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MorInse 09-02-024 |
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In Search of a Confident Faith Overcoming
Barriers to Trusting in God J. P.
Moreland and Klaus Issler InterVarsity
Press, 2008, 230 pp., ISBN
978-0-8308-3428-0 |
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Moreland
and Issler are professors at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. Together they have put together a very
readable exploration of intellectual and emotional barriers to faith and how
they may be overcome. It attempts to
offset the influence of naturalism on the faith of believers. I found it
particularly stimulating and encouraging. Preface "Faith
has a public relations problem. It has
a hollow ring to it, and it's associated with a lot of really bad, harmful
ideas." (9) In fact, faith is so
misrepresented and misunderstood the authors recommend using a term
"God-confidence" in its place. 1.
What Faith is…and What It Isn't Faith is
typically understood as blind
faith, faith without support of facts or logic. (15-16) However, everyone has faith. It is impossible to operate without faith.
(16) Faith means confidence, trust,
and reliance. (17) Faith is
commonly understood as the polar opposite of logic but "if faith is
essentially trust and confidence, its proper exercise
crucially requires reasons, evidence and knowledge." (18) People always believe what they think is
best supported by facts. It is almost
impossible to believe something one knows to be untrue or absurd. "Faith
is trusting what we have reason to believe is true." (18) Confidence
comes in degrees. "To grow in
Christ it is not enough to assess what we do and do not believe. Rather, it is crucial to assess our degree
of belief." "If we are going
to be intentional about cultivating our reliance on God, we will have to
assess the strength of our actual beliefs, develop ways to remove hindrances
to their development and find tools for their cultivation." (24) The value of confidence is derived from the
reality and dependability of its object. (25)
"To
continue to say you believe something that is not real or is false is to live
in a fantasy world." "The
nature of the object of faith, whether trustworthy or true, is essential to
any valid belief." "The
integrity of faith's object is the key." (25) "Reality is what
makes an assertion true or false…." (27) "Biblical
faith goes beyond accepting certain truths and crucially involves confidence
in and reliance upon a Person--the Triune God." (26) 2.
Dealing with Doubts - Distractions of the Head "A
pervasive misperception in contemporary American culture is that people of
religious faith, particularly Christians, are intellectually inferior to
those who do not have religious faith."
(35) Christians are seen as
naďve or ignorant. Unbelief is
considered tough-minded while belief is fuzzy-minded; unbelief is rational
and belief is gullible. Being thought
of as ignorant or backward may inhibit us from standing up for our
faith. "Such fear is the very
opposite of trust." (36) How do we
know? "Knowledge is either an accurate experiential awareness of reality or
a true belief about reality based on adequate grounds." (41) When we have knowledge of doctrinal truths
from the Bible, our beliefs are based on a wide variety of adequate grounds
for those beliefs. (41) To know something one does not have to be
absolutely certain, with no possibility of being wrong. Knowledge comes in degrees. There is a distinction between knowing and
knowing for sure. (42) "It
raises the bar way too high to require that one can only claim to know…when
one is completely certain. Moreover, the mere presence of doubt does
not mean that one does not know the thing in question." (43) "Every
culture has a set of background assumptions--we can call it a plausibility
structure--that sets a tone or a framework for what people think…. It directs what they will entertain as
plausible…. This plausibility
structure is so widespread and subtle that people usually don't even know it
is there even through it hugely impacts their perspective on the world. … It
is so deeply internalized and widely adopted that it is taken for
granted. It is so subconscious that it
is seldom noticed." "…we all
carry with us this cultural map…. (45-6) "Our
current Western cultural plausibility structure elevates science and scorns
and mocks religion, especially Christian teaching. As a result, believers in Western cultures
do not as readily believe the supernatural worldview of the Bible in
comparison with their Third World brothers and sisters." (46) "Our focus is on the natural world,
with little or no attention paid to the supernatural world." (47) Many of
our doubts are fed by ideas absorbed from the plausibility structure of our
culture. Resolving them can be done by
exposing these cultural assumptions, challenging them with biblical truth,
being vigilant to keep them in one's mind, and spotting them in each day's
input. "The real solution here is the conscious formation of alternative,
countercultural ways of seeing, thinking and being present in the world."
(47) Seven
main doubt-inducing assumptions of our culture are listed on p. 48. These are worth exploring. A number of these assumptions are
self-refuting: they set up criteria that falsify their claims. (50) "It is not just secular ideas that must be
countered. It is the process of
secularization itself that must be confronted, including the process of
socializing Christians into thinking of themselves as marginalized, weak,
gullible, uneducated people." (54) Although
not all of us are brilliant, it is helpful to know who our Christian
intellectual role models are. "We
need to celebrate the absolutely unequaled history of the intellectual life
in the Christian church throughout our history." (55) 3.
Dealing with the Past - Distractions of the Heart Trusting
God involves not only our head but our heart, including our emotions and
relationships. (63) "Sometimes
it's the case that our lack of God-confidence will relate to false beliefs
that stem from earlier experiences." (65) In life we are either moving toward God or
moving away from him. "Therefore,
a fundamental life skill for all believers is learning how to discern the subtle
ways our heart moves us in either direction." (66) "One
way I know God's will is by the desires of my heart. When God is in control of your life, He is
also in control of your desires."
(67, quoting Bruce Waltke) At the
same time, Satan loves to lure us away from God by playing on our desires.
(69) "Our good desires can easily
be used to move us a bit off course, which eventually could lead us into
destructive behavior." "Any
desire, good or bad, can easily be hijacked for evil." "Temptations don't come with loud
sirens going off to warn us--they're usually very subtle." We need to be alert. (71) Satan desires to draw us away to trust in
ourselves by moving us into fear, anger, or pride. (74) Because
all parents are imperfect, most of us carry some deep wounds related to our
growing-up years. As children we
developed some strategies to be safe and in our relationship with God these
have become barriers since we tend to rely on ourselves to fix problems and
be safe rather than relying on God's help and love. (75) "God
seeks open access to those parts of our lives that we choose to keep deeply
hidden within our inner world."
Ignoring His invitation indicates a willful resistance. It's not natural to attend to our
limitations, weaknesses and sins, but we can invite God into this inner
search. (78) "Moving into a
healthier emotional life is an important part of the journey of growing
deeper with God." (79) "Only
infinite divine love can touch our deep places of sorrow. Only infinite divine love can heal our
wounds and lift us up. Living more and
more in divine love is an important and normal part of God's program for
us." (81) "If we don't
address the deep needs of our heart, we become the walking wounded and very
susceptible to being led down destructive paths." (83) If you
are in communication with Him, then you can trust your conscience to warn you
when you begin to step out of line. (85)
"We need to invite trusted others to help us notice, monitor, and
begin to limit and defeat these sinful reaction patterns so we can grow more
and more into the settled rootedness of Jesus' inner life." (87) Part II. Expanding Expectations for Our Faith in God 4.
Making Sense of Jesus' Incredible Promises Jesus'
"promises about faith and prayer are as shocking for us today as they
were for those in Jesus' time. The
reality of every prayer answered as described in these verses doesn't match our experience." (100) When
Jesus says, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is
perfect," he is providing a vision of life fully lived in his
kingdom. "Thus, we should read
these statements as invitations to a journey of growth toward these
ideals." (101) Some of
Jesus' teachings lie outside our plausibility structures -- our views of
reality. But these can be altered.
(102) Despite all their skepticism,
the disciples became convinced, for example, that Jesus had really risen from
the dead. Where are we currently being held hostage by closed minds? (104)
There are
critical moments on our journey in trusting God when we need to take an
action step, like Peter stepping out of the boat. "We need to become much more sensitive
to God's presence, becoming attuned to this invisible reality, where God is
always near." (105) "The
more we enter into Jesus' own view of reality, the more we can rely on that
reality as he did. God-confidence is
being able to see what those outside of God's family just cannot yet
see." (106) "God-confidence helps us look beyond
the current troubling circumstances to rely on God's promises abut the
future." It also helps us rely on
what is real though invisible and immaterial now. (107) "It's
possible even to exercise our little
God-confidence and see God work. And
it's also possible for our reliance on God to increase. Furthermore, it's a process God nurtures in
us as we step out in obedience." (125) Changes
in both belief and practice are necessary if true worldview change is to take
place. We must step out of the
comfortable routines and exercise our God-confidence for it to have full
effect. (128) "Wise risks are part and parcel of the
life of God-confidence." (129) 5.
Bearing Witness to God's Activity in Our World Reliance
on God grows as people share with one another how God intervenes in their
lives. (135) Listen for things from
people who are credible witnesses for you.
Tell others and listen to others tell how God has answered prayer,
about incredible providential 'coincidences,' and about miraculous
healings. These things abound but
often witnesses keep silent. 6.
Learning to Trust in God for Guidance about Life Decisions "Faith
is actually rooted in knowledge--a true belief about reality based on
adequate grounds or an accurate experiential awareness of reality. Thus, faith is never opposed to reason or
evidence when everything is taken into account. Biblical faith is not a blind leap in the
dark." (161) Doubt may
come from seeing the world through Western plausibility structures or doubt
regarding specific intellectual issues. (161)
"God
welcomes us when we seek his guidance and present our prayer
requests." "Our God-confidence
grows as we step out to learn how trustworthy to us our God is." (161) "Generally
speaking, 'God's will' refers to two broad categories: something related to
God's desired overarching plan for history, or something related to a
lifestyle of righteousness that pleases God." (168) "The matter of guidance relates to
making decisions within the wide range of activities that fit within God's
moral and holy standards." Within
this sphere we have a lot of room for decision making. (169) "We can also venture out beyond the
evidences of God's apparent working, moving into new arenas for which God may
be nudging us to move forward."
"Take the initiative, step out and see what God will do." "One of God's goals for us is that we
become adults, wise in our decision making." (172-73)
Often
God's guidance comes in the form of wise counsel. "Relying more and more on God's ways
than on our own is what our journey into wisdom is all about." (Prov.
3:5-6) (174) He wants us to make some decisions - with
him at the center of our desires.
(174) "God
is in the guidance business." (175)
"The Holy Spirit is not just some force or power, but is a Person
of power, who mentors and coaches us and makes it possible for us to live by
faith and grow into Christlikeness." (177) The
remainder of the chapter provides descriptions of means God uses to guide us.
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