A Case for Faith: why theology does matter ...

We are intelligent beings.

- We have the knowledge, skill, and ability to build on what we know.
- We can actually change the course of nature.
- We have big dreams to reach beyond ourselves.
- We explore the unknown and the inexplicable.

Yet we have not been able to fix humanity’s most basic problems (hatred, greed, lying, cheating, death).
- Reality Check: We are helpless to powers & forces beyond our grasp, we just refuse to admit it.

There is a “Disconnect” between our knowledge and know-how and our most basic human need for safety, security, love, and acceptance. We can neither control human nature nor Mother Nature, yet we live and act as if we can. There is more to nature and human nature than we are willing to admit. Yet we refuse to acknowledge that there is a God to whom we will be held accountable.

We are emotional and relational beings.

- We long for meaningful connectedness, a “oneness” with others as well as with nature itself.
- We do not want it at the expense of our own individuality and personal freedom. We neither want to be bound by nature nor overly restricted by people.
- We recognize our desire & need for intimacy with others but can’t seem to find the inter-dependent balance between an overly detached individuation (I am a god, an island unto myself) and an overly enmeshed dependency (I can’t live without you, you are my god, my all) with others.

There is a “Disconnect” between our need and want for intimacy—other-connectedness—and our need and want for individuation—personal freedom and the integrity of self. We tend to have love-hate relationships with ourselves and others.

We are moral beings.

- We have a strong sense of personal justice—right and wrong, good and bad—especially when we are the ones that have been wronged.
- Yet we often refuse to admit our own personal failure when we fail to live up to the selfsame standards of justice and fair play that we demand of others.
- Indeed we fear the exposure of our own weaknesses & failings because others are so quick to judge and condemn us (as we are quick to judge and condemn others).
- Though we are quick to judge and condemn others for their failings, we are just as ready and quick to excuse ourselves when we are at fault.

There is a “disconnect” between our high moral sense and our ability to live up to it. We are unable or unwilling to recognize the essential nature of true justice and righteousness along with its source. We want justice for others but not for ourselves. We want trustworthiness in others but cannot ourselves always be trustworthy. We want honesty from others but are not ourselves always honest with others, etc., etc.

We are spiritual beings as well as physical animals.

- The post-modernist has come to realize that there is more to us than what we experience through our five senses.
- The physical & material world is not enough to give meaning and purpose to our lives.
- We are now ready to come back to our ancestor’s experience of the world as a place of mystery. There is much, much more to Life and the universe within which we live than we can know and understand by the scientific method of discovery.

There is a “disconnect” between our spiritual side and our day-to-day life. We ignore the realm of the mysterious, the realm of the spirit, to our peril. We are at a loss for true meaning.

THE POWER OF ONE MAN …

1. Jesus points to a power over and above nature. This concept is not so hard to accept, is it? There really is no logical reason in-and-of-itself why one should assume that there is no greater power than that which we experience “naturally.” Turning water into wine, walking on water, calming the storm, healing the sick. Jesus shows that there IS a power over and above (behind or beyond) that of nature. In short, He is saying, “Yes, there IS someone else above it all.” (He stills the waters à Matt. 8:23-27; He tells Pilate that he would not have this authority if it were not given to Him à John 19:8-11.)

2. Jesus points to the God who is there. “I have come from above,” Jesus says. This can’t be so difficult to believe, can it? For the sake of argument, if we start with the premise, “Yes, there IS a God,” it is not so far fetched that the God who is there would be able to send someone like a Jesus (who could speak to us at our level, in human terms) to let us know that God is, in fact, there? Jesus claims to be able to enter into our lives at the most intimate level of soul and spirit. (John 14:7, 18-24. 1 John 4:13-19.)

3. Jesus points to a justice that redeems our failures and shortcomings without compromising perfect standards of righteous, justice, and goodness. He understands human nature to the core. Yet, he chose not to reject or condemn us outright. (He knows what’s in us, John 2:23-25; The woman at the well, John 4:14-16; He heals/forgives the paralytic Matt. 9:2-8; The woman caught in adultery John 8:1-11; see also Romans 7:14-23; Heb 4:14-16.)

4. Jesus comes down from above connecting the two worlds. Philippians 2:6-11; John 1:1-4, 14-16; 1 John 1:1-4; see also Eph. 2:1-10.) Is it really all that difficult to believe? Not really.