One fascinating facet of humanity is how many different religions we have. And for every religion there are people who are sincerely convinced that it’s the truth.
While I doubt anyone would argue that Christians should remain wholly ignorant of the beliefs of other religions, I do wonder what your approach is to learning about other religions.
How much should we learn about other religions?
The day one of my parents’ peers requested to be my friend on facebook I knew that social networking was here to stay. There’s something about connecting with each other that just makes sense, even for people who five years ago would barely take a second glance at a computer.
For those that do participate in social networks, I’d like to ask you: has social networking had a positive impact on your faith?
If I were to go to your Facebook page, what would I see listed under “Religious Views”?
Defining your “Religious Views” can be a deceptively complicated experience. Many people aren’t comfortable with labeling themselves so succinctly, because taking on a label often means taking on all the connotations of that label. You might understand what it means to be “Baptist” or “Catholic,” but do all of your acquaintances and friends? Will they in turn label you as a nutcase if you say you’re “Presbyterian?” Should you care if they look at you askance for being “Anglican?”
A recent conversation on the definition of the term ‘evangelical’ comes to mind (see this Jesus Creed post if you’re interested in exploring that). Nowadays, the word “Evangelical” carries some very unchristian baggage along with it in some people’s minds.
A Washingtonpost.com article, Soul-Searching on Facebook, provides some insight into the thought process that goes into the “Religious Views” question:
Creating a Facebook profile for the first time, Eric Heim hadn’t expected something so serious. Hunched over his laptop, he had whipped through the social network Web site’s questionnaire about his interests, favorite movies and relationship status, typing witty replies wherever possible. But when he reached the little blank box asking for his core beliefs, it stopped him short.
“It’s Facebook. The whole point is to keep it light and playful, you know?” said Heim, 27, a college student from Dumfries. “But a question like that kind of makes you think.”
[...]
Of its 250 million users worldwide, Facebook says more than 150 million people choose to write something in the religious views box.
Later in the article Piotr Bobkowski, a doctoral student at UNC, talks about his research:
He has found that a significant portion of privately religious young adults — almost a third in the case of Protestants — avoid identifying themselves by their traditional sects.
Many teens, Bobkowski said, prefer to portray themselves as spiritual but not religious: “That’s why you see all these little one-line creeds popping up.”
What about you? What does your Facebook profile say your religious views are? Do you think there’s good reason for religious people to tiptoe around labels?
Often in times of trouble we run to God for answers and comfort, and we often emerge from the experience more faithful then we were before; however, I don’t think I’m alone in wondering if pain and suffering are absolutely necessary to our faith in Christ.
So, what do you think, is suffering an essential part of faith?
Last year an 11-year-old girl died in her parent’s living room during a prayer meeting. The meeting was called to ask God to heal the girl. It turns out the parents had decided not to take her to a doctor even though she was showing signs of sickness. They instead choose to rely on prayer and faith.
Today, a judge sentenced them each to 6 months jail time and 10 years of probation for letting their daughter die:
Marathon County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Howard told the Neumanns they were “very good people, raising their family who made a bad decision, a reckless decision.”
“God probably works through other people,” he told the parents, “some of them doctors.” [...]
During the sentencing hearing, Leilani Neumann, 41, told the judge her family is loving and forgiving and has wrongly been portrayed as religious zealots.
“I do not regret trusting truly in the Lord for my daughter’s health,” she said. “Did we know she had a fatal illness? No. Did we act to the best of our knowledge? Yes.”
Dale Neumann, 47, read from the Bible and told the judge that he loved his daughter.
“I am guilty of trusting my Lord’s wisdom completely. … Guilty of asking for heavenly intervention. Guilty of following Jesus Christ when the whole world does not understand. Guilty of obeying my God,” he said.
From the Neumann’s perspective, they followed the only appropriate course. They took Jesus’ words about faith and attempted to put them into practice by trusting in faith alone to heal their daughter. After all, faith can move mountains, right?
In my family, we too pray for healing, except we also go to doctors. This morning I got a tetanus shot because if I step on a rusty nail in a few years I don’t want to die from it. Yet despite this fear, I’ve spent a grand total of zero minutes of my life praying that God would protect me from tetanus.
Likewise for any other ailment in my life: I have faith that God will heal me, but that faith is in God guiding the doctor’s hands.
In a lot of ways, the faith of the Neumanns is astounding to me. They’re clinging to their beliefs even when the judicial system has told them they seriously need to reconsider.
What about you, where do you draw the line between trusting in God and trusting in men? Are they even exclusive of each other?
And if you can keep it civil, what do you think about how the Neumann’s handled the situation?
Sometimes, it’s easy to convince ourselves that quitting is the best option. Would it really be that bad if we were to break our diet? Would it be terrible to give up on a rocky relationship? Would it really hurt anybody if we just stopped reading the Bible?
In our best moments, I think we all know quitting difficult things just because they are difficult is never the best option. Yet, there’s often a very loud voice in our head screaming a panoply of reasons why we should reconsider those commitments.
Michael Hyatt—the CEO of Thomas Nelson, Inc.—articulates how he counteracts these thoughts in his post, What Keeps You Going When You Want to Quit. It really has me thinking about why I don’t give up on certain things, and why I have—possibly foolishly—quit others.
Here’s a brief excerpt:
What these same voices fail to tell you is that there is a distinction between the dream and the work required to obtain it. Everything important requires work. Hard work. And sometimes there is a long arc between the dream and it’s realization. That is where the work and the transformation occur.
In my experience, the thing that keeps me going is answering this question, “Why am I doing this?” I then try to remember the dream. “Why I am doing this hard thing that I am doing.” I try to get connected to the original vision, because that keeps me going when the going gets tough.
There are a few verses in the second chapter of Job that have stuck with me ever since I first read them. Job has just lost everything he owns and is covered in sores. Sitting destitute in the street, his wife comes to him and tells him to curse God and die. He amazingly responds, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
Job’s wife has given up on the situation, and if we were honest, many of us would as well. We’d start to reconsider our commitment to a God that would allow such heartache. Yet, Job examines the situation and concludes that it’s not for him to judge his commitment to God based on his present circumstances. As Mr. Hyatt would say, he stayed “connected to the original vision.”
What about you? What keeps you going when times get hard?
One of the most pervasive critiques of the Christian faith is the charge that it’s nothing more than a “psychological crutch.” Is God an invention of the mind, a fantasy we’ve imagined into being to give our lives some sense of meaning and purpose? Is belief in God something for the weak—a childish gullibility, a way of avoiding reality?
Amy Orr-Ewing tackles this question head-on in her essay Is Believing in God a Psychological Crutch? She traces the “psychological crutch” charge back to Freud, and offers a Christian response:
From [Freud's] perspective, God is merely a creation of the human mind, a projection emanating from human need and desire rather than a distinct reality or being that exists independently of the human mind. Freud’s notion of God acting as an idealized father figure for humans, providing a cushion from the harshness of the real world and a comforting friend in the midst of life’s troubles, reduces God to a human construct. Indeed, for Freud, God is made in humanity’s own image and is the “ultimate wish-fulfillment”; God does not actually exist but is merely the creation of humanity’s imagination and desire for a loving father figure.
How might a Christian respond to this? Can God really be explained away so easily by one aspect of psychology?
Read the full article, which is excerpted from Orr-Ewing’s upcoming book Is Belief in God Irrational? If you find this essay interesting, you can read the entire first chapter of the book over at InterVarsity Press.
Lastly, there are plenty more essays addressing the topics of faith, doubt, and apologetics at the Just Thinking archives. Don’t run from doubt and questions—take some time to see how Christian thinkers and writers are responding to tough questions about Christianity!
Have you ever doubted the truth of Christianity?
If you’ve never had a single doubt, you’re either the holiest person alive, or you’re not being completely honest. Whether you’re a longtime Christian who is troubled by doubts about your faith or somebody curious about Christianity but unsure if its claims are true, be assured that asking tough questions about God and the Bible is a healthy activity. When we ask honest questions and keep our ears and minds open to receive the answers, our faith is strengthened.
But knowing that doubt is normal doesn’t answer your questions, does it? Below are some resources from around the Gospel.com community that talk about questioning faith and experiencing doubt. Browse through these links, and you’ll soon see that you’re not the only person who’s asked tough questions about Christianity!
We’ll note other resources about faith and doubt as the week goes on. For now, let’s close with a short clip about the value of doubt from Questioning Faith:
Without doubt there could be no real faith. Indeed, Christianity is a religion that speaks openly of the kind of doubts and questions you mention. Adam and Eve started us out with matters of doubt and unbelief. Sarah doubted God as did Job and the psalmist—repeatedly so. Jesus responded to his disciples’ doubts, most notably Peter and Thomas. Paul offers more than hints of his own doubts, but he also speaks of the incredible sense of confidence that comes by exercising faith.
So go forth… and ask your tough questions!
Ever find yourself troubled by spiritual questions you’re not sure how to answer? Questions like:
Chances are you’ve asked yourself at least one of these questions in the course of your life. They’re the sort of questions Christians are sometimes good at carefully stepping around without really addressing the spiritual issues behind them. But for years, Blaine Smith of Nehemiah Ministries has been posting his “Nehemiah Notes” essays, which deal with difficult and sometimes uncomfortable questions about the Christian life. Blaine started his ministry as a way to help the many Christians he encountered who were seriously confused about understanding God’s will for their lives, and over the years he has written about a huge variety of topics. There’s a massive archive of Nehemiah Notes essays—over 100 in all. New essays are posted every other week.
That’s a lot of reading material, and if you find it helpful, you might also take a look at some of Blaine’s books, which address topics ranging from marriage to overcoming shyness. (I’ve read a couple of his books myself and found them quite helpful.)
Blaine’s ministry also calls to mind another organization in the Gospel.com community—Bruce Narramore’s Psychology for Living website. Bruce has also written a large number of essays addressing tough questions, with a special focus on relationships and emotional issues. Both ministries are well worth exploring; both have a lot of content to help you get through the spiritual and personal questions you’re bound to bump into in the course of everyday life.
Each day we highlight the newest and best resources here at the Gospel.com blog, so check back regularly to see what's happening!
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