Man Created God(S)

By Elias P. Stergakos Ph.D.

The search to establish what is true and real regarding creation, life, and metaphysical states has tormented the human mind for millennia and has instigated many intense discussions. It was a brightly moonlit, star-studded sky when the heavenly bodies instigated a similar discussion between two friendsPotes and Mitsos, the two characters of this book.

Potes is aware of the animosity that political and theological discussions could bring about, even between two good friends, whenever they have deep-rooted philosophical differences in those subjects; and he would rather not have them. However, he is not afraid to express his opinion when goaded. Mitsos, on the other hand, is persistent and adamant in his religious beliefs, traditions, and in the existence of Almighty God. In the dialogue between the two, Potes projects his convictions using scientific facts as well as quotations from the Bible while Mitsos, a good and faithful Christian, questions his friends position not only using theological philosophies and traditions that have stood the test of time but also using in defense of his position Crito by Plato and The Clouds by Aristophanes.

None of the two characters of the book is a monolith. The comments or questions of one cause the other to think before he responds, and the combination of the two induce questions into the readers mind as to who of the two is correct. The conversation is bold and daring, considering the time period and the religious and social environment that prevailed when it assumingly took place. For Potes, the scientist, more than Mitsos, the religion teacher, no religious matter is considered taboo to be excluded from discussion and for its validity not to be examined. The dialogue does not delve into the rudimentary bases of the Christian religion only but also into, among other thigs, the Greco-Roman gods, the existence of the soul, the four related supernatural events (miracles, apotheosis, resurrection, and ascension), Genesis of the old testament versus cosmogenesis (the Big Bang theory), biopoiesis, cosmotheism, autocracy versus democracy, and not the least, the efficacy of hope.

This is a book that demands an open mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984538857

Elias P. Stergakos Ph.D.

Elias P. Stergakos Was born in a small village south of Sparta, Greece in 1942 during the middle of the Second World War and when the country was under German and Italian occupation. He lived there all of his childhood except during one year where he attended the first year of gymnasium in Athens. In May of 1956 he and his younger brother crossed the Atlantic on a ship to join his father and three other brothers in the USA as immigrants. He continued his education and got his undergraduate degree in physics, his Masters in high energy physics and PhD in nuclear science and engineering; all within eight years. He worked in the private industry where he climb the administrative ladder within the companies for which he worked. Despite the fact that he chose physical science for the basis of his career, philosophy was an area that always attracted him and spent time reading related literary works. Among those literary works were those of Plato which apparently molded his way of thinking. He is presently retired and spends most of his time on the hobby of his life which is reading and writing. He has published an inspirational fable entitled The Sparrow, the Frog, and the Spider. Also, geological, volcanic and geographic characteristics, as documented by Plato, as well as discovered archaeological artifacts served as the bases for his book entitled Atlantis an Aegean Island, a Myth Not.

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Copyright © 2018 by Elias P.Stergakos, Ph.D.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2018907868

           ISBN:            Hardcover          978-1-9845-3887-1

                                 Softcover            978-1-9845-3886-4

                                 eBook                   978-1-9845-3885-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/10/2018

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CONTENTS

Chapter One

•   God, Religion, and Science

•   God(s): Man’s Creation(s)

•   Regarding Soul

•   Religion’s Deep Roots

Chapter Two

•   Bible’s Accuracy

•   Parthenogenesis and Mary’s Virginity

•   God: Accessory to Mass Slaughter?

•   Genealogy/ Humanity’s Age

•   God the Discriminator?

Chapter Three

•   Christ’s Existence/ Deity

•   Christ - Megalomaniac?

•   Christ - Salesman?

•   Christ - Prejudicial?

•   Christ - Mere Human?

•   Miracles and Other Supernatural

Chapter Four

•   Cosmos - Point of View

•   Cosmothanasia/ Cosmogenesis

•   Biopoiesis

•   Exoplanetarian Life

To all those

who search to find truth and reality

Chapter One

The cool breeze that rolled gently down from Taygetos’s sky-touching peaks relieved the Laconian ridges and plain from the furnace-like summer heat. The bright full moon and the myriad flickering stars glued onto the lucid sky caused every object on land to cast a soft but distinct shadow on the parched ground. The only thing that disturbed the tranquility of the countryside was the mating call of few male cicadas and the lazy barking of some dogs in response to a couple of jackals’ crying howl coming from the hills.

In the village square of Potamia, villagers of all ages had packed the outdoor areas of the three taverns and the one café surrounding the square carrying out exuberant conversations among themselves. In the middle of the square, carefree children were playing all types of games, running around and bumping every now and then onto adults who had chosen to promenade. Bouzouki music from the cassette players of two of the taverns was reverberating throughout the square adding to the vivacious atmosphere.

In the east outskirts of the village and on the second-floor balcony of one of the 107 homes of the village sat silently two men on straw chairs on opposite sides of a small square table covered by an immaculate white tablecloth. A shiny brown clay plate in the middle of the table held a small pile of purple-brown Kalamata-olive kernels, scattered white crumbs of feta cheese, and two bronze-silvery slivers of herring. The ends of the prongs of two small stainless steel forks that were at 180 degrees to each other were touching the rim of the plate, pointing down and with their handles resting on the table. The rose wine in the more-than-half-full glasses sparkled in the soothing night skylight. By one of the wooden legs of the table, there was a rush-sheathed demijohn containing locally made wine. It was the same type of aromatic wine that, for millennia now, either puts the Lacones in a vivacious mood which makes them dance and sing their hearts out, spill their brain’s and heart’s secrets out or puts them in a deep search of their memory reminiscing their past either melancholically or happily, depending on their mood.

Potes and Mitsos, as their names were, sat silently and could barely hear what was going on in the center of the village. Both of them were in their early seventies. They were born the same year, one house apart from each other, and were friends since childhood. The wrinkles that crisscrossed their foreheads and unshaved faces reflected their exposure to the bright sun and wind elements of the Greek countryside as well as the hardships that they had gone through in life.

God, Religion, and Science

Mitsos was gazing at the mysteries of the sky, and Potes was staring at a mulberry tree intertwined with grapevines full with ripened purple-red as well as yellowish-green grapes. The two friends had just finished identifying some of the world’s problems and had come up with solutions for most of them. For those that they could not come up with a solution, they would impute their being insolvable on the power games and intrigues that the big nations were engaged in relative to themselves and to the remaining of the world in order to maintain and, in some cases, expand their influence.

Potes slowly picked up with his fork one of the two remaining herring pieces, put it into his mouth, and tardily chewed on it. He then picked up his glass and, with his sight still gazing at the mulberry tree with the grapevines, drank some of the wine, leisurely giving time for his taste buds to enjoy every drop before he swallowed it. It was right after that when Mitsos, still gazing at the sky, asked in a very serious tone the most curious and unexpected question of the night,Potes, God created us and life in general as well as the whole universe. Included among all his creations are all the stars and the different constellations. Why didn’t he create a constellation to constantly remind us of his or his Son’s glory? Instead, he created a bear, a scorpion, a lyre, and so many more images, including one of Hercules, the son of the Olympian god, Zeus. Isn’t it rather strange that he didn’t create one, for example, of Christ or Virgin Mary?

Potes seemed astounded by his friend’s question. He took his sight from the mulberry tree with the intertwined grapevines and slowly turned his head toward Mitsos, who was still gazing at the sky. He looked at him quizzically and asked with a tone that showed both disbelief and surprise, Mitsos, I’m astounded at your question. Are you serious?

Of course, I am, replied Mitsos.

Potes, stunned by his friend’s reply, took a couple of seconds as if he wanted to think and then said,"Mitsos, you and I have witnessed very catastrophic wars where properties were destroyed and many innocent people killed. We saw our comrades blown apart during battles and parts of their bodies strewed around no differently than any animal been torn apart by a wild, carnivorous beast. We barely survived a famine during the German and Italian occupation, but thousands of our fellow citizens in the cities never did. Then we went through a horrific civil war where even siblings killed siblings and tightly knit families were bitterly divided. And all these caused, as you know, indescribable human sufferings. From the technological perspective, we have seen such amazing scientific advances that not only we but also I would dare say very few humans had dreamed of them when we were growing up. For example, recently, the Americans sent a man to the moon. Also, medical science achieved organ transplants from one human to another.

With such life experience that we have gone through, you still believe that there is a kind, just, omnipotent, and omniscient entity called God who created and controls us as well as the whole universe and who adorned the sky with the different constellations?

Yes, I do!

And you believe that the ultimate creation of this entity called God was the human race over which he has control?

Of course, I do. Why do you ask me such questions when you should know what my answers would be? Don’t you remember? I was a high school teacher who taught not only ancient Greek but also religion.

Potes apparently chose not to pay attention to his friend’s answers and continued with his questioning, Should then I assume that you also believe that God is so loving, just, merciful, and compassionate that he sent Christ, his only Son down onto earth, through a young virgin named Mary, to save us from our sins?

"Potes, I do believe in God, and he is all that you said. Yes, I do believe that there is someone above us who created and controls the whole universe. He also created us and has control of our lives. He determines both life and death. And I do believe that God sent down onto earth his Son, through Virgin Mary, to save us from our sins.

Why are you asking such strange questions? And why do you pose them in such a way, giving the impression that you have reservations regarding God, Christ, and Virgin Mary?

Mitsos, I would be lying if I said that I simply have reservations. The fact is that I don’t believe in anything you just said that you believe in!

It was apparently Mitsos’s turn now to be surprised by his friend, and the tone of his voice showed it when he asked, "How can you say that? Are there no times when you realize how insignificant all the human achievements are relative to the creation and perpetuation of life and also relative to all the other wonders of the cosmos? Also, don’t you sometimes feel so powerless and desperate which make you turn to God for help?

"Mitsos, I believe there is a scientific explanation for the creation and perpetuation of life and for all other ‘wonders of the cosmos,’ as you put it. And, yes, there have been times, and I’m sure there will be similar times in the future, when I will feel frustrated, powerless, and even desperate for help because of my inability to overcome some of my personal problems or those of my family’s. During such times, I, as most people do, search for someone around who can help me. However, if there is no one, I do not start praying to or supplicate some powerful entity that assumably has control over my actions and my life, begging it for help. And this is because there is no tangible proof that such a powerful entity does exist and can be relied upon with any persistency or in any way whatsoever. There has never been any scientific evidence of any palpable response to requests made by pious people to God through prayer, supplication, litany, or by any combination of these or other similar method to prevent or correct personal tragedies, widespread catastrophes, or national calamities.

Regarding life and death, let me first say that I do consider life to be beautiful and desirable. Personally, I wish I could have had the power to extend its length if I wanted to. However, my inability to define my life span and my lack of knowledge of the complex somatic functions do not lead me to the conclusion that there must be an omnipotent entity who gave me life and who will decide when to take it away from me.

Potes stopped talking for a second, and although he observed his friend’s stupefied facial expression, it did not cause him to stop talking and continued in a contemplative tone.

"Mitsos, everything in the cosmos is in entropy, in flight, and that includes life. Nothing stands still. Our creation and that of every other living organism as well as that of the whole universe are the product of an active synergy between matter and energy. All creations, variations, changes, and destructions that take place on