Michael Novak recently wrote a lengthy book review analyzing the current trio of books on atheism by Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Richard Dawkins. Novak suggests that all three authors might benefit from respecting and seeking to understand the spiritual lives of the millions of persons who spend each day in communion with God.
He writes, “of the silent and inward parts of these lives – and why these inner silences ring to those who share them so true, and seem more grounded in reality than anything else in life,” these three authors seem unaware.
I have been one of those millions for over sixty years and Novak speaks for me. What difference would it make for me if incontrovertible proof of the discovery of the mortal remains of Jesus of Nazareth were discovered? None at all.
My Christian conviction has never hinged on a belief that the Gospel narratives were the equivalent of transcripts of CNN on-the-spot interviews. As Peter Berger has put it so well: “The traditions, through their scriptures and their worship, mediate what a lawyer might call hearsay evidence concerning transcendence; but this second-hand replication of the founding experiences can often correspond in surprising and powerful ways with the experience of the ordinary believer.”
The Gospel testimony is an attempt to put into human language experiences of encounter with transcendent Divinity. To be possessed or held by such experience is something quite apart from how we convey the reality to others. Many of life’s genuinely powerful and profound experiences share this elusive quality of mystery. The experience is not something we can grasp or hold – instead it holds us. Think of your own experience.
For over sixty years I have been a Christian because Christianity led me to be among people who served others gladly, who loved with compassion and generosity, whose inner life of communion with God was questioning, powerful, and immediate. I am thankful and glad that my Christian faith has never rested on certainty about the meaning of any Scriptural story or tenet of doctrine.
To know that my Redeemer lives does not rest on hearsay or the imperfect nature of human understanding and communication. An honest effort to reconcile Scripture, tradition, and the challenges of the day is what I believe God requires.
The reward is the discovery of new depths of meaning in my experience of life and in the riches of the Judeo-Christian heritage.
Please e-mail On Faith if you'd like to receive an email notification when On Faith sends out a new question.
Email Me | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook
