How does early Christian philosophy help us understand what life is?
Part I of II
There are two statements we can make regarding our universe – our reality: our universe either exists within something or it does not.
In either case, our definition of what life is becomes quite different.
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If life exists, then the definition of life would most probably have to be derived from and account for either one of these two perceptions.
If life exists within the Causative Force (panentheism), then hope rises up and engulfs all individuals equally.
Significance becomes absolute and rational rather than a possibility beyond our understanding.
On the other hand, if life does not exist within the Causative Force because there is no outside to the universe, then hope begins to die out and eventually loses the warmth and comfort it had to offer us.
Without an existence outside the universe, time becomes a major factor of our existence, for it permeates our universe.
With no outside beyond our reality, time, being a function of matter and energy, becomes a characteristic of all living things and, thus, immortality becomes an irrational concept.