Matter cant make matter matter.

The worldview of materialism teaches that matter alone is eternal. In the beginning there was
matter held together by energy bonds, so to be accurate it is matter/energy that has always
existed. Matter can be transformed into energy (nuclear reactions do this), and globs of matter
held together by energy can be taken apart, releasing the energy that held the globs together,
which then is used to hold other globs of matter together. Matter sticks to other matter, and
everything that has ever existed is merely some conglomeration of matter or another.

In 940 B.C., a man wrote, Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them
are meaningless Again I saw something meaningless under the sun Everything to come is
meaningless. Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. Everything is meaningless!
(Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14, 4:7, 11:8, 12:8) 1.

35 times this man uses the Hebrew word hebel translated as meaninglessness, emptiness,
futility, vanity, about all kinds of things and states of being.
32 times he uses the term under the sun or under heaven, signifying all that is to be
found in the universe or can be experienced in the universe, when observed without
reference to God.

There is an unmistakable desperation in his cries. This man, with virtually limitless wealth and
labor at his disposal, has searched interminably for meaning in the mere material universe, and
hes come up empty, time and time again.

Apart from God, this teacher, this collector of wise sayings, cant find any way to make mere
stuff and experiences meaningful, and he hasnt observed anyone else who has succeeded in
finding meaning under the sun, either.

He just cant make matter matter.

It makes sense that he has failed.

If there is just matter, then theres

no good or bad
no right or wrong
no beautiful or ugly
no heroic or cowardly
no generosity or stinginess
no love or hate

Matter is made of particles, particles such as atoms and parts of atoms, held together by positive
and negative electrical charges and strong or weak binding forces.

1
All Scripture passages are from NIV (1984).
We can chart these
atoms as having certain
material attributes, but
no real value to
distinguish one from any
other.

Is cobalt good?
Is strontium bad?
Is caesium true?
Is radon false?
Is einsteinium
wise?
Is boron boring?
Is neptunium
out-of-this-world
cool?

Atoms, elements,
particles just are.
Theres nothing any one of them is supposed to stand for. Theres no way any one atom or
particle can let another atom or particle down; theres no reason for matter to get disappointed or
thrilled about matter, at all.

Matter just is.

So, theres no way to attach any lasting or inherent value to any matter. Matter by itself is
meaningless.

This is reflected in Psalm 14:1: The fool says in his heart, There is no God. By claiming that
there is only just matter, and excluding the non-material person (God), the materialist has no
basis for meaning. Try as he might, he cant prove that any object is better than any other object.
He cant prove that any state of affairs or condition is more desirable than any other.

What does it matter to mere matter if one glob of matter is well fed and another goes
hungry?
Why would it be wrong for one glob of matter to ignore another glob of matter?
How is it unjust for one glob of matter that happens to be living to act upon another glob
of matter and transform it into a non-living glob?
The atoms dont have feelings. Protons dont have dreams. Neutrons dont desire.
Electrons cant sing or laugh or cry. Bosons and quarks and neutrinos and electrical
charges and binding forces dont have bad days or good days.
You cant destroy them. You cant create them. They just are.
Not even one of them is a subject. Each one is an object, acting upon or being acted upon
by all the other objects in proximity, meaninglessly.
Even the natural laws of physics and chemistry and biology that predict what happens with
atoms have no overarching purpose. They are merely systematized descriptions of how matter
typically behaves.

Romans 1:18-20, 25 Willingly claiming that matter is the ultimate, the materialists worship
accordingly.

It is foolish to live as if there is no God, for you cut yourself off from all meaning.

No wonder Isaiah mocked the artisans who crafted idols:

All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who
would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who shapes a
god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing? He and his kind will be put to
shame; craftsmen are nothing but men. Let them all come together and take their stand;
they will be brought down to terror and infamy. The blacksmith takes a tool and works
with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his
arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The
carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with
chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his
glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
It is mans fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and
bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down
to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat
and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, Ah! I am warm; I see the fire. From
the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and
says, Save me; you are my god. They know nothing, they understand nothing; their
eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot
understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?
He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, Is not
this thing in my right hand a lie? (44:9-20)

What does give meaning? How can matter matter?

Only the being who pre-existed matter, the One who freely created matter out of nothing but
sheer will, by His word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing
was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The
light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1:1-5)
In a library, we deal every day with a lot of matter, both in print and in electronic form.

We select it.
We order it.
We receive it.
We process it.
We configure it.
We catalog it.
We shelve it.
We explain how to find it.
We circulate it.
We preserve it, protect it, and promote it.

How can we know any of it matters?

Mere matter cannot make matter ever matter.

The God who created all matter and all immaterial souls wins over human beings. They matter
to Him. He loves them, and introduces Himself to them, and woos them. Some of them turn to
Him. Some of those become His library workers.

He shines His light into the minds and hearts of these servants so they can discover the meaning
of all this matter that they work with. They begin to understand, and keep growing in
understanding.

Then, to all who come through the gates or log on to the website, they make the meaning
available and accessible.

And then the matter matters.