In today’s world of certainty and scientific proofs, many fundamental beliefs of Christianity seem indeed questionable (at best!). I get it. But it makes me wonder.
Four Unbelievables of Christianity
I am thinking of just four “doctrinal statement” beliefs that challenge credibility and logic: Trinity, Incarnation, Virgin Birth, and Resurrection. All four are incomprehensible and unintelligible. And yet all four hold sway in what is considered essential to the Christian “faith system.”
It is a faith system founded on that which is unbelievable by human standards. For instance, the Trinity challenges logic; Incarnation assumes that there is a Creator God who can physically manifest itself as a person; Virgin Birth… well the name speaks for itself… it challenges any questions regarding the intervention of the divine with humanity; and the Resurrection, holds true that a man dead for three days can come back to life. Huh?
Myth or Truthful Event
The question of theologians and philosophers is, did these four events actually occur or are they better put into the category of essential mythology. Joseph Campbell’s idea that the story, not the actual event, guides the heart and the mind? In Campbell’s philosophy it is the message of the myth that is most important. Fine philosophers and theologians argue both notions.
For sure, it is much easier to say the actual event holds far less influence than the power of the story. I believe in the influential power of this kind of belief in the unbelievable as a grounding myth for faith. But I find such an understanding to be lacking.
Considering Epistemology (How You Know What You Know)
I am left with accepting the illogical, the impossible, the unbelievable. In my mind, to disavow the veracity of these events seriously waters down the theology. Yes, the three in one continues to baffle all comprehensible logic, and divine interventions challenge credibility and logic. But by what epistemology do we evaluate existential veracity?
Personally, I choose to believe the unbelievable.
If there is a God that created all things, which in itself is another mystery, then why might I limit such a Deity to a box set of human limitations? To do so places human restrictions on deity. If God were as limited as humans, then what good is this God? Why not just have a moral code? Well, codes work, don’t they? Nope! If codes worked, we would have no prisons.
No Need to PROVE Anything
This topic could certainly be a book. But for now, I choose to simply plump myself down and accept, enthusiastically, the truths of Trinity, Incarnation, Virgin Birth, and Resurrection. Did these events actually occur? I have no idea because I cannot “prove” it.
However, I personally do not have to prove anything. For, I require my God to be incomprehensible and mysterious. Indeed, I require Divine Interventions. Yes, I believe them to be historically true, from time immemorial to the very present.
The Mystery of the Unbelievable
I need a God who functions beyond all human limitations. Always keep in mind, divine and miraculous acts must be unbelievable. If they were believable, they would not be miracles of divine intervention.
THIS is the work of mystery. And, God is mystery before anything else.
The Improbable Choice of
Believing the Unbelievable
Photo courtesy of Aleksandr Zyablitskiy at istockphoto
