A Maine Man in Texas

ON FAITH AND FACTS
Some may ask why this discussion needs to be revisited. We all know the differences between these terms. Don't we?
Well, apparently not. In researching the literature for my upcoming book, SAY WHAT YOU MEAN-MEAN WHAT YOU SAY1, I found that even today, in the age of electronic everything, people are still compelled to blur these terms to fit their own agenda.
FAITH is what we hope to be true. We do not need any facts to back up our FAITH. As a matter of fact, if there were to be facts available to prove the point, we wouldn't need FAITH. We have FAITH in information we receive from outside sources. Someone, either in person, through the electronic media or in the written word, has told us something and we BELIEVE them and have FAITH that the information is true. What they have to say may be pure fantasy or it may be based on a pseudo-science such as astrology or Tarot readings, or, in the case of we Christians, the information we have FAITH in comes from the writings about Jesus the Nazarene. Whatever the source, it sounds good and offers to meet some unmet need and we attach value to it and have FAITH that it will turn out our advantage. Much of the time it is based loosely on mythology or “traditional History”.2 Some of the time it is based on the teachings of a mystic, guru, prophet, or even God. But no matter how much of these stories come from an oral tradition, text books, or religious doctrine, something appeals to us and we have FAITH in the message. We want it to be true and in FAITH, we impose “TRUTH” on the message. As a result, we oftentimes profess that what we have FAITH in (BELIEVE in) is TRUTH. As a result, TRUTH then is the internalization of these stories from outside sources which we BELIEVE and assign them to be TRUE. What we BELIEVE is TRUTH. When many people have FAITH in a message and BELIEVE it to be true, they frequently band together in this common, shared BELIEF. When the BELIEF concerns God we call these groups religions, and when the common belief concerns the life and teachings of Jesus the Nazarene we are known collectively as Christians.
The accounts written in what we call the New Testament are a few of the stories, mythology, and folktales about Jesus the Nazarene. As science advances we are slowly being able to see and study other stories and mythologies about Jesus from outside sources. We have manuscripts, books, and other archaeological evidence that Jesus probably lived, that He was a devotee of the Essene sect of Jews, that he was a rabbi and teacher, and that He rebelled against the establishment. He was a radical left wing pain in the side of the established Temple hierarchy. It was this hierarchy who manipulated the Roman government, and as a result, Jesus was sentenced to death.
We also have 2000 years of the continuous, uninterrupted FAITH in Jesus' teachings, HIS life as the message and HIS divinity. Not bad for a man who, during HIS entire ministry, only actually spoke to a few thousand people in a small, relatively unimportant part of the world and in a language spoken by only a handful of people. Today a preacher can go on television and speak directly to millions of people. What would Jesus think of that? I believe that HE would be (and is) extremely upset at the misinformation and manipulative messages being broadcast.
We have this Heritage of FAITH because a few of Jesus' followers thought that what He had to say was important enough to jot down some quotes and to write a few letters. But we don't have any facts to back up these stories and accounts of HIS life. Just because someone says so, doesn't make it so. “What if several people say so? Doesn't that make it so”, you may ask. Well, only if you are willing to admit that the world was actually flat right up to the point that it was proved a sphere. After all, everyone BELIEVED it to be flat and therefore it must be so.
Fortunately, we don't need to prove anything. Facts are fun but unnecessary when it come to Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus, you see, never asks us to BELIEVE anything. He never says “ I want to you to trust Me” or “BELIEVE in Me”. Jesus states , with authority, “I am the way!” He doesn't 'ask' us to do anything. He tells us that if we want salvation we must follow HIM. Jesus does not offer qualifiers like “if, and, or, but”. He doesn't hint, suggest, or elude, He simply states that He is the “way”. And, how do we know this is true, that he said these things? Because we have FAITH that the stories written in the New Testament are accurate representations of what Jesus actually said and did. And we have these stories from at least four separate, independent sources. And we have 2000 years of continued reliance on the accuracy of these stories, past down from generation to generation, first in an oral history and later in the written word.
Facts are fun, but FAITH is forever. Facts change as science continues to uncover the physical mysteries of this world. Someday maybe someone will find the facts that disprove the existence of Jesus. Even if that should occur, the message from Jesus the Nazarene would continue to be valid. His teaching of love, patience, and salvation through baptism and the forgiveness of sins through confession and absolution will go on.
1Due out in Fall 2009
2A term I made up to represent the stories and other oral traditions of our heritage, family, or tribe.


"people should have to pay to go to church and theater should be free"