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Faith, Religion, Belief, and Spirituality

Introduction

There have been persistent failures among many Catholics to understand and discern the main differences between religious faith, theology, faith, and belief. The main responsibility of religious educators is to teach the faith and not the latest views of modern theologians. Beneath this assertion is the assumption that faith exists in a non-theological state; however, this is not always the case. In this text, the ground rules for speaking, writing, teaching and preaching about God are explored. In general, the text explores supernatural order and Jesus Christ. Worth noting, there are communication and interpretations that govern the knowledge we have about this religion as a whole. This text aims to explore facets of religious faith, theology, belief, and spirituality. It is about the doctrines, dogmas, liturgy, and sacred scripture. The text further examines how beliefs are transmitted and transmitted to others including teachings of theology, Christian praxis, and catechesis.

Religious faith

Ever wondered where our knowledge of Jesus Christ’s salvation, God and the Holy Spirit or any other superstition comes from? Noteworthy, there are scientifically verifiable methods that are used to derive this knowledge. The knowledge that we possess about salvation, God, Christ, or any other topics can be knowledge of a person who is committed and believes in God, a committed believer, an anthropologist, psychologist, committed, or a dispassionate observer. It should be noted that an atheistic sociologist can spend their lifetime looking at the effects theism has on institutions and the cultural expressions of a given ethnic or national group. These individuals might produce many articles and books that examine their belief system. Atheist sociologists spend most of their life assessing the effects of theism on cultural expressions and institutions of a given ethnic group and national group (Guinan, 15). They indeed become experts with regard to God’s meaning as perceived by believers in the community. However, this has nothing to do with the knowledge sociologist have of God but rather the knowledge of other people about God. This shows that knowing about Christ, God, grace, the Holy Spirit and redemption is possible without necessarily believing in these realities. In contrast, some individuals claim to know something regarding God because of God’s self-disclosure through Apostles, prophets, Christ, the Church and mystical experience. Worth noting this knowledge is at the heart of our problem and nobody has ever experienced God. The knowledge of a believer is much different than that of an uncommitted observer. The knowledge of the believer does not originate in computer technology, laboratory tests or scientific observation; neither does it come from everyday human experiences and common sense. In essence, believers insist that the knowledge they possess regarding God is attributed to faith in one way or another. Faith has to do with the personal knowledge of God. In this context, there is more emphasis on personal knowledge rather than propositional or cognitive. In short, faith is about how we came about the knowledge of God to be God. Faith has nothing to do with our beliefs about truth as revealed by the Church or Bible. Our object about faith is not a sacred text or doctrine, but rather it is in our God, Creator, Savior, and Judge.

Theology

According to St. Anselm of Canterbury, theology is faith looking for understanding. How we view God in the middle of life is faith. Faith is one’s knowledge about God. It is important to note that unalloyed faith is non-existent and as such, it is harder to isolate and discover pure faith. This has to do with the fact that real and living faith exists only in a reflective and cognitive state. Thoughts about the meaning of faith are nothing but thoughts, and words of interpretation were meant to illuminate and articulate faith’s implications. In theology, there is the notion among Catholics that contamination of faith brings to light the confusion that exists between theology and faith. Worth noting, faith has no link with theology and it exists independent of theology. Theology only comes into play when a person who has faith becomes intellectually conscious about their faith. From the onset, faith exists in a state that is interpreted theologically. This is because theology is how a person interprets their faith. More precisely, theology is a process through which we bring our understanding and God’s knowledge to the point of expression. Theology is about expression in a less and more systematic manner God’s experiences within the human experience. Theology emerges within various forms, including dance, paintings, pieces of music, a bodily structure, or a cathedral in a way that is written in words or spoken. Notably, these forms might never achieve justice to the intended perception. Theology is no always good theology. We can always have a wrong interpretation of the knowledge and experiences about God. In the first place, people will have a distorted experience about God that cannot be redeemed whatsoever. Religious educators, parents, bishops, and the Church do not convey faith except theology. They hand on faith through theology being employed. In other words, these individuals pass particular understandings and interpretations of faith in their multiple forms and variations. As such, warning religious educators against teaching about theology is beside the point. Faith will always exist in a theological form. The most unacceptable appeal to faith over the private view of theologians is that theology is equated to faith as it undermines faith.

Belief

Belief is theology existing in a unwavering state. Theology is more of a process, while belief is one among the many products. In essence, a belief is something seen as the truth despite the clear absence of convincing and clear evidence. Theologically beliefs are formulation of the knowledge that people have obtained about God through the avenue of faith. Beliefs take many forms. On the one hand, beliefs are officially approved and shared as dogmas and doctrines while on the other hand, they are held by individuals and a selected group of individuals (McBrien, 24). Beliefs have not been universally and officially selected, for instance, the presumes appearances of the Holy Mother at Lourdes. Despite there being only one Christian faith, there are several beliefs existent within the Christian beliefs. Throughout the history of Christianity, there have been thousands of beliefs transmitted and held at a specific time. The beliefs interpret and articulate knowledge. While some beliefs have stood the test of time, others have receded beyond collective memory. Further, while some beliefs are deeply rooted in church traditions, others have more tender and shorter roots: examples are Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist and the belief about the popes infallibility respectively.

Spirituality

All religions, whether Buddhism, Christianity, Native American or Islam share one thing in common; the thirst of the human spirit to find something deeper, bigger, and ordinary than the reality of life at the surface level. Christianity maintains that spirituality emanates from the spirit of God. Christian and Hebrew scriptures have a concrete meaning of spirit. Whether Greek or Hebrew, spirit basically translates to breath and width. In the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, some texts refer to God’s spirit in the story of creation. Notably, in most cases, the spirit is seen to be empowering God’s people to carry out his work. For instance, Moses was a servant of God who was always led by the spirit. In numbers 11, the scriptures note that God would share the spirit and bestow it on his people so that the people could share the burden with them. In the New Testament, we witness the spirit at work in Paul and Acts. Christians receive the spirit of Jesus Christ, making them one and this enables the Christians to continue doing God’s work in the world after the death of the son. In essence, spirituality concerns a person completely, including their soul, body, feelings, thoughts, passions, emotions, fears, hopes, dreams because people live in power and with the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

Faith is about how we came about the knowledge of God to be God. Faith has nothing to do with our beliefs about truth as revealed by the Church or Bible. Theology is about articulation in a less and more systematic manner God’s experiences within the human experience. Theology emerges within various forms, including dance, paintings, pieces of music, a bodily structure, or a cathedral in a way that is written in words or spoken. The beliefs interpret and articulate knowledge. Christianity maintains that spirituality emanates from the spirit of God.

Works Cited

Guinan, Michael D. “Christian spirituality: Many styles, one spirit.” Catholic Update C 598 (1998).

McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism. G. Chapman, 1980.