Faith and the Creeds

C.S. Lewis defined faith as the "art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods" (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 141). Lewis was very realistic about the ways in which our various emotional states affect our religious beliefs. For Lewis, our moods change constantly. If our beliefs are based solely on our moods, then our beliefs would change constantly as well. Therefore, our beliefs must be anchored by something stable, constant, and unchanging--namely, the virtue of faith. If you are not anchored by this virtue, then you will be "just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion" (Ibid., 142).

Lewis describes faith not as an emotion or a mood but as a "habit." It is something that you develop by training, practice, and exercise. Faith, in this sense, can be compared to the habit of shooting free throws. If you want to be a good free throw shooter, you must practice, that is, you must shoot hundreds of free throws day in and day out. This takes discipline: anyone who practices free throws only when he or she is in the right mood will surely not become a good free throw shooter. The one who attends to the practice everyday, in spite of one's moods, will eventually shoot a high percentage foul shot. It is the same with faith: faith is a habit which comes by way of disciplined practice.

Practicing faith, according to Lewis, includes something very specific: "Once you have accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe" (Ibid., 142). Lewis goes on to say that most people who leave Christianity do not do so because they have reasoned their way out of Christianity, but rather because they have not kept the faith alive in their minds.

Worship, among many things, is a time when we are continually reminded of what we believe. It is a time when we are trained into the faith. We are reminded of what we believe through music, scripture reading, preaching, and the Eucharist. All of these things are practices. By attending to them with discipline, we develop the virtue of faith. These practices enable us to "hold on to things that our reason once accepted, in spite of our changing moods." Worship, in this vein, is more like a habit than an emotional experience. To be sure, there are times when worship will powerfully evoke our emotions. There are times when we will be in the mood to worship. There are also times, however, when we will not feel like worshipping. There are times when worship does not evoke emotions. That is okay. Worship is not about our ever-changing emotions but rather about being continually reminded of and shaped by the story of God reconciling the world to himself in Christ. By attending to that story day in and day out, in the midst of our various emotional states, we will acquire the virtue of faith.

Reciting the creeds over and over in worship is one of the best ways to remind ourselves of our beliefs. Jaroslav Pelikan, one of the greatest church historians of our time, was once asked why we need to recite creeds in worship. Pelikan said that our spiritual life fluctuates: there are ups and downs, hot spots and colds spots. Therefore, during Sunday morning worship, we are not asked, "As of 10:30 am, what do you believe?" Rather, we are asked "Do you choose to be part of community which has affirmed these things?" The creeds set for the basic things that the church catholic has affirmed throughout space and time. By reciting the creed continually--by practicing it over and over--we are able to keep the faith over the long haul.

Tenth and Final Meeting

The Contemporary Era: Part 3

Time: May 4, 2009 at 7:00 pm

Location: RCN Coffee Room (233)

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Books will have to be purchased or found on your own. (Half Price books usually has about 3-4 copies of it for $5.00.

This would be a great discussion to invite a friend to. Lewis defines the essence of the Christian tradition in this book in a way that is simultaneously profound and simple.

For an audio clip of the last few chapters of Mere Christianity, click here. These are the only parts of Lewis' 1941-1944 BBC radio addresses that have survived.

First Meeting

The Ancient Church: Part I

Time: October 6, 7:00 pm

Location: White Rock Coffee Shop. Click here for directions.

Book: Athanasius' On the Incarnation

For online version with modern translation and introduction by C.S. Lewis, click here.

Copies are available for purchase ($14). Contact Scott Dermer if interested.

Historia magistra vitae est

Why study the books of dead theologians?

The Roman philosopher Cicero said that "history is life's teacher" (historia magistra vitae est). We study historical books ultimately because they provide invaluable instruction for our life in the here and now. To say that history is life's teacher is to say that the past illuminates the present. C.S. Lewis captures this idea quite well in the introduction to our first book: "every age is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books." By reading dead theologians we come closer to finding solutions to our contemporary problems. We find out--much to our surprise--that many of the ambiguities that we face in our current life, spirituality, and church are not so new after all.

History also provides examples for our imitation. The greatness of the books that we will be reading does not lie in their theological content alone; it also lies in the exemplary character of the authors who wrote them. In these texts we will meet some of the most extraordinary figures of church history. If we are open, the witness of these "dead" theologians will call out to us, evoke our minds and hearts, and teach us something new about God and the world. We will find much to praise in their examples, and by imitating their examples we will ultimately become better people.

At other times, these "dead" theologians will perplex us, frustrate our minds and hearts, and disagree with our deeply held modern assumptions. If we are honest, we will find something to blame in their examples. That too will make us better people, for in acknowledging the mistakes of these figures we will be less likely to repeat them. When we look at the past through the lens of "praise and blame," history will become one of our greatest teachers.

As we read these Christian classics over the next few months, we will discover that these "dead" theologians are still living. They are all part of a living Christian tradition. A living tradition is simply an ongoing conversation about the things that matter. We are all participants in the great conversation of the Christian tradition. By reading these old books we will make room in the conversation for voices besides our own--namely, the remarkable voices of the Christian past.