Matters of Faith

By Kenneth Kerr

April 11, 2007

A lot of discussion in the press has been devoted of late to the subject of faith, or lack thereof, and how a person’s life circumstances have reinforced or weakened their religious beliefs. An interview in our March/April 2007 issue, here, examines the topic from the point of view of archaeologists and biblical scholars. Two of the scholars interviewed have had their faith strengthened by their research, two have had their beliefs destroyed. The article serves as a useful guide to the perils of knowledge, and also to the rewards. I particularly find the case of Bill Dever poignant; he was ordained a minister and has two degrees in theology but lost his faith while working the in Holy Land.

Some of the other sites around the web where such discussions are taking place include the dialogue between Andrew Sullivan and Sam Harris on Beliefnet. Readers may know Mr. Sullivan from his blog, The Daily Dish, or from his presence on some of the Sunday talk shows. He is a practicing Catholic who, despite his misgivings about the direction of the Church, hasn’t really wavered in his faith since his early adulthood (according to his recent book, The Conservative Soul). Sam Harris, on the other hand, is a noted atheist whose books include The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. Both he and Richard Dawkins seem to be showing up all over the air waves recently, so it’s good to see what Mr. Harris says in his own words. The dialogue between Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Harris is both passionate and, at times, disturbing. It’s also quite extensive, as they’ve been arguing back and forth for about a month and a half.

Another site I find quite illuminating on these issues is called Killing the Buddha. The premise of the site is to give people who are both interested in and uncomfortable with religion a forum for discussion and exploration. Make sure to read the “Manifesto” section, which explains the site’s name. They have a real gem of an article here about an unlikely convert and how her understanding of Christianity didn’t arrive at the same time as her belief in it.

I’ll go into some of my own thoughts about all this in a later post, particularly the role education plays in these matters.