Monday, January 2, 2017

Being Reasonable

Many parents have watched sadly as their children have abandoned their Christian faith. It is often what the children believe to be the voice of reason and of scientific proofs that have led them to do so. But what if there are proofs which are more reasonable, what if there are proofs which are logical and consistent with the historical record?
This is not too good to be true, this is the basis of our continued faith! I recently began rereading "Life of Christ" by Fulton Sheen. In the first chapter of the book he makes an astounding and perfectly true statement which has been staring us in the face our entire lives: Jesus Christ is the only founder of a world religion ever to be preannounced. I would encourage you to read Sheen's book to realize the details of this claim, but it boils down to this: Jesus was expected by not only Jews but also by Gentiles throughout the world!
It is important that we introduce our children to these concepts at the very least. Better yet, we should introduce them to the works of spiritual giants. "Life of Christ" by Fulton Sheen is a great starting point because it is written in terms that are easy to understand. If we then move on to Chesterton, Lewis, Augustine, Ambrose, etc., that is wonderful.
It is also vitally important that our children are intimately familiar with the scriptures. Regular Bible reading is a must. In order for the scriptures to be intelligible, though, we must apply the scholarship of our spiritual fathers, the Church Fathers. We must show our children the reason that informs our faith.
If our children are not shown why our faith is not just spiritual but also reasonable, they will lose faith when their feelings and personal experience do not seem to support it.

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