ONN #2 2025.10.30
The Risk of Belief
Dear West Michigan friends –
Before my column proper, a quick introduction. Ten years ago, Sarah Leach invited me to write columns for the Holland Sentinel. I have enjoyed it greatly. For the previous dozen years, I had been known as “the mathematician with Elvis – the calculus corgi.” That changed, to “I read your column.” As you all likely know, a couple years ago, Sarah was removed from the HS and subsequently began the Ottawa News Network. Wanting to continue my readership, I submitted my columns to both. Recently, the HS explained that they can only take columns exclusive to them. So, I’ll continue my monthly columns with the HS, and will write occasional (perhaps more personal) columns for ONN, including this one and a recent one, “Why Must the Beautiful Die.” You can find ALL my columns at timothypennings.blogspot.com.
This column, a bit different, is correspondence with my friend, author/Hope Professor David Myers when he alerted me to the recent essay, “Fully Maga-fied Christianity” by Peter Wehner in The Atlantic.
Dave wrote to me: “Tim, you might enjoy this - actually, it’s the last sentence that I liked best.”
The last few sentences were:
“This world is broken but beautiful, a gift from God, and the good in this world is worth fighting for. One lifeon this Earth is all we get, and, in the words of the pastor and theologian Frederick Buechner, “at the very least we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can.” God is far moreresplendent than the theologies and doctrines about God that we humans construct. And, as the writer Rachel Held Evans put it, “faith is always a risk. No matter what we believe, there’s always the chance we might be wrong. But the story of Jesus is just the story I’m willing to risk being wrong about.”
I replied:
Dave –
This evening in choir (GR Choir of Men and Boys), we had a guest - a former teacher and presently a minister with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. After choir, I approached him with a direct question which led to a 75-minute conversation on the street of GR (a policeman actually pulled up - perhaps wondering what was going on). Thankfully, he was self-assured enough (with good reason - he was obviously well educated and thoughtful) to take my question in stride: How old is the earth?
His answer: Somewhere less than 10,000 years.
My reply: A Presbyterian - under the umbrella of Calvin - acknowledges all truth as being God's domain and, so I would think, you would find it difficult to accept an understanding of the Bible that is in direct opposition with all the various disciplines of science which point to the age of the earth and universe in the billions of years. I explained that the ratio of 4.5 billion years vs 10,000 years is like walking in a forest of 200-year-old trees and thinking they had been planted that morning.
However, he thought that in time, scientists will come to recognize that our present scientific understanding is entirely wrong. That, in fact, the world is best/only explained as being one in which there were numerous acts by God unexplained by science except as being a miracle. He REALLY BELIEVED IT - - that is what struck me. He reminded me of Johnny Depp's character, Ichabod Crane, in “Sleepy Hollow” when he first encounters the headless horseman, and the next scene shows him in a fetal position in a corner of a room with all the people who had told him that the headless horseman existed. He exclaimed, "You don't understand! There really IS a headless horseman!” Crane assumed the people’s belief was insincere, whereas he really KNEW it to be true.
Similarly, this young pastor wasn't making his claim out of obligation - he really believed it, all because of his devotion to read and understand the Bible as (he claims) it has historically been understood by the church. For my part (I was very candid), I was aghast that such a thoughtful, educated person would live his life without appreciating the true age (and hence grandeur) of the universe in which we live. That he would go into museums and read articles and books apparently shaking his head that, "Nope - all of this is totally wrong. All of these tens of thousands of scientists - geologists, physicists, cosmologists who have researched for decades - have all come to the wrong conclusion about the world we live in.” To me, that's a real tragedy. It does violence to truth itself. Hence my passion about it.
Case two: Just now I heard a BBC article about hundreds of glaciers disappearing each year in Switzerland. On TV this evening a story about how African farmers are finding ways to change their practices in light of global climate change – either change or starve. Another recent story: The coral reef off Florida is dying before our eyes because of warming sea water. A constant stream of such evidence and yet some are convinced that it's not happening.
How can (why do) people allow themselves to go through life believing a lie?
So how do these examples of living in deliberate ignorance compare with willingly risking being wrong about the story of Jesus?
Most importantly, beliefs of a purely spiritual nature don't affect one's view of physical reality and so don't hinder the advancement of human knowledge.
Secondly, as you have documented and eloquently expressed, religious beliefs can lead to a “spirituality which helps makes sense of the universe, gives meaning to life, opens us to the transcendent, connects us in supportive communities, provides a mandate for morality and selflessness, offers hope in the face of adversity and death, and nurtures purpose, love, joy, and hope.”
You and I both live richer lives because of the community, inspiration and opportunities for service that our church offers. However, personally, while I understand those who would “take a risk” with their religious beliefs, I think the best life is one focused unflinchingly on truth - on truth as one honestly comes to understand it. Is there a personal God? I don’t know. But if there is, I will let God lead the dance and I will respond in kind in the hope that a personal and good God, a God worth knowing and worshipping, values that sort of life and commitment.
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