Comments | insanetimbo: The faith journey

insanetimbo

The faith journey

Jan 12, 2009 12:35

Faith has always come naturally to me. I don't know whether this is because of the way I was raised, or some predisposition to belief in my psyche. All i know is that my whole life I've found belief a whole lot easier than those around me. And even as my faith has undergone dozens of significant revisions during my adult life as i've come to ( Read more... )

simplicity, crisis, hope, faith, complexity, love, christianity, god

Comments 4

bwandirunnerw January 12 2009, 20:12:29 UTC

wow tim. first of all i just want to say that you are a great writer. you put your thoughts out there so clearly, but elegantly.

anyway. i feel so much of these tensions as well. i feel like i hover between the green box and the pink box. my doubts haven't been founded in the same logic as yours though. which at times maybe makes it harder because i can't even put my finger on why i'm struggling so much with faith. i find myself super critical and skeptical of christians and flamboyant faith.

anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

insanetimbo January 13 2009, 03:13:04 UTC

Thanks so much Brandi. The problem with reading and writing academically is that it sucks all the flair out of your writing. Reading over this, I think I need to wind back a lot more of that voice and try find my own voice again.. So thanks for your encouragement.

I'm sure your doubts are plenty logical. Mine have just been given fancy scientific names now, but It's all gut feelings in the end.

I do think the 21st century brings immense challenges to faith - the tricky thing is working out which of those challenges faith needs to overcome, and which ones it needs to give in to.

Still, that green box is a wonderful place to be, isn't it? All the best, miss Albrecht

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insanetimbo January 13 2009, 05:38:26 UTC

Thanks David

I like the frog analogy the best!

Yeah, I think the trick is to hold on to a faith that is simple but not simplistic, if that distinction makes sense.

cheers and keep enjoying those sunsets with your lady!

thoughts alasthai January 17 2009, 18:08:40 UTC

Does the faith "wither", or does it move, to be placed in something else?

In what does the believer believe: Jesus, God, the Bible, the Church, the Tradition, escaping from Hell?

How does the believer believe: 'unconsciously', as a response to unarticulated, unquestioned conviction; 'consciously', as having 'proved' this way best of all known ones; 'electively', as having chosen this belief from a range of options; in another way?

Why does the believer believe: for self-reassurance; for compliance with a group; for a stability of personal identity; to prevent cognitive dissonance with an accepted truth; for another reason?

Are the methods and motivations of a single believer uniform, or does the believer believe some things in one way and for one reason, and other things in other ways and for other reasons?

I have a friend who is a biology student, and he is facing a crisis of faith because his scientific training tells him not to believe in anything which cannot be proven: in essence, the ideology of scientific training is ( ... )