CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – My father is a skeptic. He’s a man of science and history, and is very well-read on both subjects. He studied college-level biology in high school. He’s studied the history of biblical times.
He is well aware of the “problems” with the bible. Consider: Records survive from the Roman Empire. Yet there is no record of the census ordered by Quirinius, the event that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem when Jesus was born. As a man of science, he believes evolution is settled fact. He would offer a raised eyebrow that Noah gathered two of every animal before the flood. “Every animal?” he’d say. He would also point out that none of the original biblical texts still exist. The Bible we read today is a translation from the lost writings into Greek. How authentic the source material is open to debate.
Yet my father is a regular chuch goer, even at his home-away-from-home in Florida. He clearly wrestles with these issues. And I think that he’s still at it shows a kind of strength in faith that I admire.
Last year my father asked me if I believe “all of it”. I told him “yes”. And I’m not nearly as deep a thinker as he is.
There are some things that I’m not supposed to understand. And, to me, that’s the very nature of faith – believing in something that cannot be proven. If you are all about facts and science, being a Christian is hard.
But remember, John’s gospel said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” I think it means this: God is not facts or figures. He cannot be proven through a scientific therum. Faith isn’t confirmed by how many hymns or bible verses you know. There will always be a gap between what can be proven and where God is. That gap is where faith lies.
Chris Conley
I’m inviting you to become a monthly donor to the Gospel TLC. It’s a one-of-it’s-kind live-in facility for people who would otherwise be homeless are trying to leave addiction behind. If you’d like to be a monthly giver, I have a link here.
The Gospel TLC also needs household cleaning items: things like laundry detergent, bleech, stain remover, and dryer sheets. Those items can be dropped off at their building in Weston, near the hospital, at Cross Pointe Boulevard.
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