Coming to faith in different ways
03/04/16 05:19
After centuries of conflict between the Christians and the official government of Rome, Emperor Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, rose to power in 307. Her served as Roman Emperor until 337. Son of a Roman army officer, Constantine rose through the ranks to become a military tribune. In 305 he was raised to the rank of Augustus, or senior officer of the western region. His father died in 306 and Constantine became involved in several different civil wars against emperors Maxentius and Licinius. He emerged victorious and became sole rule of both west and east in 324. He was known as a reformer. He instituted financial reforms that curbed inflation, restructured civil and military code and strengthened the empire in many ways. Importantly for the history of Christianity, Constantine was the first Roman emperor to claim conversion to Christianity and, in 313 decreed tolerance for Christianity in the empire.
There were gains and losses for the religion in this newfound status. Historians vary in their opinions about whether or not it was in the best interests of the religion. Clearly the endorsement of Christianity by Constantine played a major factor in the worldwide spread of Christianity. An important step in the process was the First Council of Nicaea in 325, called by Constantine. The goal of the council was to obtain consensus in the church about the nature of faith and settle disagreements among Christians. The result of the council was an official teaching on the nature of the relationship between Jesus Christ and God the Father, the formation of the first part of the Nicene Creed, and the establishment of Easter as a major Christian holiday and celebration. It is often referred to as the beginning of canon law.
After the Council of Nicaea, belief became an important concept in the church. It had been a part of Christianity from its early days. The gospels mention belief in reference to the resurrection of Jesus, but aren’t always clear as to the meaning of the term. After Nicaea, belief referred to a specific set of intellectual assents. One had to agree to specific statements in order to be considered a believer. Those who refused to agree, were considered outsiders and not part of the Christian religion. Since that time and continuing to the present day, there are groups within Christianity that require one to make a formal declaration of agreement with a creed in order to belong.
Throughout the history of Christianity, however, there have been those who don’t find the center of Christianity in intellectual agreement. They don’t find ideas to be the core of the faith. Faith is something different from agreement to a certain set of intellectual beliefs or dogma. Faith involves trust more than agreement.
Because of the history of the church and the roles various creeds and dogma have played in conflict within the church, it is interesting to note that some of our oldest stories of faith involve differences in how people came to faith.
It is tradition, during the season of Easter, to read the account of the disciple Thomas, who was reluctant to believe in the resurrection at first. His claim was simple: “Unless I see and touch myself, I will not believe.” For Thomas the reports of others were insufficient for him to accept the resurrection. He requested direct experience in order to come to faith. That is not the remarkable part of the story, in my opinion. There are many who are reluctant to accept the reports of others and who want to verify through their own experience. What is remarkable about the story in my opinion is that the report contains specific details about an appearance of Jesus to the disciples that involves Thomas being given the direct experience he sought. It isn’t just that Thomas places experience over intellectual argument, it is that Jesus complies and provides what Thomas needs. The story, in my opinion, has been retained and treasured by the church because it points to a variety of different ways to come to faith. Some may have faith because of the stories and testimony of others. Others may have faith because of their direct experience.
These different ways of coming to faith are highlighted by other stories of faith in the Bible. The sudden and dramatic conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus serves as another important model of how some come to faith. Some come to faith through the witness of others, some through their direct experiences. Some come to faith slowly, others in a sudden and dramatic conversion.
The bottom line is that there are many different ways to come to faith.
Give those stories, I am reluctant to claim that any church organization can create an absolute definition of Christianity or claim to have certainty about who is and who is not a Christian. From a practical standpoint, we simply don’t need to make that judgment.
As Christians, we are called to treat all people as our neighbors, not just those with whom we agree, those who we see as having the same faith, or those who are like us. Consider other stories that we have treasured and are included in our scriptures. Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan precisely to show that neighborly behavior wasn’t restricted to those who were insiders of the faith. Religious officials don’t come across nobly in the story, but rather an outsider, who was considered not to possess the right faith. It is a lesson for all Christians today.
I am grateful to be serving a congregation that doesn’t hold a requirement for people to sign a particular creed, adopt a specific dogma or make a certain set of intellectual assents in order to participate. “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here” is sufficient. We accept people where they are. We try to provide resources for faith development so that all may grow in faith maturity.
It is a good thing I live when I do. I probably wouldn’t have fared well at the Council of Nicaea.
There were gains and losses for the religion in this newfound status. Historians vary in their opinions about whether or not it was in the best interests of the religion. Clearly the endorsement of Christianity by Constantine played a major factor in the worldwide spread of Christianity. An important step in the process was the First Council of Nicaea in 325, called by Constantine. The goal of the council was to obtain consensus in the church about the nature of faith and settle disagreements among Christians. The result of the council was an official teaching on the nature of the relationship between Jesus Christ and God the Father, the formation of the first part of the Nicene Creed, and the establishment of Easter as a major Christian holiday and celebration. It is often referred to as the beginning of canon law.
After the Council of Nicaea, belief became an important concept in the church. It had been a part of Christianity from its early days. The gospels mention belief in reference to the resurrection of Jesus, but aren’t always clear as to the meaning of the term. After Nicaea, belief referred to a specific set of intellectual assents. One had to agree to specific statements in order to be considered a believer. Those who refused to agree, were considered outsiders and not part of the Christian religion. Since that time and continuing to the present day, there are groups within Christianity that require one to make a formal declaration of agreement with a creed in order to belong.
Throughout the history of Christianity, however, there have been those who don’t find the center of Christianity in intellectual agreement. They don’t find ideas to be the core of the faith. Faith is something different from agreement to a certain set of intellectual beliefs or dogma. Faith involves trust more than agreement.
Because of the history of the church and the roles various creeds and dogma have played in conflict within the church, it is interesting to note that some of our oldest stories of faith involve differences in how people came to faith.
It is tradition, during the season of Easter, to read the account of the disciple Thomas, who was reluctant to believe in the resurrection at first. His claim was simple: “Unless I see and touch myself, I will not believe.” For Thomas the reports of others were insufficient for him to accept the resurrection. He requested direct experience in order to come to faith. That is not the remarkable part of the story, in my opinion. There are many who are reluctant to accept the reports of others and who want to verify through their own experience. What is remarkable about the story in my opinion is that the report contains specific details about an appearance of Jesus to the disciples that involves Thomas being given the direct experience he sought. It isn’t just that Thomas places experience over intellectual argument, it is that Jesus complies and provides what Thomas needs. The story, in my opinion, has been retained and treasured by the church because it points to a variety of different ways to come to faith. Some may have faith because of the stories and testimony of others. Others may have faith because of their direct experience.
These different ways of coming to faith are highlighted by other stories of faith in the Bible. The sudden and dramatic conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus serves as another important model of how some come to faith. Some come to faith through the witness of others, some through their direct experiences. Some come to faith slowly, others in a sudden and dramatic conversion.
The bottom line is that there are many different ways to come to faith.
Give those stories, I am reluctant to claim that any church organization can create an absolute definition of Christianity or claim to have certainty about who is and who is not a Christian. From a practical standpoint, we simply don’t need to make that judgment.
As Christians, we are called to treat all people as our neighbors, not just those with whom we agree, those who we see as having the same faith, or those who are like us. Consider other stories that we have treasured and are included in our scriptures. Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan precisely to show that neighborly behavior wasn’t restricted to those who were insiders of the faith. Religious officials don’t come across nobly in the story, but rather an outsider, who was considered not to possess the right faith. It is a lesson for all Christians today.
I am grateful to be serving a congregation that doesn’t hold a requirement for people to sign a particular creed, adopt a specific dogma or make a certain set of intellectual assents in order to participate. “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here” is sufficient. We accept people where they are. We try to provide resources for faith development so that all may grow in faith maturity.
It is a good thing I live when I do. I probably wouldn’t have fared well at the Council of Nicaea.