Faith as Natural Approach? ...

Thursday, December 1, 2011. What is a natural approach to think about our human life? Is science our natural approach? Is meditation a natural approach? Perhaps atheism is natural? How should we approach the basic questions of life and death?

Addressing Human Questions …

Addressing human questions can be carried out on the level of our reason. We can ask questions: how are things connected? What are the rules and laws which determine some development? This leads to science.

But the questions of our mind also lead to philosophy and to the answers which religion can provide. Science usually looks into a particular area or a particular process. But we need to view the whole picture, we need more than just science, we need to look at humans as a whole, mankind as a whole!

When we want to address basic questions of humanity, we need to look beyond science. We need to ask who we are, what we are here for, where we come from and we need to think about the concepts of humanity. The questions are even more than just questions of reason, but also questions of will and of our heart. Humans are more than just machines with reason.

Biblical Stories …

The biblical stories address the basic questions of our mind and our heart. They ask for the framework of our existence and provide specific answers. The way in which things are phrased are not only addressing reason, but by stories and speeches and events the bible addresses the whole of our life!

Faith is the response to the stories. Faith is an attitude, it is reason plus heart, it is behaviour, it is relationship. It is a natural response to the communication which is speaking to us through the stories and sermons of Christianity. In this sense faith is completely natural, it is something which fits our human existence very well. Faith is trust in God, a behaviour which is adequate to the reality which surrounds us.

In the time of advent, when we approach Christmas, the birth of Jesus, it is a good idea to think more about the meaning of faith and about what we need as humans today and tomorrow. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts