What is the purpose of life? (Intellectual answers only please)?

Question

there is so much mess in this world and so many beliefs and religions....one must be right.......there must be a purpose to life....what is it?

Answer 1

You are actually asking two different questions:

1. What is the purpose of life?
2. What is the meaning of life?

By way of example -- if I hold up an empty water balloon and ask you what it's purpose is, the most basic answer is 'water transportation via aerial mode.' That's all the purpose is -- it is a reason for existing. If it is sitting on a shelf in a store, it has that purpose, if it's in my hand filled and ready to go, it has that purpose.

Meaning, however, is something that is ascribed to an object. I fill such a balloon with water so that I can tag my mother during the next family reunion summer-fun party. That is now its meaning -- joy and playfulness. It did not have that meaning on the store shelf. There, at the store, its meaning was profit -- the owner of the store hoped someone would buy it and thus the owner would make profit off it.

So to go back to your questions -- what is the purpose of life? It has none. To have a purpose means that an intelligent being must have created it. Purpose is an intended direction, a best-suited direction, and life has no creator nor an intended direction. Life is inherantly purposeless.

What is the meaning of life? Because we are self-aware, even in acknowledging the purposelessness of life, we can ascribe a meaning to it. For many people, this meaning is little more than that they hope to live day by day. Some people make religion their meaning, others knowledge, others intentionally make hate or cruelty their meaning -- no one said all meaning has to be good. It just gives us a reason to wake up in the morning and defy our purposelessness.

Answer 2

I think their are several purposes. There is the natural, biological purpose of reproduction and survival. But since we evolved so much from the norm of the environment, we took on other purposes. Chief among those is to live a comfortable, happy life, sharing of ourselves with others, taking care of children and most of all...learning and educating. Learning, building on that with further education, then passing on what we have learned is the ultimate purpose in life.

Oh, yea, and to stop and have a cold beer every once in a while is a good purpose too!

Answer 3

Genesis says that when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge they "became like unto Gods". I think there in lies the key. Knowledge is what life is about. That is the true power. God (and most modern religions) did not want man "smart", merely compiant. I think had they partaken of the tree of life they would have known this. Odd that only the tree of knowledge and of life were forbidden? Also odd that the more man understood or questioned the more it upset the God figure. They were punished for building the tower of Babel-engineering feat, and mankind's lifespan limiteds to a mere 120yrs from the 100's it previously was. Live and learn. That's it. It is that simple, and that truth you take with you. If you must worship worship knowledge.

Answer 4

The purpose of life is whatever makes sense to you. There is no universal truth- every religion is true and necissary in that it is true and necissary for the person that holds it. I'm a Christian (albeit an unconventional one) and I believe God created man because He wanted to share the love He had. That comforts me and makes me happy, but if you don't believe the same then the fact will mean nothing to you. If you believe that the reason for life on earth is cheese sandwiches, for example, and if that belief makes you happy, then all the more power to you.

So the whole meaning of life thing is pretty much up in the air for all eternity, but that's the wayit should be.

Answer 5

In my personal opinion, life is a training ground for eternity. I believe in life we need to learn how to love, be compassionate, forgiving, caring, humility, honesty, self controll and kindness... if we cannot learn these things here, how could we expect to have these things in eternity.

One theory about eternity I have heard, not that I would say it's what I believe but it definitely made me think. It is that We spend eternity feeling the way we have made other's feel. I dont believe it's true but it could be... and I know I wouldnt want to be on the bad side of that. Regardless, being a loving and caring person wont hurt anyone.

Answer 6

A journey towards heaven. All must discern the right means of achieving this purpose. Therefore to become truly who we are, the living presence of Jesus Christ. The why is to know love and serve the creator God our Father in heaven. This is the real reality whether the human person excepts this or not.

Answer 7

The purpose of life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.

for everything, absolutely everything, above and below visible and invisible... everything got started in him and finds it's purpose in him. Colossians 1:16

Answer 8

There is no purpose to life. It is man's ability and place on earth as the most intelligent being to BELEIVE that there is some purpose for life. But there is not. Our only purpose is to leave behind our progeny and continue on the species....just like every other living orgainism on earth.

*EDIT* Damn that JP - he is so freakin eloquent!! Well said friend! He said it better than I could have if I tried a thousand times...

Answer 9

There's no purpose built-in, biologically speaking apart from to replicate - any human being who is ok with that I would say is ethically and intellectually identical to a bacterium.

If you become an atheist you can be scared for 5 minutes until you realise the truth - you can give it a purpose.

Then you'll spend the rest of your life feeling sorry for the pathetic and ignorant theists.

Answer 10

The purpose of life is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

What? But everybody dies...and whats the difference between immortality and eternal life, aren't they the same thing?

I believe everyone that has lived on the earth had a spirit and intelligence and had progressed as far as they could before coming to earth. When we are born the spirt and body are joined and we gain experience and with our choices can show what kind of a person we are. God, our Father (of our spirits) sent us here to gain a body and show by our faith who we are. Also, in the world are death and sin. God knew about this and sent his son to overcome death (Immortality, free gift, everyone will be resurrected and get a perfected body back someday) and to pay for our sins (which requires us to repent and follow what is right). After the resurrection comes a judgement and if we do what is required of us, we will receive eternal life, which is to live with God forever.

1 Corinthians 15:
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all asleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Romans 2:
2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: