Faith seems to be the basis of religions! Letter to the Hebrews in 11:1 says that ‘… faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’ Yes, it seemingly is a matter beyond the grasp of our senses! It is not ‘intuition’. Usually it is demanded by an authority, for that matter religious authority which claims ‘infallibility’, or with regard to the revelations, ‘inerrancy’ and ‘inspiration.’ The so-called ‘faithful’ has no choice.
This approach doesn’t suit man who was created in the image and likeness of God. What could be the image and likeness of god other than his freedom and reasoning faculty? Other than the so-called revelation, truth could be accessed only through reasoning. It is this truth which would set us free as Jesus said. Jesus didn’t denounce Thomas when he defied believing in the risen Jesus till he saw him in person. That much freedom god’s children do have.
The ordeal of faith begins with the very first parents. They were asked ‘not to eat of the tree… in the midst of the garden… lest you die.’ In spite of resisting the delight of the tree, the woman failed before the persuasion of the ‘serpent’ which assured her that ‘you will not die… your eyes will be opened… know good and evil.’ The assurance of the serpent turned out to be real for they did not only die, but their eyes were opened and knew that they were naked!
And the punishment for this failure was certainly disproportionate and that is being inflicted on all humans to this day! Jesus is said to have atoned for all our sins, including that of the first parents! In that case, this punishment should have been lifted and there should not have been a hell! The ‘purgatory’ has already been abolished and what remains is this ‘hell.’ [Does it not imply that all these are man-made, including the gods…? The Malayalam poet Vayalar has written man has made religions which in turn have created gods. Both of them together have divided the land and our minds. Again Kunjunni has written: on the sixth day god has created man out of dust and on the seventh day, the very next day, man has made god out of rock!]
Coming to Abraham, the father of the faithful, that poor man was tested beyond his capacities and he obeyed blindly as if a mentally retarded person would do! Why should a god test or try humans like this? Are we a toy in his hands, having no feelings and other responses? Does he not respect our freedom? Has not Jesus re-written the old concepts of god? Why do we still keep him a Lord rather than a loving father, father of the prodigal son?
Jesus too had his share of these trials! He prayed that the cup should pass away from him for it was too much and bitter. His pain and anxiety was such that he sweats blood!
Why should there be evil at all, especially when there is this omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent god? Jose Saramago in his ‘The Gospel according to Jesus Christ’ depicts the temptation scene in such a way the Satan offers to resign in order to save Jesus from being sacrificed for sins, but god doesn’t accept the offer fearing that there won’t be any relevance for god himself in the absence of devil/Satan!
Faith would be meaningful in human relations rather than between god and man. To exist is to co-exist and faith becomes an imperative in this. Without faith human relations would be hell, a curse. Having faith in others and being faithful to them is what we earn for in life.
[ reflection on last Sunday's readings and for a homily at Thycaud on 'Faith being transmitted through friendly relations...']
