Core Beliefs – Part 2
Last week I began a response to the question about what are the core beliefs of the Episcopal Church. This week I want to consider what it means “to believe”.
The word “belief” has evolved in meaning over time. Without going into detail regarding the etymology of the word from Greek and Latin roots, a common understanding today is that belief means accepting certain propositions as true. For example, creation in six days, the virgin birth of Jesus, or that there will be a “rapture.”
One problem with understanding belief as giving mental assent to particular statements is that when one finds that she cannot assent, she falls into “unbelief.” In the modern scientific era that calls many earlier “facts” into question, more than a few folk are cast into doubt, unbelief, and even despair.
It may be helpful to recover earlier conceptions of belief as “trust” and “faithfulness.” Please note that the classical Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds do not say “I/We believe that (the following statements are true.)” They say, “I/We believe in (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit). They affirm a trust in God who is faithful.
Soren Kierkegaard likened belief to the experience of floating in deep water. If you struggle and flail too much, then you sink. But if you relax, lay back and trust, then you float.
Christ Church Blog 
When a person’s facts are called into question, one doesn’t automatically fall into despair. If the teachings of the church have been given consistently, the person realizes not all lessons are given at once, all is temporary, God is faithful etc. As for Kierkegaard’s quote-you can float all you want, however you have no direction and unexpected waves will swamp you. Not to mention floating is a cop out to taking direction in your life. I would much rather be a swimmer, do the best I can with what God has given me and have Christ as the North Star-sounds corny but it works.
I don’t think that despair is the antithesis of belief. John called it “unbelief.” Unbelief is not despair; rather, it is the absence of belief. Despair is the lack of hope. I see unbelief as a time in the desert where one questions and struggles and faces deep uncertainties. Sometimes a person remains in the desert for a while or forever, but many leave the desert for the sea, having found a new way to understand and practice belief; i.e. a trust or dependency or a faithfulness built on habit and desire, even floating comfortably along with the waves.
“more than a few folk are cast into doubt, unbelief and even despair.” Since this is about belief, I submit if a person doubts, the church should be there to help. If a person moves from doubt to unbelief, the church should be there with those core beliefs, and if a person despairs, that is when the church is most needed. Those times are also the times the devil is there to step in and provide the doubts, despair and unbelief-that is why the church is so important. I don’t quite understand the trust or dependency or a faithfulness built on habit and desire.