Thinking about Him (1)
ABSTRACT CONCEPT OR LIVING PERSON?
The restaurant was crowded with people on that Saturday afternoon. Among the crowd was Adam, a software engineer who was having his meal with Darren, his former colleague who he had known for many years. While they were eating and chit-chatting, Darren brought up his questions and doubts regarding Christianity, the faith that Adam held on to…
Darren: Adam, you always tell me that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but how do you know that Jesus really exists?
Darren: But how sure are you that the writers did not fabricate this story? Can’t it be a hoax?
Adam: Impossible! The bible is trustworthy because it is inspired by God.
Darren: Who told you that it is inspired by God?
Adam: One of the writers in the Bible said so.
Darren: You cannot use Bible as a source of reference to prove its trustworthiness. By doing so, you are already making an assumption that the bible is trustworthy.
Adam: [Thought for a while] Anyway, not everything can be explained logically. For things that cannot be understood, we can only believe by faith.
Darren: [Thinking in his heart] Always the same excuse! “By faith!” Does he really know what he believes in and why he believes in what he believes in? Or is he holding on to a blind faith?
More than often, many Christians are found guilty of not being able to give good and reasonable answers when non-Christians posed questions and doubts regarding Christianity. Like Adam in the fabricated story, we often use “by faith” as our shield when we are unable to provide a logical answer to our friends. Therefore, it is not surprising when we hear non-Christians accusing Christians of holding on to their faith blindly.
Why then, are many Christians found guilty of not being able to give a proper and reasonable defense for the faith that they hold on to? Perhaps it is because we tend to absorb the Christian doctrines and confessions of faith that have been passed down to us from the previous generations without much questioning or reflecting. As a result, we may know very well what we believe in (we may be able to memorize and recite the confessions of faith and creeds), yet we may not even know why we believe in what we believe. Our faith becomes an empty shell, hard on the outside but hollow in the inside.
In order to develop a faith that is deeply rooted, we need to adopt a critical approach towards the knowledge that is exposed to us. We need to learn to use the magic words “what”, “why”, “who”, “when”, “where”, and “how” generously. Only by doing so are we able to understand better what we believe in, thus strengthening our faith in God.
This approach also applies to our understanding of Jesus. As we desire to know Jesus in a deeper way, we cannot just rely on the concepts and ideas about Jesus that are formulated by the scholars of the past and the present, for Jesus is not an idea or a concept, but a living person. Therefore, not only should we examine the doctrines of Christ, not only should we look into the accounts of Jesus in the Bible, it is also crucial for us to look into the historical, political, social, religious and cultural background during the time of Jesus. By understanding the background during the time of Jesus, we will be able to better understand why he said or did something at a specific moment, thus helping us to better understand the person of Jesus.
By looking at Jesus from various perspectives, we will be able to see Jesus not as an abstract concept (which will happen if we purely rely on the doctrines of Christ), but as a living person, thus strengthening our relationship with the living Christ.
Labels: Theology
posted by Dan at 7/05/2006 11:00:00 pm
4 Comments:
Putting my two cents worth in:
I agree that we need to give a logical answer – but are you then saying that circular logic does not suffice in giving defense of our faith?
I think as Asians, we tend to answer this question in a circular logic cos our faith has a 'mysterion'(dunno if I’ve spelt this correctly) element in it. So I disagree with you when you say that 'we may not know why we believe in what we believe'... It’s more like some of us does not know how to articulate our answers in a linear logic way (Though yes – there are those who do not reflect on their faith and belief without much questioning and reflection).
Ruth has brought across a very important point here, Dan. The Asian paradigm of faith (which is in many ways consistent with that of the Patristic era) is very much relational rather than propositional.
Therefore, many issues that are grasped linear-logically (or propositionally) by the western Christian may be grasped intuitively by the Asian Christian - the latter may not necessarily be able to explain coherently that which he/she believes in.
Noted. Thanks for highlighting the point whereby Asians tend to accept and believe in things based on intuition rather than needing proposition truths presented to them. I agree with you.
Yet, even though our minds tend to function this way, after becoming a Christian, our faith cannot remain at an intuitive level (whereby reason may be unnecessary), no? Rather, shouldn't we be responsible learner of the person of Christ and utilize the tools that are offered to us (bible atlas, archaelogical studies, biblical commentaries) in order to form our propositional understanding of Christ?
Or else, we may tend to hide behind the shield of 'intuition' and follow Christ blindly without knowing him in a deeper way.
Understanding the propositional truths of Christ will enrich our relationship with Christ, no?
Heya Dan...
Yes, propositional truth has its place in our faith, as we've discussed it over supper tonight. But propositions mean something only within the confines of relationships. Otherwise, propositions are simply... well... propositions. And we may believe certain propositions, but we believe IN a person. I believe that you're taking seriously what I say because of the relationship we have with each other. So it is with our relationship with Christ.
Another thing to note is also that the use of critical studies (e.g., bible atlas, archaelogical studies, biblical commentaries) also comes from a very specific frame of understanding. It assumes that scripture can be studied objectively and propositionally. We need to keep this assumption in mind, because the Christ we follow is more than scripture.
Scripture is tradition documented; and that tradition lives today. So there is more to our faith than scripture. Just a hermeneutical study of scripture alone is not what our faith is all about.
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