Hopeful uncertainty

Not everyone would enjoy reading Frank Schaeffer's newest book, Patience with God: Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion or Atheism, but I did. His previous book, Crazy for God, told the story of his spiritual journey as the son of Francis Schaeffer, one of the founders of the Religious Right; and how he hobnobbed with Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and all the other Big Names of the Religious Right; and how he experienced a 'conversion' to a more open-minded kind of faith.

He writes with transparent honesty about his (now) fragile faith tinged with agnosticism. He says, "I do still avow some form of Christianity in spite of my doubts." He calls his present state of spirituality "hopeful uncertainty." This book debunks both rationalistic atheism and Christian fundamentalism. Schaeffer suggests that living with the contradictory messiness of life is the most honest way to live. He affirms paradox as a fact of life:

If we embrace paradox as the actual way of life and embrace the paradox of apophatic theology as the essence of faith in God, then hope in God comes into focus.

In other words, we have to admit the limits of our knowledge of things eternal. God cannot be defined or understood with our little minds.

Schaeffer doesn't want to throw away the baby with the bath water, but he does want to get rid of as much of the dirty water as possible. Toward the end of his book he says,

At its best, faith in God is about thanksgiving, shared suffering, loss, pain, generosity, and love. The best religious people and the best secular people learn to ignore their chose (or inherited) religions' nastier teachings in order to preserve the spirit of their faith.

As I said, not everyone would enjoy this book. But for those of us who struggle to make sense out of life and have been disappointed by much of traditional religion and the incarcerated thinking of many religious leaders, this kind of honest grappling with faith is a refreshing gift.

I like his Hopeful Uncertainty.