SUNDAY COLUMN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 28, 12 November 1949, Page 3

SUNDAY COLUMN

WE WALK BY FAITH

(CONDUCTED BY THE ASHBURTON MINISTERS’ ASSOCIATION). Nihilism is becoming a common word on the lips of Christian thinkers who are trying to assess the present spiritual state of mankind in a world where the effects of war are still quite apparent. It means “belief in nothing,” a total scepticism about life and its meaning, issuing in despair and pessimism as regards the future. fn some instances this attitude is explainable if not completely understandable. People who have seen their loved ones cruelly tortured and killed before their eyes, who have been bereft of home and possessions and the very necessities of life are scarcely to be wondered at if their faith in humanity has been destroyed and their outlook upon the future darkened. Yet, at the same time, this scepticism and unbelief themselves constitute a serious menace for the future. For it is in precisely these conditions that atheistic Communism finds its most fertile soil. The' struggle for the future is not to be won in the realm of economics and politics, but in the realm of things spiritual. It is the age-long-struggle of Christ and antichrist. The ■human soul cannot live in a vacuum. Sooner or later this nihilism will be conquered by some mof-e positive attitude to life. The great question of this hour is whether the situation will result in mankind taking unto itself seven devils worse than the first, or in a great resurgence of Christian faith: It is not too much to say tha’t the immediate future of the world hangs upon the answer to this question.

One section of mankind would find the answer to this situation in the powers of the human intellect. This, they claim, is man’s real hope for a better world and, hence, for a better life. The, chief need of man is to train the mind to' the point where it is strong enough to control the emotional: side of his nature. Then man, controlling and guiding himself by reason, will carve out a great new world and will fina'lly attain the good life. This rationalist view of man thus attempts to dispense entirely with belief. The emphasis is upon knowledge and reason. Truth is • discoverable by the human intellect. Knowledge is the truth that has been so discovered and the scientific method is the manner in which it is discovered. So that, in the end, science and education are the things to which people who hold this view look.

The Wisdom of Faith

No one to-day could seriously credit any attempt to set aside science and education, yet, at the same time, it is to be noted that it is equally futile to attempt to dispense with belief or faith. The rationalist who prides himself oil following the light of reason does, so only because lie has first believed in the power of reason to lead him aright. If knowledge of the truth is an accomplishment of the mind, it

is equally true that the mind itself is only able to discover what is true in relation to certain clearly defined beliefs. Knowledge is always verified, in relation to faith and is, therefore, prev ceded by it. Even the scientist posits his beliefs before he sets out to establish them. People can, of course, be taught things by rote, but they cannot attain to any real knowledge of the truth *until they have first believed at least that such knowledge is attainable. Hence the Christian claim that without believing there is no knowledge. There is a place for reason and intelligence in the Christian faith, but it is not the first place for there are some things that we can never understand until faith has made us wise.

The rationalist bases his knowledge and understanding of the world upon the investigations of science. For him this is the only real knowledge possessed by man —that which is demonstrably true. The Christian, on the other hand, though not rejecting the results of scientific investigation, asserts that the world by its very nature is not completely comprehensible to science. There is a “beyond science” which is not susceptible to the scientific method at least in its usual sense. This is the area of faith. In the Letter to the Hebrews we read: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Avord of God, so that things Avhieli are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Something more than eyes of flesh are needed to perceive the true nature of the Avorld, nor are man’s mental powers comiUj&tely equal to the task. Only through faith can Ave arrive at last at

an understanding of the true nature and meaning of the world. When Mother Julian of Norwich was shown the entire creation as “a little hazel nut,” she asked lioav it could continue in existence. It appeared so tiny and fragile compared Avitli the vastness of God. She received the answer that it continued “because God made it, because God loved it; because God keeps it.” The Christian looks at the Avorld not as a phenomenon of science but as the handiAVork of God its Creator. He believes not only that God made the Avorld but that He loves it with special reference to mankind for whom He has given His Son, Jesus Christ, that men might live through Him. And he believes, further, that just because God does love the world in this Avay, He will never permit any final or ultimate destruction to come upon it. Around it and beneath are the everlasting arms. \ What we have said about the Christian view of the world applies also to the Christian understanding of Man. Man is not a fortunate coalition of atoms; he is more than an animal that thinks, more than the supreme achievement of some evolutionary process; he is a living soul made in. the image of God. This is not the conclusion of any purely rational use of man’s reason. It is not verifiable by any scientific method. It is the conviction of faith: the inevitable wisdom that comes from God and is revealed to men through Jesus Christ. And so, in the end, Ave must turn to Christ to discover the true meaning and. purpose of life.

Walk by Faith

Life for the Christian is transformed and rendered meaningful by faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Many things are implicated in this faith Avhich Ave cannot touch upon here. It must suffice us to observe that the Christian life is not founded upon any scientific formula or any materialistic philosophy, but upon Faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Neither the discoveries of science nor the blatant claims of materialism can supplant this faith or render it less than it is. Why, then, should Chris-

tians be disturbed by these things? ft is not these things Avhich should disturb us, but our Aveakness and lack of this faith. As Christians we claim to walk by faith, yet how dearly Ave love to walk by sight! Surely the time has come to set aside all sham and pretence and to Avalk according to the faith Ave profess.

—By M. B. Jose