Challenges to Faith Journal

by: Dan Baxter

 

1)         Summarize the topic of the section.

 

The key idea from this chapter is that atheism, either practical atheism or nihilism, and scientism are challenges to Faith.  A good example of nihilism is Friedrich Nietzsche who tried to prove that God does not exist.  Thomas Hobbes, on the other hand, a materialist, simply believed that there is nothing beyond physical matter.  It is a key to see how Ignatius’ views differed from those of Nietzsche and Hobbes.  One example of this is that Nietzsche and Hobbes believed in relative morality, or that right and wrong depended on perspective, while Ignatius believed morality is objective, or that what is right and what is wrong are set in stone.

 

2)         List and explain two of the most important ideas you want to remember from this section.

 

            One idea from this section that I think is important is the idea that there is a difference between positive atheism and practical atheism.  While positive atheism is making a conscious decision that God does not exist, practical atheism refers to someone who associates himself with a religion but does not make any effort to practice that faith.  In other words, he is practically an atheist.

 

            Another important idea I got out of this section is Ignatius’ teaching that we should be indifferent to all created things.  This means that anything in our lives that helps us reach God is good, while anything that prevents us on that journey must be discarded.  In other words, our relationship with God should be the central relationship of our lives.

 

3)                  One image that reminds you of the topic.

 

Image taken from this website.

 

4)         Provide a short reflection on the greatest challenges to faith or Faith in your life.

 

            The greatest challenges to faith in my life are past experiences.  In addition to this I find that fear of risk also hinders faith.  Realizing how flawed I am, I am also able to see how flawed others are due to the human condition and because of this I have trouble trusting them.  Unfortunately, this leads me to assume the worst in people.

 

            Some of the greatest challenges to Faith in my life are poverty, hunger, and diseases such as AID’s because I find it hard to believe that a caring God could let such things exist.  Also some of the official decisions the Church makes that I do not understand and seem ridiculous to me make it difficult for me to have faith in the Church.