In the movie, "The Matrix" the character Morpheus offers the character Neo a choice. Take the red pill and everything will change -- no turning back -- or take the blue pill and things continue as they have been. G.K. Chesterton notes in his book "Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith," that we stand at the crossroads. As long a we remain at the crossroads, all options are open to us, but once we start down one of the roads, we are excluding all the others. In this post, I would like to reflect on some basic principles for discerning matters of faith. I will share some principles that have helped me choose which roads to take, and helped me decide if I wanted to "take the red pill." I will not tell you how you should choose but I hope that what I provide here will help you discern matters of faith in your own life.
I would like to start by briefly sharing how I started my own journey of faith. I did not grow up as a Christian. My family identified with Protestant Christianity, but that was more a cultural identification than a faith choice. I had no faith and we did not go to church. In my senior year of high school, all that changed. A fellow student gave a book report in a class that awakened in me a desire to know more about life and a hope that there might be a way to live that would lead to love, joy, and peace. The message was based on Eastern, Hindu, religious ideas. It was different from the "heaven and hell" message I had heard from professing Christians. It was a here and now message. As a result, I started seeking truth for living. Thinking I knew all about Christianity, I started my seeking with non-Christian religions. My desire was to make an intelligent choice, weighing all the options. I was at the crossroads. Over time, I found a number of key principles helped me to navigate in my efforts to discern matters of faith.
You will note that I talk of "matters of faith" because there is a difference between being religious, and embracing a faith system. Occasionally I will meet someone who asks, "Aren't all religions the same?" or they more confidently state, "All religions are the same." Such statements typically assume one of several things. They may be simple, face value, statements that are effectively saying, "I don't see any difference." Or, they may mean, "All religions are mythology (fiction), so it is just a matter of choosing the story you like best." Or, it may be that the person is holding to a faith system, such as eastern pantheism, that teaches we are going through some karmic cycle where we all will end up at the same end of "enlightenment" or "cosmic consciousness." G.K. Chesterton observed:
"The religions of the earth do not greatly differ in rites and forms; they do greatly differ in what they teach."
It is for this reason that I focus on "matters of faith" rather than "religions." It took years for me to come to grips with these differences in what they teach, and it was those differences that made it all the more important for me to be able to discern between faith systems. These differences can take many forms.
- There are differences on the story. For example, the Koran differs from the Bible on the account of the fall. Or, the New Age teachings I was studying often differed on their account of the story of Jesus. In all these cases, the differences radically changed the message.
- There are differences in scope. For example Buddhism and Taoism are silent about God and are more focused a philosophy for living, where the Judao-Christian tradition makes claims for the nature of God and His goal for all mankind. The Tao Te Ching is not a work one would go to if you want to know about God, or even to know if there is a God.
- There are differences in Theology or Ideology. For example Christianity has a Trinitarian concept of a personal monotheistic God, where Judaism and Islam reject the concept of the Trinity. In Eastern Pantheism all is God, and the Trinity is a meaningless concept. Similarly, Ideology can differ. One faith system lifts up people as created in the image and likeness of God, and as such, they each have unsurpassed worth. In another faith system, individuals may have different value, based on birth status, or perhaps people have no value beyond what the principle of "survival of the fittest" provides.
- There are differences in the claims. There are many religious systems that are mythological, making to claims to truth. On the other hand, many religious systems make claims of truth and historicity.
I have given some examples above in order to help you understand what Chesterton might mean when he says the religions of the world differ in what they teach. While some of these differences might be subtle, others have huge practical implications to us as individuals and the form societies will take when influenced by these systems of faith.
Before I continue, I would like to offer one caution, in fairness to all faith systems. People may act different from the essence of what their faith system teaches. While it is true that we can discern a lot from how a faith system is played out in people's lives, it is just as likely people's actions will provide a good excuse for rejecting a faith system. Christianity, my own faith system, is no less guilty in this area. The Crusades in no way reflected Jesus' teachings of loving our neighbor and our enemy. Moderate Muslims argue that Islam is not fairly reflected by radical Islam, and I suspect the radical Muslim might argue the reverse -- that moderate Islam is not true to the essence of the teachings of the prophet and the Koran. My point is this: In discerning between faith systems, I urge you to look at the essence of the faith system, as revealed by its scriptures, claims, theology, and practices, rather than judging it by the actions of individual adherents.
Why Believe?
As I came to grips with these differences, another question confronted me. Why should I believe one religion or faith system over another? Of course, if all religions are mere mythology, then it is just a matter of choosing the story we like, or none at all. On the other hand, if one or more are more than myth, than how do we discern between them? How do we know what is true and what is not? How do we choose. Over the years, I have applied the following principles in discerning between competing systems of faith.
- What is the empirical evidence? Atheists often claim there is no empirical evidence for matters of faith. While this claim might be debated, all agree that empirical evidence can be the most convincing.
- What is the historical evidence? Where historical claims are made, what evidence exist outside the writings of the particular belief system?
- What is the prophetic evidence? Some religions make prophetic statements of the future. This principle is particularly important for the Bible. The Bible insists a prophet's prophecy must come true in all cases if they are a true prophet. The idea is that if prophecies are consistently realized, more weight can be given to the other teachings of the prophet. Admittedly, the nature of prophecy is such that we do not always know if they will prove true. However, in the case of the Bible, a great number of prophetic claims have been realized.
- What personal experience or testimonial evidence exists? How has this faith system changed lives? How have prayers been answered? What healing has taken place? To what extent has applying the principles promoted by the faith system proved out in the lives of the followers of that system?
- What direct revelation evidence exists? For example, Saul of Tarsus was an early persecutor of the Christians. On his way to persecute (i.e., kill) believers in Damascus, Jesus appeared before him, struck him temporarily blind, and changed his life completely. From that point on, Saul became known as the Apostle Paul, and preached the Christian message to the point of death. The implication is that if God exists, he can choose to provide some direct revelation of himself. Of course, the personal testimony of a religion's founders may be impressive, but this principle comes into play more strongly when it is also experienced by common followers. Other belief systems may also have various types of direct revelation, but my example should be enough to illustrate the point.
How Do We Choose?
Okay, I have shared about the differences in faith systems and various types of evidences we might seek out. As I processed through these things in my life, I came to a small subset of faith systems. From there I was confronted with a choice. The honest truth is that I was left with more than one choice. Evidences of different kinds existed. At this point the differences came into play. For me, it took quite a while to process through those differences and find sufficient clarity to make a choice.
Francis Schaeffer in his writings addresses this issue, and his approach proved most helpful to me. Schaeffer engaged the faith systems and philosophies of the world for about three decades. His approach was as follows:
- What best fits what we know?
- What best answers life's questions?
- What produces the best and most consistent results?
- Where is the evidence most convincing?
Schaeffer argued that Biblical Christianity provided the best fit, the best answers. God is there and is not silent. While Schaeffer admitted we cannot know truth exhaustively, we can truly know something. Just as I cannot know what it is like to live in my wife's shoes, I can truly know something about her. I know what food she likes and what she does not like. I know some of her political positions, that she has blue eyes and blond hair. In the same way, God has revealed something to us that we can truly know. In evaluating faith systems, there are going to be many things that we can truly know about them.
While you, my reader, may not be even close to coming the the same conclusions that Schaeffer came up with, my message to you is that there is truth that can be known. It is possible to discern the differences, and process through the evidence, and come to a point where you can make a decision. What it is going to take will be different for each person. I am also aware that just as we are all unique individuals, we will make different choices. Even those who choose the same faith system will live them out in different ways. This is particularly true for those who choose the Christian faith.
In Conclusion
Are all religions of the world myth? No. While some are indisputably myth, many others have various levels of truth. Are all the religions of the world the same? No. They teach different things, have different stories, different outcomes, different levels of faithfulness to the facts, and different consequences for their followers. Do all religions lead to the same place? Not according to the claims of most.
On one hand, this world is full of sorrow, suffering, and cruelty. History has shown that even the "best people" can be led to do terrible things. Yet, this world has potential for great good. In fact, the ability to even talk about good and evil hints to a reason for hope. Many years ago something awakened in me, and caused me to start seeking. I had hope that there was a faith system that would make life worth living -- that the nihilism of time, plus chance, did not have to be the last word.
Is this enough to make you a seeker? If yes, "take the red pill" and the adventure will begin. If not, "take the blue pill" and things will be as they have been; where you stand at the crossroads, forgetting what it was that you were thinking about.
