None of the above. What would shake my faith most is if a Christian that I greatly admired, even whose words I study daily – such as Jimmy Carter – were to renounce their faith. I'm trying to envision something of this order occurring on a more personal basis. What if I found a writing of my father's in which he ridiculed faith and hence revealed his entire ministry to be an exercise in cheap hypocrisy? What if I learned that my mother secretly held allegiance to atheism? The reason that any of these would be such a blow is because I view my parents as sincere Christians and have personally experienced the results of their belief--the huge benefits of Christian nurture. It would be an overwhelming disappointment to learn that their Christianity was merely a tawdry charade. That could rock my faith to its foundations--something on the order as if discovering that St. Paul secretly held his entire Christian ministry to be one big joke foisted on the delusional.
As troubling as it would be to learn that an admired Christian had committed some notable sin; this would be far from fatal – nowhere approaching the matters discussed above. After all, I am well acquainted with the necessity of daily confessionals.
Print Page
