As our journey of discovery continues, today we are all invited to look at our own understanding of Christian faith and reflect about our approach of deepening it.

Question 2 – Is Faith for simple souls?

Faith is for all souls, simple or otherwise. People with little study or education behind them can be profoundly religious, or not religious at all. Young children can have an amazing life of faith, or not. Quite a few political leaders and successful entrepreneurs are convinced Christians while others are not. There are those who, by studying, discover their faith while others find themselves losing their faith in God* during their time as students.

Faith is not about knowing or not knowing, or about greater or lesser intelligence. Yet, Christians do not believe in just anything. That is why it is important to try to understand what faith is about. It is normal that children are taught languages, mathematics, history and many other subjects at school. Many people study such subjects for a long time. In the same way there is a lot of knowledge to be gained about the Christian faith, some of it requiring study. The study of Christian faith often results in enlightening and important insights about life.

However, many people’s knowledge of the Christian faith does not go much further than a few generalities and prejudices. Some hardly know anything about it. They know Christmas is about the baby Jesus* and Good Friday is about his death, and Pentecost*, but are confused about their meaning. Without some knowledge it is not surprising that for many everything that has to do with Christianity seems unbelievable, and at most good for simple souls. Unknown indeed often makes unloved.

• Do you think it’s important to increase your knowledge of religion?

• What or who helped you to know more about your faith?

Feel free to leave your thoughts, reflections, comments below.

Watch this space! Coming up: Question 3 – Can you be a Christian and still doubt your faith?

To go back to Question 1 and also to read more about this resource see the article 52 Questions and Answers about faith: Question 1 – Is believing exceptional?

About the author:

Nikolaas Sintobin, SJ, joined the Society of Jesus in 1989, following a short career as a lawyer. He was trained as a Jesuit in Brussels, Paris, and Santiago de Chile. Today he is a spiritual director who is keenly interested in online ministry and discovering new ways to help people find God.

This text is republished with the permission of Messenger Publications, Ireland. To buy a hard copy of the book click here.