This question has divided Christians for centuries. Some have placed more importance on saving one’s soul over doing good works. But being saved and following the example of Jesus are two sides of the same coin. You cannot separate one from the other.

Martin Luther didn’t want the Letter of James in his New Testament because there is a great emphasis on works. Luther believed strongly that salvation was achieved only by faith alone. He found that in Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

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Questioning is the lifeblood of faith. It’s like feeding oxygen to the brain. Without questioning, faith is untilled soil.

There are countless stories of some very serious questioning in the life of faith of many of the saints who have gone before us. St. John of the Cross called his time of deepest questioning, “the dark night of the soul.” And even Jesus experienced what is called “the agony in the garden,” where “he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible let this cup pass from me.” (Matthew 26:39)

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Which is the higher morality for the United States: to get out of Iraq now, or stay until civil order is restored?

The question is being asked all over the world: in government, in houses of worship, in military think tanks and individual households.

The problem is, I find it hard to see the morality in either choice.

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When I was a teenager and attending church camp, a creative Methodist minister preached on this very question. He said to picture a lovely garden where everything is perfect. The flowers are all beautiful, the deer are running through the woods, people are spread out on the lawn have a really fun picnic. The children are all playing on the swings and laughing. The birds are singing. Everything is in just right. For that minister, that was “heaven.”

Then he said, picture that entire beautiful pastoral environment enclosed in a giant glass bubble. Now, picture people outside the giant glass bubble lying on top and looking in. That’s hell. That image has always stuck with me.

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