On Faith, Truth, and the Questions Worth Asking

Part One: The Questions

On Inherited Faith

A friend, having read the autobiography of Malcolm X and observed how readily he converted to a belief system that struck them as clearly off, raised the question they’d long avoided: if they hadn’t grown up in a Christian home, would they believe what they believe today? They didn’t want to be someone who inherited a faith without ever choosing it, and asked what I believed.

It is a good thing to question your faith. Many people find it very easy to latch on to beliefs and they do so without questioning why it is that they believe what they do. I see this very much in both the Christian and Atheist circles. Christians believe what they do because they grew up in a Christian home and barely understand what they believe and Atheists believe what they do because it’s the hip thing to believe right now without understanding the nuance of their own faith. I can’t even begin to tell you how many atheists I’ve argued with that don’t even understand the basic philosophical arguments or points for atheism, but will quickly rattle off the catchphrases and trolling comments (Flying Spaghetti Monster, God Allow Evil, etc…) thinking they’ve just made a grand point that no one else has ever thought of or heard in the thousands of years of religious philosophy that came before them.

Why do you believe what you believe today? What do you believe today? Who is God? What is God? Why is God? Is God? Is God good? etc…

I believe that you are capable of making your own decisions and won’t necessarily be influenced by my beliefs, but just to make sure, for now, I’ll hold back on what I believe and instead encourage you to ask the tough questions; the ones you don’t know the answer(s) to. Seek them out, don’t be afraid to test the faith of other denominational views or even other religious thoughts. The church has divided over things like baptism and the exact role of sovereignty/free will for a reason, and religions like Buddhism, Islam, Atheism, and Judaism draw in millions for a reason. Why? What is it about each of these faiths and differing denominations (Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Charismatic…) that draw people in? Why do they adhere to one and not the other? What separates them from each other and what unites them?

On How to Begin

One of my favorite podcasts is the Unbelievable? podcast. You should check it out and listen to what these different people have to say about their own beliefs. I will tell you one thing about this show though, I disagree with almost every argument I’ve ever heard on here - even from those who believe similarly to me. This show is great, however, at getting you to think about your faith. If I were the atheist, I would destroy the person arguing for God almost every time, and if I were the one arguing for God, I would destroy the Atheist almost every time. Maybe it is because I have questioned my faith that I understand the questions at a deeper level and am more familiar with the history of challenges to faith and evolution of philosophy, but even the champions of the different faiths seem ignorant of their own histories and beliefs, and the logical implications of the arguments they propose.

Obviously, the Bible is a great place to start, but then you should also read the Qur’an, Siddhartha, and The God Delusion. These will give you a start towards understanding the major underlying thoughts. Then you should read a couple of books that separate Christian denominations; books such as: Calvary Chapel Distinctives, Roman Catholicism: Evangelical Protestants Analyze What Unites and Divides Us, A.W. Pink’s Sovereignty of God, and anything else you think might give you the questions you seek answers to so that you know how to find them. The answers won’t be found in the books. The answers come from within as you piece together the puzzle laid out before you. Nobody is 100% right in their beliefs or teachings, but you will find wisdom in each, even those you ultimately disregard and disagree with entirely.

I’m not trying to push you away to save me from answering your questions, but until you truly know what it is you’re questioning, you don’t know what questions to ask and the answers won’t mean anything to you. It’s like a sermon, unless you happening to already be struggling with questions on the particular topic, most of it passes through your mind with little understanding or comprehension. You’re not ready for it. I’m just trying to make sure you’re ready for the journey that questioning your faith is and for how rewarding it is when you come out the other side.

I know what I believe. I know why I believe it. I know the challenges and I know the answers. I have faith in my faith and contentment in my commitment.

And don’t be afraid of science… Science brings me closer to God. Math is beautiful; and numbers answer my questions just as soundly as any philosophy.

Their Response

They thanked me for holding back on my own beliefs rather than pushing them; said they were confident in theirs but aware of the gray areas that could be influenced. Then said living on their own for the first time had forced them to question and analyze parts of their life they’d always avoided. They were looking forward to the reading list.

Part Two: How Truth Actually Moves

The same week, a conversation on a friend’s social media wall had devolved in the way these things do, too many topics, too many people swinging their convictions like weapons, nobody listening. This was my exit from that thread.

I understand that a number of people in this thread believe what they are saying to be true. That’s why people believe what they believe in the first place. I believe in Truth and that there is one truth. However, that doesn’t mean that any of us fully comprehend it. Why do you think there are so many religions and so many denominations and factions within each religion? Shoot, even within science you can have two scientists looking at the same data and coming up with very different and contradictory conclusions. This is why you can’t use your truth as a bat to beat other people into submission. You must listen and empathize and try to understand WHY they believe what they believe so you can explain why you believe what you believe. This is how truth advances, through civil discourse, through open questions and sharing feelings, thoughts, ideas, and data with an open mind that flows both ways. In the end, after we’ve dropped our pride and are willing to engage honestly, truth is all that is left standing.

Isn’t that the goal here? To advance truth?

We’re all better off stepping off our boxes on this one and starting over fresh, taking one topic at a time. Defining things up front and sticking within each framework to move the conversation forward. No rabbit trails, no ad hominems, no straw men, and no holier than thou attitudes.

One of my favorite things to do is sit with some of the people in this thread and civilly discuss/argue on some of these topics and others. I have learned much from such discussions. The church is at a crossroads. Being a Christian is no longer the norm or the cool thing. I think this is good for the church. We became wedded to the state and it created a shallow belief system and an oppressive state. We now have to defend the faith earnestly and truly know what we believe and why. We must not belabor the truth by how we wield it, but advance the truth through compassion and understanding.

And with that, I’m done in this thread, but am willing to discuss things further in a civil, honest, and open way if such a discussion arises elsewhere.

Part Three: On Absolute and Relative Truth

My relating the above passage prompted them to write back (not about the passage itself, but about the question underneath it). They had been thinking about absolute versus relative truth, and wanted to work through what they understood before asking where they were wrong.

They offered their own definitions to test: absolute truth is constant, doesn’t change across situations, and is not subject to perspective — like 1+1=2. Relative truth is true in one place or situation, open to perspective, not universal. Then they asked: is something made an absolute truth by proven facts? How do you know something is absolute? Would morals fall into relative truth — what’s true for me may not be true for you? Can you even categorize morals? They said they wasn’t sure where they were going with it, but that starting with the basic concept of truth seemed like a good place to build from.

I replied, Truth is what’s left when we test all of the options. We know 1+1 equals 2 to be absolute because we know that 1+1 doesn’t equal any other number. It’s testable. This is why people like math, it’s full of absolutes. It’s only when you get to the very advanced theoretical maths that absolutes become more relative.

As for morals, they are tied into beliefs. Many people relate morals to laws, but they’re separate. Bad laws enforce morality, good laws protect rights. Rights are a form of truths. Rights are few, but expressed in many ways. In simple terms you have the right to anything that does not encroach another person or their property. Those are rights. Everything else is morals. Morals fit into two areas: belief based morals and context based morals. I might believe something to be true and live by it, but so long as someone else doing that thing doesn’t encroach others or others property then others don’t have to follow my beliefs on it. I may be correct, they may be correct. Take the Biblical dietary laws.

As this relates to religion, claims must be tested against themselves, against other claims within the same religion, and against known absolute truths. A religion that tells you it is ok to steal is obviously wrong. A religion that encourages governments with oppressive laws is obviously wrong (which is why Christians need to be careful about tying their subjective-moral-based beliefs into the legal-political structure and trying to make people Christian and kind through laws. Gay marriage is something I find morally offensive, but those who want to do it have every right to do so. It is not encroaching on me if two guys want to get married to each other. I wouldn’t do it, and I’d counsel people I know against it, but for those that want to, they can. This doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences, there will be.

As for how this relates to Christianity, God has specific morals that He has asked us to abide by. There is some wiggle-room within Grace (“All things are permissible though not all things are profitable…”), but there are clear standards. With that, when a Christian is converted the Holy Spirit works in them to desire those morals. Given the context of morals, there are some that might be used in multiple ways (such as eating pork or drinking beer… both can be used by God to witness for and glorify him on both sides of the issue), and there are some that could be used both ways, but culture deems certain things to be specifically “Christian” so to not abide by them would ruin your witness (40 years ago this would have included drinking beer, so as you see, even these social constructs change over time).

God’s truth is absolute, but we may not ever fully know what that is. In the meantime, it is for us to learn, to discern, to listen, and to understand.