities Applied to Algorithmically Finite Structures
5. Proper Discourse about "Imaginary Numbers" Applied to a Standard Universe
C. An Ontological Assessment of Four Proposals for the Unified Era
1. Quantum Cosmology and Hawking's "No Boundary Condition" Universe
2. Superstring Theory Approaches to Quantum Cosmology
3. Supersymmetries Implying Supergravity
4. Linde's "Fractal-like" Chaotic Inflation
Conclusion

Chapter Eight: Indications of Supernatural Design in the Universe
Introduction
I. The Fundamental Intuition of Design in Contemporary Science
II. The Anthropic Principle
III. Formalization of the Fundamental Teleological Intuition
A. The First Two Steps of the Teleological Argument: In any possible universe…
1. In Any Possible Anthropic Universe, there Must Be Repeatable, Consistent, Determinate Parameters
2. In Any Possible Anthropic Universe, there Must Be Repeatable, Consistent Units of Interaction

3. In Any Possible Anthropic Universe, there Must Be Repeatable, Consistent Schemes of Interaction

4. In Any Possible Anthropic Universe, there Must Be Repeatable, Consistent Constants whose Values Must Fall Within a Narrow, Finite Range

5. Complexity and Complexification
B. What Kind of Belief Must One Have?

References for Part Three

Part Four: From Reason to Faith

Chapter Nine: Agape
Introduction
I. Agape Defined
II. The Path to Agape - Part One: From Level 2 to Level 3
III. The Path to Agape - Part Two: From Level 3 to Level 4
A. Four Questions Linking Reason and Faith
B. The First Step in Spiritual Practice: Trust in Unconditional Agape
C. The Second Step in Spiritual Practice: Surrender to Unconditional Agape
D. The Third Step in Spiritual Practice: Humble and Authentic agape through Unconditional Agape
Conclusion

Chapter Ten: Suffering in Light of Faith and Reason
Introduction
I. Interpreting Suffering
A. The Poignancy of Suffering
B. Three Common Non-Theocentric Interpretations of Suffering
C. The "Agape" View of Suffering
II. Theodicy - Part One: The God of Unconditional Love
A. From the God of Reason to the God of Love
B. Who God is Not
III. Theodicy - Part Two: Freedom, Agape, and the "Benefits" of Suffering
A. Moral Causes of Suffering
B. Non-Moral Causes of Suffering
C. Does God Have to Suffer?
IV. From Suffering to Agape through the Loving Providence of God
A. Three Fundamental Attitudes
B. "Thy Will Be Done" and its Corollaries: An Introduction to Prayer in Time of Suffering
Conclusion

Chapter Eleven: The Heart's Reasons: The Inner Word
Introduction
I. The Invitation of God - Part I: Transcendental Desire
II. The Invitation of God - Part II: Intellectus
III. The Invitation of God - Part III: Joy
IV. The Invitation of God - Part IV: Mysterium Tremendum
V. The Inadequacy of the So-called "Crutch" Argument
VI. Summary of God's Invitation through the Heart
VII. The Mystical Life: From Flame of Love to Song of Love
VIII. Starting the Contemplative Life
A. Six Practical Considerations
B. Two Phases of Contemplative Prayer

Chapter Twelve: Revelation and Church: The Outer Word
I. Church as Vehicle for the Presence of God
II. Church as Vehicle for the Revelation of God
III. Church as Vehicle for the Community of God
IV. Church as the Vehicle of the Redemptive Power of God
Conclusion

Conclusion
References for Part Four

Text of Introduction
The great physicist, Sir Arthur Eddington, remarked in his classic work The Nature of the Physical World:

We all know that there are regions of the human spirit untrammelled by the world of physics. In the mystic sense of the creation around us, in the expression of art, in a yearning towards God, the soul grows upward and finds the fulfillment of something implanted in its nature. The sanction for this development is within us, a striving born with our consciousness or an Inner Light proceeding from a greater power than ours. Science can scarcely question this sanction, for the pursuit of science springs from a striving which the mind is impelled to follow, a questioning that will not be suppressed. Whether in the intellectual pursuits of science or in the mystical pursuits of the spirit, the light beckons ahead and the purpose surging in our nature responds.

Eddington drew this conclusion from the best rational and non-rational evidence available to him. The late 20th Century has afforded a multitude of new evidence and approaches to the rational and non-rational search for God. By "non-rational" here, I do not mean "irrational," but rather, experiential or intuitive evidence which is not framed within the context of proof in logic, mathematics, and science. As will be seen, this non-rational evidence can take the form of the lived experience of love (Chapters Nine and Ten), the interior awareness of the Transcendent (Chapter Eleven), or even the intuition of God's public self-revelation in history and in church community (Chapter Twelve).

In the rational domain, David Hilbert (the father of finite mathematics) has transformed the interpretation of the infinite regress argument in his article "On the Infinite." Quantum Theory has expanded the horizons of ontology by forcing it to contend with non-location and information fields. The General Theory of Relativity has forced us to abandon the fixity and Euclidean geometry of space and time. Big Bang cosmology has introduced the possibility, and even the probability, of a singularity. When these and many other discoveries are placed within the context of the six fundamental rational intuitions of God (given in Chapter Two, Section II.), they provide a remarkable rational foundation for the existence of a unique, unconditioned, unrestricted, absolutely simple, continuous Creator of all else that is, which is likely to be an intelligent Designer, and even to possess an unrestricted act of understanding understanding Itself.

When this new, rational evidence for the existence of "God" is combined with contemporary insights into love, religious experience, suffering, and the philosophy of religion, the mind and heart begin to act in concert with one another. As each liberates the other, a deep sense of the presence of the loving God becomes virtually inevitable. This gift is not unique to the 20th Century, but the breadth and depth of the insight and evidence undergirding it, truly is. We live in a remarkable time with a remarkable access to personal Transcendence and self-transcendence. This book is an attempt to uncover the intelligibility and beauty intrinsic to the work of hundreds of great minds. I hope it is at once an intellectual stimulus, an access way to the Transcendent, and the initiation of a lifetime adventure.

From the vantage point of faith, one would call this approach a response to God's invitation, manifest in the domain of heart, experience, and mind. This faith perspective recognizes that God gives clues to His existence, presence, and love to all humankind in these three domains, and that it is incumbent upon us to recognize and respond to these clues.

Why would God speak in "clues?" Is He trying to trick us? Is He playing games with veiled language? Why can't God speak plainly? The faith perspective typically answers this question by noting that God respects human freedom. God does not want to push or scare us into His presence and love. As Dostoevsky noted, "God would not enslave us to a miracle." He wants us to freely enter into relationship so that we might journey with Him to the fulfillment for which He has destined us.

Superficial reflection on any relationship will reveal that the primary condition necessary for love is the freedom to give oneself away. If love is self-gift, and gift is not forced (but is radically free), then relationship with God requires radical freedom.

The faith perspective goes on to say that this makes God's invitation to us quite complex, for God cannot "speak plainly" without blasting our wills into submission. He has to speak subtly, with "clues," in an invitingness that includes the whole range of emotions from sadness to joy, life experiences from suffering to fulfillment, and ideas and ideals that plumb the depths of eternity and infinity. In the faith perspective, then, God gives a range of clues, and each unique human personality is given the chance to respond to the ones most obvious and suitable, and to assemble the clues through a series of choices and reasonable judgements until one sees, through a moment of loving assent, the presence of unconditional Love, Itself. But seeing is not enough, for in the seeing comes a free and joyful surrender, similar to the free and joyful surrender of marriage, which issues upon a relationship leading to a loving fulfillment of incalculable depth.

I have not assumed that readers come to this book with the above faith perspective. Some readers may simply be searching, while others may be in various stages of assent or doubt. Whatever the reader's perspective might be, this book is intended to manifest what the faith perspective calls "God's clues" more clearly and poignantly. The clues of the mind, though amply treated throughout the course of history by hundreds of philosophers beginning with Plato and Aristotle, need a fresh perspective in light of contemporary philosophical, mathematical, and scientific discoveries. The majority of this book is concerned with elucidating this fresh approach. Part Two (Chapters Two through Five) of this book will be concerned with four philosophical/mathematical proofs of God's existence, while Part Three (Chapters Six and Seven) will be concerned with indications of God manifest in 20th Century science, particularly astrophysics. The remainder of the book (Part Four) will be devoted to the domain of the heart, starting with the question of theodicy (why would an all-powerful, all-loving God allow suffering and evil to exist in the world?), and culminating in a discussion of the clues embedded in private and public religious experience.

For the moment, suffice it to say that this contemporary exploration of the clues of the mind can form a foundation from which the clues of the heart and the clues of life experience can be recognized and explored. This, in turn, can lead to a recognition of and assent to unconditional Love present to us and awaiting our response to the adventure of faith.

Text of Chapter One
The role of reason in its relationship to faith is not as easy to describe as one might at first think. It is certainly not a simple opposition with reason being in the domain of rigor and evidence, and faith being in the domain of a gigantic leap of the will. Neither is it an isolated relationship standing apart from intuition, emotion, and life experience. Faith is extraordinarily complex, yet as simple as a still point. It comprises elements of both the heart and the mind, passivity and activity, experience and decision, intuition and reason.

Reason, in its turn, has its own existence. It is concerned with seeking clarity and completeness, and so turns to method, evidence gathering, definitions, and the rigorous integration of these three pursuits.

Before we can explore the complex complementarity of faith and reason, it will be necessary to briefly investigate the human search for meaning and identity, for one's pursuit of meaning directly affects one's judgement about the relevancy of faith.

CHAPTER ONE
Deciding the Meaning of Happiness and Identity

Any discussion of faith and reason must include a section on happiness and identity, because the pursuit of faith, indeed, the relevancy of faith and even the relevancy of reason as it pertains to faith is dependent upon the kind of happiness and identity one is looking for. If, for example, one seeks happiness and identity in mere material possessions or ego-fulfillment, the topic of faith and reason will seem at best remote or at worst a crutch. However, if one seeks happiness and identity in contribution, love, self-communication, self-transcendence, or ultimacy, then faith will become the indispensable means of pursuing authentic love and the common good, and optimally using one's psyche, time, talents, and energy to make a difference to the world through these authentic pursuits. Therefore, in order to make clear the relevancy and centrality of faith in the pursuit of authentic love and the common good, and to show that the so-called crutch argument has little bearing within certain frameworks of happiness and identity, I felt it indispensable to begin the book with this topic.

I.
Defining "Happiness" and "Meaning in Life"

Inasmuch as this book is not primarily concerned with fundamental identity decisions, I will only briefly summarize what has been set out in much greater depth elsewhere. For the moment, suffice it to say that one's fundamental identity fulcrum is connected with what one believes to be primary meaning and purpose in life, which, in turn, is connected with what one believes to be the primary source of happiness. Why? Because, as Aristotle noted, happiness is the one thing which can be willed in and for itself; all other things are willed for the sake of happiness. Thus, if a particular view of happiness becomes dominant in a person's consciousness, it will, by default, become his meaning and purpose in life.

In order to understand the options for identity and purpose in life, we must first understand the options for (or ways of) being happy. Understanding these options is not only essential for identity and purpose in life, it is also essential for human freedom, for one cannot choose rightly (be free) if one is ignorant of the options. Ignorance relegates a person to subconsciously default to positions or emotions which happen to be strongest in a given situation. To break free, one must know which option is best and the criteria used to determine "the best."

The forthcoming discussion of happiness/purpose goes by many names. Many philosophers call them the four powers of a human being. Some psychologists have called them fulcrums of identity, dimensions of self-actualization, or markers of growth. Some theologians have identified them with phases in the journey of the soul, or levels of spiritual life. Sociologists, anthropologists, historians, and writers have likewise classified them under still different names. The different names simply reflect different perspectives on the same reality.

One can see these four levels of happiness in the works of such diverse thinkers as Plato and Kierkegaard, Aristotle and Jaspers, Augustine and Sartre, Viktor Frankl and Abraham Maslow, Thomas Aquinas and Erik Erikson, Martin Heidegger and Gabriel Marcel, Karl Jung and Martin Buber, Edith Stein and Carol Gilligan , Bernard Lonergan and Lawrence Kohlberg, and Simone Weil and Max Scheler. One may also see them in the scriptures of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Throughout the last 3,500 years one can see them recur again and again in the cultures of North and South, East and West. They are most deeply reflected upon, yet often times most forgotten - the most obvious parts of our common heritage, and yet the most esoteric. They reflect not only what moves us in our heart of hearts, but the ideals towards which we aspire, the relationships we seek, the worth we attribute to ourselves and others, our sense of well being, of hope, and of groundedness. They are at once the sources of our sense of autonomy, self-possession, self-communication, love, self-transcendence, faith, and even our communion with a higher power or God. We return to them more often than any other concept or image. Our lives are imbued with them.

Common sense tells us that no sane person seeks unhappiness. Aside from masochism or significant depression, each of us chooses actions we hope will make us happy. Unfortunately, we are often disappointed. Finding happiness is not so easy. The world is full of options which promise happiness; some actually deliver, many do not. Some deliver fairly well for a while, but decay ultimately into boredom, emptiness, or pain.

Is there any guide to happiness more helpful than trial and error, or the (all-too-fallible) advice of family and friends? Is there anything objective enough to predict happiness most of the time? Something useful to most people? Could such a general guide to happiness even be possible? After all, people's tastes vary. Some find excitement or pleasure in actions which others consider boring or disgusting. As the saying goes, "one man's meat is another man's poison." Is there any way to understand happiness-in-general, or to predict what will "work" for large numbers of people?

People use different guides in their search for happiness. Some rely on a sense of inner comfort, and limit themselves to those activities with which they feel "comfortable." Others find comfort boring, preferring challenge to complacency, and claim that discomfort may not only be overcome, but might even be a necessary precursor of deep, lasting happiness.

The search for the principles of happiness is an old one, for the desire to avoid unhappiness goes back to the beginning of human history. It was first systematically addressed by the Greeks, thousands of years ago, and rearticulated by medieval and modern philosophers. These philosophers experienced the same types of unhappiness as we do today, the same failed dreams, the same frustrations and miseries. However, with their uncanny powers of observation, they discovered an underlying logic to the cycles of happiness and unhappiness which seems remarkably modern. They noticed that not all routes are equally likely to arrive at happiness. Some satisfy deeply, others less, some not at all. Some fulfill for a while, like candy, but ultimately produce unhappiness. These philosophers explored the underlying reasons for these differences. They found principles which allowed them to predict not only whether any particular activity would likely make most people happy, but also how long it would remain effective, and whether it would generate logical consequences which could destroy happiness in the long run. Their system remains surprisingly reliable.

They observed that types of happiness could be ranked. What they called "lower" forms of happiness had the advantages of being immediate, intense, and apparent, but suffered from being short-lived and relatively narrow in focus. "Higher" forms of happiness had the advantages of being pervasive, enduring, and deeply satisfying, but the disadvantages of being more abstract and less rapidly attained than lower forms, and frequently took more effort. Lower forms of happiness were generally more material or physical; higher forms were generally more emotional, intellectual, or spiritual. The lower levels of happiness tended to break down into one form of crisis or another. The very highest levels managed to avoid crises altogether.

Philosophers throughout the ages sought to draw their students away from the lower levels of happiness to the higher levels of happiness, appreciation of which generally requires some developmental maturity. They sought to train hearts and minds to prefer those forms of happiness which are deeper and more lasting over those which are superficial and intense, but short lived.

II.
Four Levels of Happiness Defined

In my study of the history of philosophy and developmental psychology, I have noticed four major groupings or levels of happiness. The first and most basic level of happiness (in Latin, laetus) comes from an external stimulus. It interacts with one or more of the five senses and gives immediate gratification, but does not last very long. A sensorial pleasure like an ice cream cone or a possession like a new car can impart immediate gratification from these stimuli. In this book, I will call it Happiness 1.

The second level of happiness (in Latin, felix) comes from ego-gratification. "Ego" in Latin means "I." This kind of happiness comes whenever I can shift the locus of control from the outer world to myself. Hence, whenever I win, gain power or control, or gain admiration or popularity, I feel happy. I feel as if my inner world is expanding. My control relative to the outer world is enhanced. I will call this level Happiness 2.

The second level of happiness does not exhaust the scope of human desire. We also desire love, truth, goodness, beauty, and being. These desires initially manifest themselves as a desire to contribute. The second kind of happiness tried to shift the locus of control to the self. In the third level of happiness (in Latin, beatitudo) we try to invest in the world beyond ourselves. We want to make a difference with our lives, time, energy, and talent. I will call this level Happiness 3.

Strange as it may seem, the third level of happiness still does not exhaust the scope of human desire, for as was noted above, humans not only desire some love, goodness, truth, beauty, and being, they can also desire unconditional, perfect, ultimate, and even unrestricted Love, Goodness, Truth, Beauty, and Being. In the context of faith, one might call this the desire for God. But even if one does not have faith, one can treat it as an awareness of a seemingly unconditional horizon surrounding human curiosity, creativity, spirit, and achievement. This particular desire differentiates humans from all other animals. I will call this level Happiness 4 (in Latin, sublimitas/ gaude).

III.
Problems with Levels 1 and 2 When Taken by Themselves

I will make five observations about how the selection of Levels 1 and 2 (by themselves) can affect one's relationships, goals, decisions, indeed, the very course of one's life.

1) Level 2 (ego-gratification) is almost always linked to comparisons. In order to shift the locus of control from the outer world to the inner world, or from yesterday to today, I must constantly ask myself, "Who's achieving more? Who's achieving less? Who's making more progress? Who less? Who's winning? Who's losing? Who's got more status? Who's got less status? Who's more popular? Who's less popular? Who's got more control? Who's got less control? Who is more admired? Who is less admired?" Notice that these questions are not linked to a pursuit of the truth or to a contributory mentality, or even to an ultimate one. One is using these comparative questions to obtain identity. Thus, one is literally living for the right answer to them, and is therefore treating these comparative characteristics as ends in themselves. Hence, one is not achieving in order to contribute to family, colleagues, or the culture; one is achieving as an end in itself, as if achievement gave life meaning. Similarly, one is not seeking status in order to have the credibility to do good in the culture. One is simply seeking status as an end in itself. The same holds for winning, power, control, and so forth.

Notice further that Level 2 is not bad. Indeed, quite the opposite. The desire for achievement leads to progress in civilization. The desire for respect leads to credibility, confidence, and self-respect. The desire to win leads to competitiveness and the seeking of excellence. Even the desire for power can be used for good purposes. So what's the problem? The problem is not Level 2, but living for Level 2 as an end in itself. When one does this, then achievement leads to compulsive "getting ahead," instead of "a good beyond the achievement." Competitiveness destroys teams instead of animating teams toward a common cause or common good. Seeking respect leads to pandering after admiration. Power sought as an end in itself corrupts - and absolute power sought in itself corrupts absolutely.

2) When one seeks achievement, status, admiration, power, winning, popularity, and control as ends in themselves, one will begin to underlive one's life. One will fail to see contributory possibilities, the greater good, synergies for stakeholders, and even the possibilities for generative love. One will also neglect the domain of the ultimate (Level 4), and will almost certainly miss opportunities to be involved with ultimate Truth, Love, Goodness, Beauty, and Being, and the God who is all this.

3) By living for comparison, status, and control as ends in themselves (while ignoring the opportunities for the contributory and the ultimate), one will soon experience a life fraught with jealousy, inferiority, superiority, fear, suspicion, ego-sensitivities, contempt, emptiness, and depression. These negative emotive states can easily become the dominant theme of one's life, leading to major "disconnects" with friends, poor business judgements, family strife, and even severe emotional problems.

4) Unfortunately, Levels 1 and 2 are much more easily perceived, chosen, and pursued than Levels 3 and 4. Therefore, they are much more frequently chosen, and the culture much more easily builds itself around them. Hence, we might expect that every person in the culture who has not deliberately chosen Levels 3 and 4 out of a sense of duty, education, or religion, will be "defaulting" to Levels 1 and 2. Inasmuch as they are unconsciously living for Levels 1 and 2 (as ends in themselves), they are experiencing all of the negative emotive states mentioned in (3) above; and inasmuch as they are doing this, they are having problems of judgement and problems with themselves. Life no longer seems to be an opportunity, but a problem; people no longer seem to be mysteries, but problems; and I am no longer involved in a contributory and ultimate adventure, but in a problem.

5) The only way out of this predicament is to select a Level 3 and/or 4 purpose and meaning in life. Selecting such a purpose means:

a) Being specific (e.g., "How can I contribute to my family? to my friends? to my colleagues and employees at work? to my community center? to my church? to my society and culture? How might I be involved in the pursuit of ultimate Truth? ultimate Goodness or Justice? ultimate Love? Or, in the context of faith, how might I be involved in the life of God?"). The answers to these questions should be written down for daily remembrance.

b) Reminding oneself that one's specific Level 3/4 objectives are the real meaning and purpose in life. They are the ends which Level 1 and 2 serve. "For this I came."

c) Finding a means for daily reflection on these Level 3/4 meanings, even if it is only for five minutes or incorporated into one's prayer. This last point is absolutely essential, for as noted in (4) above, Levels 1 and 2 are our "default drives." Therefore, we must continuously write out and choose these Level 3/4 objectives. If we do not, we will literally forget about them within hours.

What has all this got to do with the life of faith and reason? As one can see, living for Levels 1 and 2 (the default drives) as ends in themselves will almost certainly make Levels 3 and 4 seem remote or even non-existent. As such, matters of the heart will be harder to notice and interpret. Church will seem almost irrelevant, if not a serious inconvenience to what is "really important." I don't mean to imply here that one might not go to church while living for Levels 1 and 2. Certainly one could go for a variety of reasons, but the effect of going to church (awareness of the presence of God, openness to the word of God, participation in the community of God, and acceptance of the redemption of God) would probably be significantly curtailed. Furthermore, a diligent pursuit of reasonable approaches to God will seem far less interesting than Level 1 and Level 2 pursuits. After all, there's good money to be made, perfectly good honors to be received, perfectly good status, popularity, admiration, and respect to be garnered, and above all, lots of power, control….

Nevertheless, the symptoms of pursuing an exclusive Level 1/2 existence will persist. As Augustine discovered long ago, emptiness has a way of making itself noticed even in the midst of being at the "top of one's game." One might be at one's competitive best, receiving high awards and status, and be involved in the highest rungs of society, yet a deep and persistent emptiness about the relevance of one's life will periodically arise. Many authors have spoken about this emptiness (e.g., Augustine, Kierkegaard, Dostoyevski, Sartre, and Marcel to name just a few). Furthermore, the negative emotions surrounding an exclusively Level 2 existence (jealousy, fear, suspicion, ego-sensitivity, contempt, inferiority, superiority) will also begin to intensify. As a result, one will feel a tension between success in Levels 1 and 2 on the one hand and irrelevancy on Levels 3 and 4 on the other. It is at this juncture, as the existentialists are wont to say, that one must make a move.

By a "move" I mean a decision to base one's happiness/identity/meaning/purpose in life on a new criterion. One must consciously choose to make a "higher level" criterion more significant than Level 1/2 criteria.

IV.
Levels 3 and 4 as the Remedy to Problems with Levels 1 and 2

Put in the starkest possible way, one must allow Level 3/4 criteria to be the end and Level 1/2 criteria to be only a means to that end. In so doing, Levels 1 and 2 will not be able to emerge as ends in themselves. They will therefore find their appropriate and healthy place. Upon making this identity shift, one will notice that the feelings of emptiness, jealousy, fear, suspicion, ego-sensitivity, and contempt will begin to subside, and a very definite sense of life's relevance and purpose will begin to emerge.

A Level 4 identity (grounded in faith) will very probably emerge if one pursues either a Level 3 or Level 4 identity. Though it is easy to see how an authentic life of faith will begin to increase when one makes a Level 4 identity decision, it may not be so obvious why a faith life would arise out of a Level 3 identity decision. The five desires for the unconditional, perfect, and unrestricted (Truth, Love, Justice/Good, Beauty, and Home -- see Chapter Eleven, Section I.) are at once the source of our highest aspirations and the source of our deepest disappointments. They lead one at once to the brink of the faith choice, but do not push one into it. Though they give rise to every form of human striving in knowledge, love, art, justice, and spiritual life, they can give rise to problems with happiness arising out of finite or transitory satisfaction, for they sometimes incite human beings to seek ultimacy, perfection, the absolute, the unconditioned, and even the infinite and eternal in things which are by nature imperfect, conditioned, finite, and transitory. This leads to a host of problems ranging from dashed idealism to dashed romanticism. The result can lead to discontentment and even skepticism and cynicism about life and ideals.

Recall that a contributory existence awakens not only the desire to make a difference or contribution in life, it also awakens the desire for authentic love (agape - committed, self-giving, compassionate love), which, in turn, awakens the desire for truth, justice (or fairness), etc., which, in their turn, awaken the desire for optimal agape, optimal authenticity, optimal truth, optimal justice, etc. Any person who has reached this point has simultaneously discovered the depths of personal weakness and the intrinsic finitude of the world and other people.

The person seeking optimal love will be wide open to confronting his own inauthenticity (that is, his need for comparative advantage, status, control, and power, and how these Level 2 fixations are in direct conflict with the desire for optimal love). This discovery can lead to dashed expectations of self, others, the community, the world, and even the church. One might try to blame one of these more than others for one's disappointment, but deep down, everyone knows that all finite beings (including oneself) are responsible. These dashed expectations can lead further to skepticism about all ideals (e.g., ideals of truth, love, justice, goodness, and religion) and ultimately to self-pity, cynicism, and despair.

In sum, when one moves toward a Level 3 identity (contributory), one discovers the need to be authentic in love, truth, fairness, etc. in order to optimize (or at least not undermine) the contributions one so ardently seeks. This need for authenticity forces one to confront one's own and the world's powerlessness to achieve the authentic desire of one's heart. It is here that the move to Level 3 invariably leads to the need for another move, that is, to Level 4.

V.
From Level 3 to Level 4

Many spiritual autobiographies have one thing in common: turning to God for help to achieve authenticity in the pursuit of optimal love, justice, and truth. The turning point of the majority of spiritual autobiographies occurs when one says, "I want to be authentic more than I want to get there by myself." In other words, authenticity matters more to me than the "heroic attempt to do it alone." Level 3 has the bizarre capacity to "turn on" two strong and potentially conflicting desires: the desire to optimize love, truth, and justice, and the desire to be heroic (or even messianic). When the conflict eventually emerges, and I discover the virtual impossibility of achieving humble, compassionate, self-giving love by myself, then I must choose to be helped by a Being greater than me, or content myself with the falsity of being able to do it by myself, or simply give up in an act of quasi-despair (because I cannot ask for help and I recognize that I cannot do it myself). The common point of most spiritual autobiographies is that the author discovers there is only one positive way out: to ask for help from a Being greater than oneself by choosing faith.

If a person's apperception of God's presence is not very strong, she will turn to reason to justify (through objectively verifiable means) the existence of the "more powerful Being." (See Chapters Two through Eight.) Conversely, if her apperception of God's presence in her heart and the church are evident and strong, she will probably move to a faith choice directly (that is, without recourse to objectively verifiable evidence). In either case, the choice to ask God for help in the pursuit of authentic love, will bring with it its own confirmation. As spiritual autobiographies almost always reveal, those who ask for help in moving towards authentic love, receive it. They may have hundreds of struggles, short and long term failures, and points at which "nothing seems to work," but they will receive the help (the grace) they ask for in the heart and in the actualization of authentic love in their lives. Many who have embarked on this course of authentic love have felt internal resistance, Level 2 conflicts, and even fear and incipient angst as they began and pursued their journeys with God; but in the end, they received the grace of authenticity, knew they received it, knew they didn't cause it, and so they were confirmed in God's authentically loving existence and presence in their lives.

One additional clarification should be made. Some people do not confront the need for authentic love by going neatly through the levels of happiness (as might be assumed from the explanation above). Some who are experiencing the emptiness and negative emotive states of a primarily Level 2 existence may, for example, belong to a church. In their association with that church, they may see faith (Level 4) as a possible means of alleviating the negative emotive states of Level 2. When faith does help to alleviate these states, these people may begin to delve into the church more and more (through Scripture, participation in liturgy and worship, and in the pursuit of redemption). This delving into church may then cause them to reflect on authentic love (Level 3) as part of God's call.

As they pursue that call to authentic love, they will again confront the fundamental dilemma between trying to be authentic on their own or asking God for help. If they do not resolve on the latter, they will be constrained to do it for themselves and ultimately discover the same powerlessness and dashed expectations as the person coming directly from Level 3. This will likely lead to disappointment or despair.

One might ask why a person involved in a church would experience this fundamental dilemma in the same way as a person approaching it directly from Level 3. The motive is different, but the result is the same. Recall that the motive of the person approaching the need for God directly from Level 3 is confronted by his desire for heroism or autonomy ("I need to do it by myself"). The person approaching authenticity through a church may frequently be under the impression that God wants him to do it for himself. He may mistakenly think that part of his duty to God is to get to authenticity by himself, and then when he has arrived, he can invite God to be part of his life. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If God created human beings with a freedom which could well lead to a need for redemption, then God will certainly know that human beings need Him in order to achieve authentic love. If the churchgoing pursuer of authentic love sees this, then the life of faith (and authentic love) will come to fruition quite rapidly.

When one decides to ask God for help in the pursuit of authentic love (whether this come directly from Level 3 or from one's participation in a church), a greater life of authenticity grounded in a Source more powerful than oneself (confirmation) will arise. Asking God for help removes the blinders to the heart arising out of self-involvement (Level 2) and heroism (Level 3). As these blinders are gradually removed, the depth of one's desire for unconditional Love, Truth, Goodness, Fairness, Beauty, and Home becomes patently obvious. Many great spiritual autobiographies reveal this phenomenon. In addition to this, several aspects of elementary spiritual experience (such as C.S. Lewis' Joy or Rudolf Otto's mysterium tremendum) are also enhanced. By dispelling the heroism myth (conquering one's way to the redemption of self and the world) one is afforded the possibility of surrendering to God for the actualization of His will in the world.

It is now clear that agape is optimized not by achieving one's own loving will, but by becoming an instrument of God's loving will. Once this occurs, the need for church, the divine word, worship, and redemption is intensified and entered into more deeply. This, in turn, leads to a deeper desire to surrender to God's loving will and to make the activity of being an instrument to His will the core purpose of life. The moment I move from "my loving will be done" to "Thy loving will be done," the truth about myself and the truth about love, the truth about justice and the justice intrinsic to love, and the humility which makes all this possible gradually becomes apparent. When it does, I have freedom - true freedom, spiritual freedom, freedom in surrender, freedom to make God's loving will be actualized through me as instrument. Then, the fruit of agape comes alive. Herein lies the logic of Jesus Christ, St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Anwar Sadat, and the myriad of saints who have seen and tried to follow that logic and light. When one is able to live in this freedom, to actualize agape in freedom, and to feel its peace, confirmation of God's presence is self-evident.

In order to deepen this fundamental insight, we must first explore the interrelationship between faith and reason (Chapter Two), then explore the objective corroboratable evidence for the existence of God (Chapters Three through Eight), and then show how the life of agape comes to fruition through heart, prayer, and even suffering (Chapters Nine, Eleven, and Ten, respectively).

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