Ten Life-Transforming Truths
Magis CenterEach of the following ten truths come from the “light of reason” (natural science, medicine, logic, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology) and from the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Likewise, each have the capacity to make life enhancing transformations in how we view ourselves, life’s purpose, our sense of happiness, our destiny and dignity, self-worth, self-identity, ethics and suffering well.
Furthermore, each of the ten following truths will enhance our capacity to contribute to family, community, society, the common good, and the kingdom of God.
If we neglect even one of these truths, it could cause us to underestimate our dignity and destiny in significant ways.
Venice, Italy
Our life’s purpose and path follow closely what and who we believe ourselves to be.
We have focused on the most significant truths underlying the highest purpose and path for our lives. We are dedicated to doing this in a way that is reasonable and responsible. To achieve this end, we use the best contemporary peer reviewed evidence available.
1. God Exists
God exists and is present to all of us. Moreover, he exists through himself. He is unrestricted in intelligence and intelligibility, and is the continuous creator of all else in reality.
There is considerable evidence for this from contemporary science and logical proofs.
Read Magis Encyclopedia, Interested in God, Units D & F.
2. Jesus Christ Is Emmanuel
Jesus Christ rose from the dead in a transformed, exalted state. Then he sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples and the Church.
He indicated during his ministry that he was Emmanuel (“God with us”). He also revealed that he is the only Son of the Father through a ministry of healing, exorcism, and raising the dead by his own authority and power.
There is considerable historical evidence for this.
Read Magis Encyclopedia, Interested in Jesus Christ, Units 2.3-2.7.
3. God Loves Us Unconditionally
Jesus, speaking as the exclusive Son of the Father, revealed that God is unconditional love, calling him “Abba” (“Daddy”) and comparing him to the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).
We can be sure that God, the Father of Jesus Christ, is solely concerned with saving us and bringing us to His heavenly kingdom. We need only to turn sincerely to Him with the prayer of the tax collector – “have mercy on me Lord for I am a sinner” (Luke 18:13).
There is considerable evidence for this in Jesus’ preaching and actions.
Read Magis Encyclopedia, Interested in Jesus Christ, Units 2.9 and 2.10.
4. We Have A Transphysical Soul
We are transcendental beings with a transphysical soul destined for eternal life in the unconditional love of God. There is considerable evidence for this in peer reviewed studies of near death experiences, the five transcendental desires for perfect and unconditional truth, love, goodness, beauty, and being.
Read the Magis Encyclopedia, Interested in God, Units B and C), and the latest historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection, 2.3-2.4).
If we live for anything less than our transcendental and eternal nature, we will “under-live” our lives and underestimate our dignity.
5. There Are Four Levels Of Happiness
We have four fundamental sets of internal drivers or desires, and each of these, when fulfilled, will make us happy. When unfulfilled, they will make us feel unhappy.
Happiness is the one thing we can choose in and for itself—everything else we choose for the sake of happiness. This means that our dominant view of happiness will become our purpose in life and even our self-definition or identity.
Thee are four levels of happiness:
- We can experience happiness from external, material, and sensorially pleasing objects.
- Happiness can come from ego-comparative satisfaction, such as status, recognition of intelligence, popularity, control, power, winning, achievement, or any other comparative advantage.
- We can experience happiness from contribution or care. In other words, making a positive difference not only to friends and family, but to all of the areas we touch with our lives—our organizations, communities, churches, society, culture, and the kingdom of God, can bring happiness.
- Lastly, happiness can come to someone who is living for what is ultimate, eternal, spiritual, and transcendent.
There is considerable evidence for this from philosophy, psychology, anthropology, and theology.
Read the Magis Encyclopedia, Interested in God, Unit A).
6. Only Love In Christ Will Be Ultimately Satisfying
If we live for happiness levels one and two (as if they were ends in themselves and the only ways in which we could be happy) then we will begin to feel a gradually increasing sense of emptiness for neglecting levels three and four.
We will also begin to experience emotions of the comparison game. Fear of loss of esteem, jealousy, ego sensitivities, inferiority, superiority and contempt, self-pity, rage, and blame (for not being acknowledged enough), and other negative emotions which debilitate both ourselves and others around us, are all bound to arise when we neglect the higher levels of happiness.
The way out of this malaise is to pursue love of God and neighbor as Jesus defined it in the Beatitudes (humble hearted, gentle hearted, compassionate and forgiving love).
There is considerable evidence for this from philosophy, psychology, anthropology, and theology.
Read the Magis Encyclopedia, Interested in God, Unit A.
7. God Does Not Want Us To Suffer
According to Jesus, God does not want us to suffer and does not cause suffering. God holds us in the highest empathy and compassion during our suffering.
Nevertheless, God must allow us to suffer like any parent must allow their child to go to school and into the real world—to make their own decisions—including mistakes, and to learn how to be courageous in the face of fear, to be restrained in the face of desire and passion, to be compassionate instead of disdainful to those who are vulnerable and needy, to choose the high road rather than the low road, and to choose God instead of the glories of this world.
The evidence for this is in the preaching of Jesus Christ as well as contemporary philosophy and psychology.
Read the Magis Encyclopedia, Interested in God, Units K and L.
8. God Brings Good and Salvation out of All Suffering
According to Jesus, God intends to use every bit of our suffering to bring us and others into his eternal life of unconditional love and joy.
He will also use that suffering to help us toward a virtuous, loving, and transcendent self-definition, enabling us to help others toward virtue, love, and transcendence as well.
When we recognize this, we can transform our suffering from an isolating and embittering experience into one of identity transformation, self-gift, and transcendence.
Read the Magis Encyclopedia, Interested in God, Units K and L.
9. We Are Spiritual Beings Influenced by Good and Evil Spirits
Because of our transcendent, transphysical, and eternal nature, we are also spiritual beings, and we are subject to the suggestions and impressions of other spiritual beings—notably a spirit that loves us and is calling us to eternal love (the Holy Spirit) and other spirits that do not love us and are trying to bring us into their own narcissism and darkness (evil spirits).
Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we are caught up in a cosmic struggle between good and evil, in which the Holy Spirit and evil spirits are not only trying to bring us to themselves, but also calling us to their side—to contribute either to the cause of love and goodness or the side of narcissism and darkness.
The evidence for this is in our natural propensity toward the sacred. Is also proven by the prolific evidence of the Holy Spirit and evil spirits in the world. Lastly, it is evident in the preaching of Jesus Christ.
10. There Are Ways to Defend Against Evil and Contribute to the Kingdom of God
According to Jesus, to protect ourselves against the influences of evil and to make a contribution to the side of love and goodness (rather than the side of evil and darkness) we will want to belong to a church community, to pray regularly, to practice a moral code, and to prayerfully reflect on Scripture.
Even with these four interrelated life-habits, we are quite vulnerable to incursion by evil and resistance to goodness and love; without them, we are virtually defenseless.
The evidence for this is in the preaching of Jesus Christ. It is also evident in the teachings and biographies of virtually every holy person throughout recorded history.
This article was first published on the Magis Center Blog. It has been republished on the Ascension Blog with permission.