In reading the Book of Job the person of faith may begin to accept the legitimacy of doubt, even for the most devout. Mother Teresa struggled with it, as did Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and other eminent, revered believers of God in Christ. Of Michael Novak’s book on the theme: Belief and Unbelief, Christianity Today reported: This brilliant book traces how the line between faith and doubt doesn’t separate us into different camps; it runs through every human soul. Novak is relentlessly honest, deeply informed, sympathetic to all honest searching, and achingly personal. Novak’s sub-title to the volume is: A Philosophy of Self-knowledge. One pauses to take a breath, and invoke objectivity to think through the shadow of doubt that dogs us, not only in our faith in God but in faith in ourselves, or in the world that we can physically examine for what it is in its minutia and totality. Much of literature deals with the issues.
Temptation is not effective temptation until it becomes appealing. There are some things to which I was attracted, in temptation, when I was young – things which revolt me now. To have played along with the scenario for a long enough period of time would have conditioned me so that my faith and values would have faded, and, even if not lost entirely would be so weak as to have no appeal either for me or for others. My faith must perforce mean something to others, because it makes me different. I will receive this if I have no faith and that if I do have faith. Faith is not a private matter. For that reason God makes it important that we are witnesses to what we are and believe about life meaning. We may feel better about sincere doubters than evasive Christians. There are evasive Christians. I am unsure about the marginal areas of life. When does one cross the line? When does a person remain in the divine grace of God, as Peter must have done in his denial at the fire; and, Judas outside that grace when he kissed Jesus and greeted him as Master? The secret defense in these mysteries is to evade the edges. Make commitment and live by it. Not only is there safety there, but progress in the search for truth and God are aided in the safety of knowing what is working. There are resources, beginning with Scripture that will help through the sloughs of despond. Pilgrim met a slough early and got through, to fulfillment and adventure.
As this is being written there is a renewed effort on the part of atheists to advance their views in the world, principally by attack meant to take away divine faith. It is tilting at their windmills. They see faith as an enemy to be attacked, more than their non-beliefs to be proclaimed. While the Church sometimes wonders about its own effectiveness in advancing the gospel, the Great Commission of Christ, and holds myriads of conferences to address issues, atheists fear that the church is becoming too effective so needs response – an attitude rising in the new millennium. Michael Medved, in an article published on May 14, 2012, tells the story of the well-known cross that fell from its position in the attack on the Twin Towers in New York in September, 2001. The cross fell into debris, and survived virtually unscathed from impossible (claimed) circumstances. Survivors of those who were killed in the tragic situation yearn to have the cross included in the museum of meaningful pieces drawn from the rubble. Atheists have entered a legal case to get it banned from the accumulation because it is a religious symbol in a state separated from religion. Medved presents the case, quite objectively. I have been impressed in my reading how Christians have been represented as narrow and stern about the way things should be for society. We have not heard that Christians have sued atheists. The solution to differences is by honest persuasion, not by legal recourse. What do atheists gain by refusing a cross in the retrieved items to be displayed in a museum room? In fact, they resist truth – the truth that this artifact, no matter what it is, qualifies for a complete display. Perhaps the plaque will note the omission. The very rejection informs us to check on meaning to realism. They deny the artifact as an artifact because of their insistence that it is religion. If a book had been found defending only humanism as the context for mankind, they likely would not object. The display is a factual representation by the committee. They will fail their assignment if it is not included in the display. Christians are warmed by inclusion, but the cross artifact is not made proof of God. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020