Questions of Faith: A Skeptical Affirmation of Christianity

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Product Description

Leading religious and cultural commentator, Peter Berger, explores how and what we can believe in modern times.

• Deals clearly with questions such as � Does God exist? What was so special about Jesus? How can one be Christian in a pluralistic society?
  
• Structured around key phrases from the Apostles� � Creed.
  
• Draws on the Christian theological tradition and the work of other relevant thinkers, such as Freud and Simone Weil.
  
• The author takes the position of an open-minded sceptic, exploring his own beliefs.

Questions of Faith: A Skeptical Affirmation of Christianity Review

I do not pretend to understand all that I have read. I need to read the book again (and look up some key words). I have not read much theology or philosophy. I do not offer this as a book review, but as a personal reaction to reading this book.

But after my reading, still, the only thing that is for certain is the `hunger for God'. I was wanting more certitude, but, alas, it was not there.

However some big questions remain that still resonate as a mystery even in a time (and a mind--that is my mind) filled with science.

"He has risen." If this event did occur, and as Berger states the apostles certainly believed it did, then....that would alter everything. It is the one event which has to have occurred for Christianity to be anything beyond ethical living and seeking the power of love (as wonderful in themselves as these two things are).

And the question of evil: If there is evil (and not just natural occurrences that are perceived as `evil' because of the pain they cause) -- evil of human beings inflicting pain-causing acts on other humans and on the world in general (e.g., other animals) -- then, can a physical universe really explain such a thing? That haunted me.

And love. Can neurons in our brain really explain such a reality that is not just felt by an individual but experienced by more than one?

I was very struck by Berger's reference to Socrates, and how `death was a friend' and `natural'. That indeed was how I experienced it when I lived with a dying person. I cannot explain it more than that, but it was acceptance of what the reality was. It was not fear or fighting of death (at least not my own). And I do not see death as cruel, it is only death. I do not see it as unacceptable nor do I see that perfection (a world without death) is anything to ever expect from life. Perfection is a construct of the mind, and nothing more. (These thoughts of mine do seem to differ from Berger's.)

Yet Jesus feared death. Why? If he knew death was a pathway, then why? Or did he really just fear pain -- since he certainly endured that.

Socrates taking hemlock is certainly different from crucifixion.

What is the Greek thing anyhow? (The reference to this near the end of the book made me realized I have more reading to do.)

I have more questions than answers, but yet I am thankful for the journey, unsatisfying as it is in terms of reliable answers.

All I know is the hunger.

And the hope:

"Let me, in conclusion, refer to three Aramaic sentences that were transported into the Greek text of the New Testament. The first are words spoken by Jesus as he raised from the dead the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairu: "Talitha, cumi," "Little girl, arise" (Mark 5:41). The second, to which we referred before, are words spoken by Jesus from the cross: "Eli, eli, lama sabachtani?." "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). And the third (probably liturgical text) was introduced into some texts at the conclusion of the last book of the New Testament, which in the usual English translations simply reads "Come, Lord Jesus" -- in Aramaic, "Maranatha," "Come, Lord," or possibly, "The Lord is coming" (Revelation 22:20). One could say that the entire Gospel is contained in these three archaic sentences, dating from the very beginning of Christian history: With Christ an immensely powerful process of redemption has been released into the world. In Christ's suffering and death on the cross, at the extreme point of God's humiliation (kenosis), God both shares all the pain of creation and inaugurates its repair. And Christ will return as victor and restore the creation to the glory for which God intended it." (p.175-76)

So I am left with the longing which really is also the hope. But that is something. I will continue, I am sure, to pray when I need to, and for prayer to be a healing experience.

Berger is a wonderful writer -- really he is a storyteller. You can imagine him in your living room talking the book, as if talking to a friend.

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