My Relationship with Faith

In an age defined by binary thinking, are we able to approach the concept of faith in a more nuanced way?

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

For those of us lucky enough to grow up in permissive environments, we quickly accustomed to the social currency of the big question: “do you believe in God?” Many of us, despite our secular surroundings, responded with a “no” that seemed somehow bravely transgressive. Not just due to the sensitive and divisive nature of the preceding question, but also because of the residual power of two millennia of widespread Christian ideology. We felt then, as many still do today, that we were proudly discrediting an antiquated and less enlightened period in history. A time before science came along and demystified such nonsense.

But, as children, we were merely the mouthpieces for the views of our parents and social milieu. We hadn’t stored up enough knowledge and experiences of our own to make an assured judgment on the terms of such a question.

Take the word ‘belief’.

The popular definition is “an acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof”. Interestingly, the OED’s top definition is, “The trust that the believer places in God; the Christian virtue of faith”. Of course, the English language is inextricably intertwined with…