Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Naked Jesus

Home
Progressive Christian
Ask More Questions

Ask More Questions

Last updated on: February 13, 2016 at 12:47 pm by John O'Keefe

Ask More Questions 2016-02-13T12:47:23-05:00 John O'Keefe

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We should all have more questions than answers; if not, I believe, we lose the spark of faith. If we see faith as believing in things not seen, our journey should be flooded with questions. I’m of the mind that questions spark faith, move us forward, and invite more questions. Each of us should have far more questions than we do answers. Questions give life to an never ending flow of grace.

Since the Age of Enlightenment [1685-1815] we faced a radical reorientation in our faith that feeds our current understanding of being a Follower of Christ; we focus on answers, and not questions. This reorientation centered on developing a faith that was generally “non-confrontational.” A faith that simply said, ‘This is what the answer is, don’t question, just follow along.’ Religious controversy was removed and replaced with the idea of “Follow the Corporate lin.” This meant, that religion spilled into the world of politics, which was strongly pushed in the 1950s on.

Today, people have more questions, and while they are not looking for a “corporate answer” they are seeking conversation to move them along their faith journey. In the recording of the life of Jesus, we call the Narrative of Matthew, the first followers were constantly asking questions. Because of the pollution of the Age of Enlightenment we speak of the first followers who had questions they were weak, they just did not see what was happening. This way of thinking discounts the reality that we need to ask questions. Questions help us make sense of the world around us. Being told “this is the answer” shuts down people on their search for who the Divine is, and how the Divine works in our lives. When we spout out the corporate response to a question, we turn people away from asking more questions.

Questions are so important, we see a young Jesus in the Temple asking questions, not giving answers. In the narrative written by Luke we read these words, “The next day they found him in the Temple seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions.” [2:46]

I think Paul said it best in his first reply to the Corinthians, “We sometimes tend to think we know all we need to know to answer these kinds of questions—but sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all.” [8:2-3]

Previous Post

February 12, 2016

We Should Be Changed

Next Post

February 16, 2016 A Lasting Peace

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abuse bad Bad Theology Blue Christian Karma Christmas Church Clinton Coming Out Day Cruz Dance Dangerous Church Discrimination Disruptive Faith disruptive peace Disrutive Church Doctrine Dominionism Evangelism Faith Fun good grace Hell Hillary Inclusive Justice Keller Leadership love Messy Church Missional New Parable Open Peace Play Politics Prayer Progressive racism random Safe Church Sessions Story Theology Trump truth Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2019 December 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 December 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 October 2015 August 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Paul say in 1 Thessalonians about the day of the Lord?

Select your answer to see how you score.

It will come with great signs It will come like a thief in the night It will come when peace is declared It will come after the tribulation