General Faith as a Continuing Inquiry

[William]

Unfortunately I don't remember the source of this quotation but if it helps someone put their Christian faith in perspective, I'm pretty sure the author I'm quoting without credit would be satisfied (and I would be forgiven).

As continuing inquiry, the spirit of theology is interrogative rather than doctrinaire; it presupposes a readiness to question and to be questioned.
According to one classical definition, theology is “faith seeking understanding” (fides quaerens intellectum).
In the writings of Augustine it takes the form, “I believe in order that I may understand.”

Writing in a different era, Anselm, who is credited with coining the phrase “faith seeking understanding,” agrees with Augustine that believers inquire “not for the sake of attaining to faith by means of reason but that they may be gladdened by understanding and meditating on those things that they believe.” For Anselm, faith seeks understanding, and understanding brings joy. “I pray, O God, to know thee, to love thee, that I may rejoice in thee.”

Authentic faith is no sedative for world-weary souls, no satchel full of ready answers to the deepest questions of life. Instead, faith in God revealed in Jesus Christ sets an inquiry in motion, fights the inclination to accept things as they are, and continually calls into question unexamined assumptions about God, our world, and ourselves. Consequently, Christian faith has nothing in common with indifference to the search for truth, or fear of it, or the arrogant claim to possess it fully. True faith must be distinguished from fideism. Fideism says there comes a point where we must stop asking questions and must simply believe; faith keeps on seeking and asking.

One reason I became one of Jehovah's Witnesses, in the first place, is simply that I was naive. I thought that the true religion was the one that provided ready answers to all of life's questions:
Q: Why do we die?
A: Because a disobedient couple ate some forbidden fruit.
Q: Why is that true?
A: The Bible says it, God wrote it, that settles it!

I'm not saying these answers are wrong! Who am I to judge that? What I'm trying to say is that if we reduce Christianity to a set of propositions to be believed, then we're in for serious trouble - disillusionment and intellectual dishonesty. I wish I knew then, as I know now, that Christianity (or any faith) is much more than believing difficult-to-explain ideas and doctrines.
We can't subscribe to fideism any longer. Remember: "Fideism says there comes a point where we must stop asking questions and must simply believe."
Faith, true faith, is what we need because "faith keeps on seeking and asking" and we must keep on seeking and asking.

We must remember also that as Christians we're not called to believe. We're called to follow! Robin R. Meyers (in his book Saving Jesus from The Church) puts it more elegantly than I ever could:

Naturally, people ask, “So what do you believe?” They seem puzzled by the answer. I say that we are not “believers” at all, not in the sense of giving intellectual assent to postbiblical propositions. Rather, we are doing our best to avoid the worship of Christ and trying to get back to something much more fulfilling and transformative: following Jesus.

(It's an interesting book, and I hope to do a review of it in future.)

 

[Lori Jane]

I really appreciate how your mind works William! Keep this thought-provoking quotes coming. And yes may we all be provoked to FOLLOW Jesus. Be active in our faith. Amen!