Faith (or non-faith)

a liberal eye on…

We are committed to freedom in all its forms. This month, Louis Pernot casts a liberal eye on faith and non-faith, to draw our attention to those who, because of a lack of freedom in the Churches feel excluded from the Gospel.

Faith (or non-faith)
Louis Pernot

The Church must be welcoming and open in order to be faithful to the Gospel. Yet it never stops presenting some beliefs as obligatory and some guidelines for what religious experience should be. A certain number of Christians feel comfortable in these predefined boxes, which is fine for them. But, because of this, there is also a considerable number of people who exclude themselves from the Church, thinking that they don’t belong; either because what they think is not in line with what they believe to be the thinking of the Church, or because they don’t feel what « real believers » call « faith ».

But a true Church that could be called « liberal”, in reality simply faithful to the attitude of Jesus in our Gospels, must be open. Untiringly, it must make those who shut themselves out of the Church grasp that there is a place for them.

Doctrinally, the « Évangile et Liberté » movement is clear on this issue when it affirms « the primacy of faith over doctrines », but does this always rule out the temptation to turn an unorthodox doctrine into a new orthodoxy? Is it conceivable, for example, that someone who believes in miracles, the bodily resurrection of Jesus and so on would feel comfortable in a so-called « liberal » parish? On this point, let’s not be too severe. You can’t preach everything at the same time, and the ‘classic’ doctrine is presented so often that freedom to believe requires places where we can fairly get away from it. So it’s important that there are centres where a faith in Jesus Christ is presented that is not necessarily the one taught more or less everywhere, but a modern, rational interpretation of the Gospel message. And it’s precisely preaching committed to this goal that can help to open up gaps, make openings and break down the barriers created by the preconceived ideas that many people have about what we should believe as authentic Christians.

But we must not stop there. Affirming « the primacy of faith over doctrines » also entails a risk: making faith a making faith a necessary condition. Now there are many people who have little or no religious feeling. who don’t know how to pray. This may be by nature or by education. And consequently many people still exclude themselves from the Church because they think they « don’t have faith ». Here again, it is important to open the doors of our Churches. There is a place for intellectual Christians, those who are interested in the message of the Gospel, who like to reflect and go deeper, but who do not have a mystical temperament. Faith, in the sense of religious experience, should be neither a criterion nor a barrier excluding anyone.

Today, when many Churches are withdrawing into their own identities, a growing number of people feel or think they are excluded from the Church, which is not very serious, but also from religion, or from the Gospel, which is dramatic. So not only is there a place for an authentically open and welcoming Church, there is also a need for the Church to be a place where everyone is welcome as they are, with their sometimes elementary, patchy or questioning beliefs, their stammering or non-existent faith. Christ said that he had not come for the healthy… in the same way, the Church must not be just for the masters of orthodoxy, whether classical or liberal, nor for the champions of the faith. We can dream of a Church that bears witness to all those who feel excluded from the Churches, and that makes this extraordinary message of life, which is the Gospel, available to everyone.

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