Why Are We Created? Increasing Our Understanding of Humanity's Purpose on Earth

By John Marks Templeton

Book Overview

While many books strive to stimulate thinking through provocative anecdotes and theories, Why Are We Created? takes a different path. It begins with a question and continues with a multitude of questions like these:

-What is the importance of recognizing the presence of the sacred within us and around us?
-How can individuals create a purposeful and fruitful way of life?
-How does happiness relate to one's purpose? The intent of these questions is to encourage thoughtfulness, observation, and research that enlarges understanding while offering a sense of direction. The goal is to help individuals live a more useful and happy life. Sir John and Reverend Dunlap use the questions to help readers explore the role of humility as a key to knowledge and progress. They look at the creative power of purposeful thinking and ask how life might be changed if we refuse to dwell on any thought we would not want objectified in our life. They pose questions related to consciously directing one's life. Helping to shed light on the possible connection between spiritual principles and human concepts is commentary from a wide range of sources: the scriptures, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein, Edward O. Wilson, Emanuel Swedenborg, Emmet Fox, A. H. Maslow, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among many others. Author Information

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932031294
• ISBN13: 9781932031294
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Templeton Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.2" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

For anyone trying to understand themselves and their relationship to themselves and to the people wh

"Why Are We Created?: Increasing Our Understanding Of Humanity's Purpose On Earth" by Sir John Templeton and Rebeka Alezander Dunlap is a four hour and ten minute audiobook recording on four CDs. Expertly narrated by Brea Brannon and Len Stea, "Why Are We Created?" addresses such issues as whether or not happiness is related to our purpose, or it our purpose is related to our happiness. If a person places a particular virtue such as honesty at the top of his list of personal ethics what benefit does this bring to him and to others around him? Sir John Templeton felt that there is more to life than what we may presently be experiencing and that we might be living successfully in the outer world, but that it was essential for our happiness to also live successfully in our inner world. Indeed, it was through awakening our spiritual faculties that we can begin to move closer to understanding our personal purpose in life -- and the power of that purpose to drive and shape our lives. "Why Are We Created" is thoughtful and thought- provoking listening for anyone trying to understand themselves and their relationship to themselves and to the people who surround them. Also very highly recommended from the Templeton Foundation Press are two other new CD formatted audiobook releases: "Wisdom From World Religions: Pathways Toward Heaven On Earth" (Sir John Templeton, 1932031839, $29.95) and "Possibilities For Over One Hundredfold More Spiritual Information: The Humble Approach In Theology And Science (Sir John Templeton, 1932031847, $14.95).

Making Sense of Spirituality

REEVIEW OF; ?WHY ARE WE CREATED,? BY Sir John Templeton and Rebekah Alezander Dunlap.This is a valuable book, a small one of less than 150 pages, it is packed with seemingly unanserable questions over which we may ponder, yet with many suggested pathways our thought processes might follow.There is much to be gained by pondering these questions, which makes the work far greater than its lack of bulk. It is a book about human potential, which builds evidence of humanity possessing a ?Splendor that can Shine,? as potential already achieved.The language gets lyrical, even within the introduction, talking about humans possessing , ?The ability to choose to move to a higher spiritual level of consciousness...?, (my italics,). It speaks of, ?A divine intelligence flowing through all of us,? and offers guidance on living this potential. It states, ?As we begin to elevate the thoughts, feelings, and actions of daily decision making in our individual lives, surely we will be making progress on the path of the sacred quest for all of humanity.? The book draws material from all major religions, and attempts as broad a sweep as possible to avoid seeming to favor any one path or philosophy. When posing the question about some creative source of the universe, it does lean toward a positive assumption to give life and meaning to the questioning process. Then poses a further question, ?Has our human concept of this creative source been too small?? Much of the book hints at knowledge beyond our understanding, and things that are unseen being much more than that which is seen. This offers the reader a major puzzle to ponder, for if a thing lies beyond our ability to understand it, what might that thing mean to us?Living life with a purpose is a major theme in the myriad of questions populating the pages. It makes the statement that ?The most fascinating phase of the human journey is its spiritual development,? and then adds that, ?Purpose is already there within us...waiting to be discovered.?One major theme in the book has to do with a person having the opportunity to feel part of a vast cosmic experiment, one encompassing all of creation, including themselves, just by being alive.If giving reasons for a person to live a spiritual life makes this a religious book, then it is one of the most religious books I have ever read. It states, ?What we are is the creator?s gift to us. What we may become is our gift to the creator.? It then adds, ?The person who is willing to say ?yes? to experience is the person who often discovers new frontiers.?I personally found the concluding pages of the book to be a challenging summary of the material, and the many questions posed within. It is a book for the 21st century. The book urges a synthesis of the main themes within all major religions to be a new understanding for the 21st century human. One that will better equip that human to answer the primary question that is the title of the book, ?Why Are We Created.?