So what is “good faith”? What are the
characteristics of a healthy attitude of believing?
1. Good faith is humble, teachable, and
inquisitive. If I am aware of how contingent and limited my
knowledge is, how can I be proud about how much I know? How can I look down on
someone else for knowing less? Isn’t pride—the sense of certainty that I am right
and superior and don’t need to learn or listen—the greatest possible barrier to
faith? In this way, isn’t religious
pride the most hideous sin imaginable—because it is incredibly dangerous—and
ridiculous? If there is a God, wouldn’t good faith begin by humbling oneself
before God, acknowledging one’s ignorance and asking for guidance and enlightenment?
If I am appropriately humble, isn’t it possible
that anyone can become my teacher, from a little child to a mental patient,
from a sage of old to a comedian of today? Isn’t an open mind, eager to learn,
the essence of good faith (as it is of good science)? Aren’t yesterday’s
certainties sometimes the enemies of tomorrow’s faith, since we’ll be tempted
to say, “The old wine is good enough; I don’t need any new wine”? Shouldn’t
humble, childlike inquisitiveness by characteristic of good faith, since I’m
young, new here, with an awful lot to learn? Wouldn’t it make sense to ask God
my questions and see if any answers are forthcoming?
2. Good faith is grateful. If I reach some conclusions as I humbly and teachably continue on
my quest, some working hypotheses to base future experiments upon, shouldn’t I
be grateful for them? Even if they are only a few very basic things, such as “God
exists and loves me and wants me to imitate God by loving everything God loves,”
aren’t these few basic things very precious and worth celebrating? Even if I
can’t claim to comprehend (or grasp completely) everything, can’t I acknowledge
that I have at least apprehended some things (having at least touched them,
come into contact with them, begun to experience them)? And rather than being
pulled up by this “knowledge,” shouldn’t I be grateful to God and others for
helping me learn what I’ve learned, being sure not to close myself off to
further learning?
3. Good faith is honest. Shouldn’t I feel free to be as accurate as I can about what I am relatively
sure about and relatively unsure about? Shouldn’t good faith feel free to express
both doubt and confidence, neither overstating nor understating its level of
certainty? Shouldn’t I abhor dishonesty, since it clouds the already difficult
search for truth? Shouldn’t I seek to honestly acknowledge and remove my own
blind spots before critiquing others about theirs? Shouldn’t I be as honest
about the weaknesses of myself, my faith, and my community of faith as I would
want others to be about theirs?
4. Good faith is communal. Since my individual understanding is so limited, don’t I need connection
with a group of trusted companions, so we can help and encourage one another in
our common search for faith, God and truth? Don’t I especially need friends – a
faith community – who will gently confront me when they see me losing these
qualities of good faith? And just as I value highly my cohorts in my faith
community, don’t I also need honest, humble dialogue with people of other groups
(religions, ideologies, parties, denominations, and so forth), since they may
see things I and we are missing, and vice versa? And shouldn’t humility and
teachability prompt me to include in my faith community people from the past,
so I can learn from the writings and art of the great sages through history?
Granted, we don’t want coercion and pressure, but don’t we need mutual
encouragement and support from other seekers past and present, in our spiritual
search?
5. Good faith is active. If I apprehend what I believe to be truth, am I not obligated to
live by it? Shouldn’t I abhor apathy (not acting on my beliefs), hypocrisy (covertly
acting contrary to my beliefs), inconsistency (overtly acting contrary to my
beliefs) just as I abhor dishonesty? Shouldn’t my pursuit of truth be “hot”
rather than “lukewarm,” suggesting a hunger and thirst for more truth, rather
than complacency about what I believe I have already found? And if I believe
the search for truth and faith and God are indeed important, shouldn’t I
sensitively try to influence others (who are open to my influence because I
have earned their respect) to take steps forward in their own search, always without
coercion?
6. Good faith is tough. How much is an easy, untested faith worth? If faith brings all benefits
and no costs, how can we be sure our belief is an honest pursuit of truth and goodness,
as opposed to a pursuit of benefits? If my faith always gains respect and compliments,
and never rejection or misunderstanding, might I not just be a believer out of social
convenience? My faith may feel strong today, but how will it fare under
tomorrow’s tragedy, depression, disappointment, or delay? When money is tight
or when money is flowing freely, when friends are few, when temptations are
enticing, when patience is thin, when I’m in the middle of a project and the
end seems to elude me, will I abandon my faith? Is a faith that doesn’t cost me
anything worthy anything? Is a faith any good that doesn’t challenge me to do
good and become better, even when I don’t feel like it?
7. Good faith is relational. If I believe there is a personal God behind (and with) the universe,
shouldn’t my search for truth in God’s universe begin with an acknowledgement
of my relationship with God? In other words, given my personal limitations and
the limitations of human knowledge, wouldn’t it make sense to live in
dependence on God to help me learn and search fruitfully, to live with expectancy
and hope that God will in some way be my teacher and guide? Wouldn’t my
relationship with God thus become the basis or context for my search for truth?
And shouldn’t I consider what loyalties and responsibilities are incumbent upon
me as a party in this relationship with God?
And if I can’t quite wrap my mind and heart
around the idea of a personal God, shouldn’t I be open to experiencing the
highest values of life in the context of meaningful relationships with others,
recognizing that the core human experience is relational; that the best of
human life is experienced in the context of loving, supportive relationships;
that good, healthy faith is forged most effectively and productively within
healthy relationships?
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