Skeptical Faith

Google Image It may not come as a surprise to most readers of this blog that the presidential election did not go my way. And I’m not encouraged by the choices for government leadership made by the winner nor by the chances they'll make America “great again” let alone better. But first, a disclaimer. Despite the above paragraph, this blog is not about politics. It’s a look at the condition of the country and the world and how it affects the outlook and the work facing those of us seeking God. I’m concerned about following the gospel message. But in case you haven’t noticed, politics and ethical and moral issues often overlap. People who share my views of the election results can’t stop asking themselves how it happened. Why did so many people, especially those who are at the bottom of the economic ladder, vote for what appears to be against their interests?    A recent article in America magazine helps answer this question. Increasingly Precarious “American workers are...

Google Image Pigs Fly. People walk on walls. Catfish play the trumpet. All among things that are impossible, most would agree. Then there are the theoretical or apparent impossibilities. World Peace. Democrats and Republicans seeing eye to eye. TV shows with no advertising or fees. And then, the really heavy stuff that people of faith profess. Jesus’ resurrection, humanity’s eternal destiny, God becoming a human. Many people would place these in the same category as flying pigs. I wouldn’t. Isaiah Takes the Cake? The Judeo-Christian tradition has a long history of believing in apparent impossibilities. Perhaps the prophet Isaiah takes the cake. Yearning for a new king in the idealized tradition of King David, the prophet engages in a bit of poetry. “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.” (Actually, I’ve seen videos of lions lying down...

Google Image Many of you, when studying physics or math, may recall learning about Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician, philosopher, physicist and theologian who lived from 1623 to 1662. Pascal came up with a way of looking at “the God question” that is now called “Pascal’s Wager.” It basically argues that belief in God involves a high-stakes gamble. Paraphrasing, here’s how Pascal describes the gamble, according to Wikipedia.      ·   God is, or God isn’t. Reason can’t decide between the two.      ·   You play a game … where heads or tails turns up.      ·   You must wager. It’s not optional.      ·   Weighing the gain and the loss in wagering that God is, estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing      ·   There is here an infinity of a happy life to gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite....

Google image In "Darkest Hour," a Netflix movie about Second World-War England, Winston Churchill – the frumpish prime minister who rallied his country to resist the Nazis – told King George VI: “My father was like God. Busy elsewhere.” One of my recent blogs was about the necessity of showing up – at the job, in the family, in prayer. So, what about the importance of God “showing up?” For many, God’s silence clinches their rejection of faith. God is missing in action, they say, and there’s no way to get around it. If he/she exists, you’d hear from him/her. So, learn to live without God and you’ll be much happier. Generally Happier Problem is that opinion polls don’t support the latter statement. For many years, they have shown that believers are generally happier than non-believers. But why is faith required? Why would God design things in a way that requires human beings to  believe  instead of  knowing   God directly ? Why require an intellectual and emoti...