Questioning Faith

Today I am concerned about the idea of questioning. Specifically I am interested in “Questioning Faith.”

This has become especially important to me in part because of all the great questions that have come up during a recent book study at Minesing United Church based on Marcus Borg’s, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. Also (as a self confessed political junky) I have been watching with disgust how thoughtful public discussion has degenerated into sound bites and carefully considered changes on positions (in the light of new information) has become weak “flip flopping.”

“The charge [of flip flopping] has more recently been used to attack politicians and in some cases other public figures for any change of policy for any reason whatsoever, including new information becoming available or a change in circumstances. Such changes in policy are considered evidence of a lack of political conviction.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-flop_(politics)

My thesis is that asking questions is important and changing ones mind after careful study is a good thing rather than a sign of lazy thinking. In fact, I would go further and argue that unless a person is continually questioning things that are important to them (or issues that they are working on) then that person doesn’t really care. And if all that work and all of those questions don’t lead to some change, small or large, then the person asking all the questions didn’t learn anything.

It seems like a harsh position, but think on the opposing alternative. If we are not engaged and growing then we must be rigid and separate. And that is the path to fundamentalism and tyranny.

I remember an incident from my childhood involving a triangle. It was grade 5 or 6 and we were learning about geometry (coincidentally exactly what my daughter was working on this morning – I love last minute homework ). We were told that a triangle can only have one right angle (an angle of 90). So I went home and told my Dad all I had learned, including this revelation about the triangle. At which point my mathematician father told me this wasn’t quite true and that he could draw a triangle with three right angles. I stood up to this nonsense and told my Dad that my teacher had told me this, so it must be true. He said, “bring me that ball, a ruler and a pen.” He then proceeded to draw something that looked like a triangle, with three right angles, on the ball. (Go ahead and try it at home – just make sure you ask your kids before you start drawing all over their toys.) “Wow” I thought “this is amazing!” And I couldn’t wait to tell my teacher. Predictably my teacher was unimpressed. He looked for one second and said, “that isn’t a triangle now go sit down.”

I am, at this point, forced to admit that my teacher was right. The shape drawn on the ball was not, by definition, a triangle. However, I had to wait to go home and talk it over with my Dad before I got a chance to consider questions like 2D space, curved space, and 3D space. It was a hint that behind the lowly shape of a triangle scratched on paper was a whole universe of interesting things. This I learned from my Dad, who asked questions, pushed boundaries and encouraged creativity. Of course all I could focus on at that moment was my teachers dismissive reaction. I only learned from this incident years later. At the time all I learned was from my teacher, namely, I didn’t like math because it was boring.

On that I was wrong (and by extension so was my teacher) and my Dad was right. Math is interesting and creative.

And so is faith: Christianity in particular. As we have been engaging with the idea of what our Bible is and what it means I am reminded of the words of the newest incarnation of a statement of faith in the United Church and the preamble to it.

Preamble:
This statement of faith seeks to provide a verbal picture of what The United Church of Canada understands its faith to be in its current historical, political, social, and theological context at the beginning of the 21st century. It is also a means of ongoing reflection and an invitation for the church to live out its convictions in relation to the world in which we live.
The church’s faith is grounded in truths that are timeless. These truths, however, must be embraced anew by Christians of each generation and stated “in terms of the thoughts of their own age and with the emphasis their age needs” (Statement of Faith, 1940).
This is not the first time the United Church has formally expressed its collective faith. In the Basis of Union (1925), in the Statement of Faith (1940), and in A New Creed (1968), the United Church stated its faith in words appropriate to its time. This current statement of faith is offered within that tradition, and in response to the request of the 37th General Council (2000) for a “timely and contextual statement of faith” that especially engages “the church in conversation on the nature of the church (ecclesiology), ministry and the sacraments.”
This statement of faith attempts to reflect the spirit of The United Church of Canada and to respond to various defining elements in our social, political, and historical context, including the place of the church in society, the cultural and intellectual setting in which we find ourselves, the meaning of “truth,” the impact of the market economy on our daily lives, and the growing issue of the meaning of “security.” These contextual elements are further explored in the appendices to this document.
This is not a statement for all time but for our time. In as much as the Spirit keeps faith with us, we can express our understanding of the Holy with confidence. And in as much as the Spirit is vast and wild, we recognize that our understanding of the Holy is always partial and limited. Nonetheless we have faith, and this statement collects the meaning of our song.

Scripture is our song for the journey, the living word
passed on from generation to generation
to guide and inspire,
that we might wrestle a holy revelation for our time and place
from the human experiences
and cultural assumptions of another era.
God calls us to be doers of the word and not hearers only.

The Spirit breathes revelatory power into scripture,
bestowing upon it a unique and normative place
in the life of the community.
The Spirit judges us critically when we abuse scripture
by interpreting it narrow-mindedly,
using it as a tool of oppression, exclusion, or hatred.

The wholeness of scripture testifies
to the oneness and faithfulness of God.
The multiplicity of scripture testifies to its depth:
two testaments, four gospels,
contrasting points of view held in tension—
all a faithful witness to the One and Triune God,
the Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love.


Questioning faith is not about doubt. Questioning faith is about exploration.