“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience… (1Peter 3:15)
When I teach adults, I usually begin by asking how they came to believe in God, I usually hear “It’s what my parents taught me.” My response to them is “ When you were a child, your parents probably told you about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and I doubt that you still believe it, …so what is different?”
Admittedly, it is a thought provoking question, but safe to say we are not saved because of what someone else tells us.
There is but one God, and the “reason” or account that each of us is to give is personal to our own experience and relationship to the Almighty. As children, we trust parents and teachers to guide us. As we grow in spiritual adulthood our conviction of faith, while not being exclusive of community, is between God and I.
Do you ever wonder what your faith in God would be if instead – you had been born of Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, or indigenous parents? What would your engagement with God be? How would it be different, if at all? Now, I know we do not get to choose our parents so it is unrealistic to have been born other than what has occurred, but – consider how much of your faith is conditioned by your environment, community, and book knowledge compared to your “first hand” human experience of the divine.
In John Paul II’s 1988 encyclical “Faith and Reason,” it states:
“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human mind and heart a desire to know the truth–in a word, to know Himself–so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”
Going back to the introductory quote from 1 Peter:
My mind cannot believe the physical universe just came to be out of chance.
I live each day knowing that, at best, I recognize only a fragment of God’s fullness and that I am blessed to participate in his divinity. There are, at least, a half dozen moments in my life where I can only point to a “power” beyond myself and to which I consider the Grace of the Holy Spirit as operative. When I was Confirmed at twelve, I consciously willed discipleship to Christ and felt such a stirring of the Holy Spirit in my being that even today the moment remains real (and present). It was truly a significant “faith” event but note that if I had not been catechized in the faith, I would not have even been at the church that evening. Regardless, that was my first personal experience and conviction of God’s existence and presence in my life. And even in spite of my many failings – I have never felt abandoned by God’s Spirit. It is how I understand God’s Love.
Other moments where I have experienced intense Grace are: the gift of my children, Reconciliation, Liturgy, the death of my father, select moments in ministry, and even “new life” after the “little deaths” such as the loss of spouse, marriage, and experienced injustices, etc. The more I live this life, the more I see the paschal mystery as the overarching cycle in this life. It is that – to which my faith and hope hang onto Jesus and the gospel.
My upbringing and adult spiritual and theological formation have gone a long way in filling huge gaps in knowledge but, knowledge alone means little if it is not supported by a “lived” faith. The statement “faith builds upon and perfects reason” is believable to me because it characterizes my own experience. On the other hand, our ability to know God and the invitation to participate in the life of God (ie. Grace, CCC1997) is given freely and undeserved.
As a modern people, we continue the tradition of the Greek philosophers and all the religious theologians (ever since) in debates of God’s existence which emphasize either; Reason over Revelation, Revelation over Reason, Reason Only, Faith Only, or Faith and Reason. Sadly, I doubt we are any closer; considering we could put 10 (clergy or laity) in a room to discuss the meaning of any doctrine or dogma and still get 10 different teachings. To what do we attribute this human need to differentiate and divide,… is it our innate desire to know God or just prideful triumphalism? …I do not know.
Since our knowledge of God is limited, our language about him is equally so. [Therefore,] … the Church is expressing her confidence in the possibility of speaking about him to all men and with all men, and therefore of dialogue with other religions, with philosophy and science, as well as with unbelievers and atheists. (CCC 40, 39).
So, let us keep talking with gentleness and respect:
What is your reason for the hope that you have?
The featured image is from the lower right hand corner of a Russian icon of the Nativity. The focus is on St. Joseph who according to Matthew’s gospel (ch1:18) was struggling with great doubt upon the news of Mary’s pregnancy knowing they had not come together. He was considering sending her away. I am told the little curmudgeon facing Joseph is representative of the fears and doubts he is struggling with. But as Joseph considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, ” Do not fear to take Mary your wife… When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded…”
