Faith is not a Reliable Reasoning Process
Fundamentally, faith is not a reliable reasoning process. Belief without evidence isn’t wise. Try to get beyond what you’ve always known to be true and begin to ask questions to validate or invalidate those beliefs. Ask yourself how you know something to be true. How do you know the sun will come up in the morning? How do you know the earth is round? How do you know your spouse or child loves you? Make a list. Do you apply the criteria on your list to things you believe to be true about God? Ask yourself how you know whether or not something works? How do you know that communication takes place over the telephone? How do you know your car engine works? How do you know if a medication is effective? Make a list. Do you apply the criteria on your list to...
The Clergy Club
As a former church lay leader (elder, Sunday school teacher, youth leader, church president), I have had occasion to deal with pastors with serious personal problems who have literally torn the congregation apart. An interesting observation for me was that members of the clergy tend to have an unwritten code to protect one another. Akin to the code of silence that police officers often have, the clergy staunchly protect one another from their congregations, even when they are absolutely wrong. As naive sheep, we often defer to the wisdom of the clergy in many matters. Interestingly, even those who have no religious affiliation whatsoever, confer a profound respect toward the clergy. This is not warranted or deserved. While there are many good examples of loving...
Believe it or Not
What do y0u believe? Why do you believe? Is it necessary to believe? Is it wise to believe? Do you believe the sun will appear on the eastern horizon tomorrow morning? No! You know the sun will appear. It has appeared there every single day of your life. So you see, it is completely unnecessary to believe the sun will appear. It is only necessary to believe things that you do not know to be true. What a paradox–because, when stated that way, it seems a bit silly–to believe things that you do not know to be true. Believing is a bit like telling yourself that something is true even if you’re not sure about it; even if there is no evidence for it; even if there is evidence contradictory to it. Believing is really wanting something to be true. When...
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