Bona fide belief

Marian Webster defines, in part, “evidence” as something that furnishes proof.

For approximately two centuries, many have disputed the viability of Christianity. Among those critics have been some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers of the day.

There is ample reason to doubt the existence of a God creator and certainly the premise of a savior figure who delivers retribution for man’s sinful ways.

Some have set out to make a case for atheism, or the non-existence of a god, And some saw their investigation result in a conversion to belief – based on unarguable evidence.

Two skeptics come to mind as we write this post; Lee Strobel, the author of “A Case for Christ,” and CS Lewis, the author of “Mere Christianity.” Both took up the task of disproving the notion that there was a god of the universe(s) and that that deity cared enough about humanity that he came forth to earth to live among us, die, and be raised again as the ultimate statement of love.

Like these authors, we found ourselves in doubt of these existences at a particular time in life. Though we “had faith” in our early days, we had lost the perceived legitimacy of the salvation story.

And like these authors, we found ourselves seeking evidence that a god cared for us individually and personally. We were led that faith was the answer, and we knew that belief had to be the starting point.

For us, the turning point came as much through science (the utterly unexplainable complexities of all things living) as it did factual confirmation (eyewitness accounts). But, more importantly, there was a heart change simultaneous to our seek. We just came to know, at our core, that life was God-breathed.

Once we reached the level of our underlying certainty, we sought to accept the salvation statement; that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. This is where guidance (teaching) from others and self-investigation were followed by self-acceptance (a profound heart conversion) and conviction.

We acknowledge that each person has to get to this point on their own and in their own way. We also recognize that we need to be there to support the next struggler. To that end, the best we can do is to share our story and reflect on the Godly love that has been poured onto us.

We trust that each who hears the word and seeks the God of all will find Him – with the right amount of openness, willingness, and honesty.

There is an indescribable beauty in Bona fide belief!

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Thoughts and ideas for this blog post were taken and built upon from asweunderstandhim.coffee podcast #14 “Exploring CS Lewis - Mark joins” The podcast dropped on 7/2/2023. Click here to hear the podcast.

Photo by Daniele Colucci on Unsplash

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