Up, Down and All Around

Unanswered questions

Whenever I stop to think about the meaning of life (and lately I seem to do that a lot), my thoughts inevitably turn to religion.

After all, religion (or the lack thereof) is part and parcel of an individual's belief system. It has a way of framing your view of the world and your view of your place in the world. If you subscribe to the tenets of any particular religion, you are effectively adopting the viewpoint of that religion when you reflect on the meaning of life.

Like the majority of people in this country, I consider myself a Christian. I have been for a few years. Belief in the Christian faith comes easily to me, since I am surrounded by many other Christians. But each time I try to study the Bible deeper, each time I try to go beyond blind faith, I find things in the Christian belief system that bother me.

For example, why did God create man and give man free will, when He knows full well that there will be millions of souls damned to hell in the process (since millions of people will choose to not believe)?

Here's another one: If Jesus is the only way to heaven, does this mean that all the people who died before Jesus' time are doomed to spend eternity in hell? What chance did they have, if there was no gospel prior to their time?

And while I'm in the middle of this rant, I might as well ask -- am I the only one who feels that the apostle Paul can sometimes be arrogant and holier-than-thou in his epistles to the early churches? I can't quite put my finger on it, but whenever I read one of his epistles, whether it's to the Romans, the Ephesians, or more recently, the Corinthians, my hackles go up.

* sigh! *

I meet with a group of friends regularly to discuss these and other Biblical issues. And one of the people in this group has quite literally got the most amazing faith that I have ever witnessed. I envy her ability to simply believe without questioning. By the standards of the world, she may seem foolish in her faith. But she is also filled with more peace than I can ever imagine experiencing. Sometimes, I can't help but wish I was more like her.

But when I wrestle with these issues, I have to wonder -- why did God give me a thinking, rational, questioning mind if I was not meant to think, reason, and question the basic tenets of my faith? Isn't faith supported by rational thought stronger than simple, blind faith?

I guess these questions will remain unanswered for a little while longer.

Tags: Personal, Religion

Posted by CF at 11:15 PM