Topic:  Why is belief in God impossible without faith?

Source of this posting: Moderator response

Date originally posted: November 6, 2003

Moderator who originally posted this source: Cathy Rusin

Question:   Could you give me the reason why belief in God is impossible without the gift of faith? thanks!

Answer: 

Such a simply phrased question … such a difficult one to answer simply! I know you have been wrestling for a long time now with trying to understand the mystery that is God and being a person of faith, while wanting to be able to prove and define those things too great for simple definition.

Because of that, I’m going to try a few different manners of responding, in hopes that at least one of them will make sense for you, or lead you to some resource that is helpful in your continuing quest for understanding.

As I recommended before, I hope that you have found someone where you live with whom you can discuss these matters in person – searching for God in your life is not best done by e-mail or even the best of websites.

So, one approach – a definition of faith from “This is Our Faith” by Michael Pennock (Ave Maria Press). “God’s communication on himself (sic) and his plan for us require a response on our part. That response is known as faith. The Epistle to the Hebrews defines faith as the “confident assurance concerning what we hoped for, and conviction about things we do not see (Heb 11:1). Faith, like revelation, is a free gift of God which gives conviction, commitment and trust with regard to realities that we can neither see nor clearly prove. Faith is accepting the Lord and his life both by living it and believing the truths he has revealed. We get the strength to live and believe God’s truth and life from God himself.”

In the words of theologian Catherine LaCugna, “One finds God because one is already found by God. Anything we would find on our own would not be GOD.”

The Greek root of our word “believe” means “to give one’s heart to”. To believe, to have faith, then requires a trust in a relationship, a commitment of the heart, which is deeper than an intellectual grasp of the facts.

There’s a popular novel out now, “Life of Pi” (by Yann Martel. Harcourt, Inc p. 28), and in one section the main character is reflecting on an atheist teacher of his.
“It was my first clue that atheists are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry them – and then they leap.
I’ll be honest about it. It is not atheists who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics. Doubt is useful for awhile. We must all pass through the garden of Gethsemane. If Christ played with doubt, so must we. … But we must move in. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”

Have you read Fitzgerald’s “Franny and Zooey” , or anything of Ronald Rohlheiser, especially “The Shattered Lantern” or “Beyond the Infinite Horizon”?

Many words in reply to your brief query … but know of my prayers in your continuing quest.

Peace,
Cathy Rusin