7 Apr 2016
Someone—a modern day Doubting Thomas—asked me: “Why do you
believe? Why do you believe in God...and
in Christianity?” And the two of us went
on to have a long conversation about that.
Really, it’s a question our increasingly secular world is asking of all
of us: “Why do you believe?”
And there are, actually, many reasons for our faith (beyond
the essential virtue of faith given to us by God). For instance, philosophy and human reason
help us to believe. The sciences help
us, too, as does literature and art, and anything that opens us up to the more
mystical and mythical aspects of life.
There are many reasons why we believe.
And among them are the Acts of the Apostles.
Twelve men were called by Christ, right there at the start of
it all, not only to follow him, but to live life in a certain way. They lived and died with absolute confidence
in Christ the Son of God. And the impact
of their witness to real faith echoes and reverberates through every generation
of Christian. We don’t only have faith
in Jesus. We also have faith in the
faith of the Apostles.
We hear the Apostles speak with conviction; we see what they
endured for love of God; we feel the bond of faith among them, and we say: “I
want to be a part of that. I want to
share in the faith they have.” Why do we
believe? Well, among many reasons, we
believe because the Apostles believed.
And they were unshakeable in their faith—that’s what is so appealing;
that’s what inspires us and others: to see faith lived out with commitment and
devotion.
As people around us wrestle with questions of faith, may we
be for them what the Apostles are to us: a devoted and inspiring witness to
real faith.
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