Aspects Of Faith

Chapter 19: Sort of Christians There are many different opinions about which religious groups are Christian and which are not and who can identify as being Christian. For example, many Conservative Christians would say that I am not a Christian since I do not accept the legitimacy of the Apostle's Creed among other things. I self-identify as a Follower of Jesus or a Follower of the Way. There are two large groups that self-identify as Christian that are seen by many Christians as not Christian. These are the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. There are many others who face judgement like this. The Roman Catholic church at one time saw all other churches as not legitimately Christian. There are many Protestants who do not see the Roman...

Chapter 20: Faith and Well-being In past studies, people who participated regularly in a faith community, on average, lived longer and had better health, greater happiness, and greater prosperity than people who did not participate in a faith community. The studies were not able to show if the effects were causative or correlative, if one of those factors (faith community, longevity, happiness, health, or prosperity) contributed to the others or they all resulted from another factor or factors. Participating in any community increases social contacts which are an inherent need for most people), provide purpose and routine, and encourage self-discipline. Together, they contribute to health, happiness and prosperity which contribute to...

Chapter 21: Faith and the Environment Faith can be helpful or harmful to the environment, depending on the beliefs attached to faith. Religious beliefs about the environment vary and have changed over time. Some Indigenous beliefs emphasize our place as being part of the circle of life, seeing animals and plants as siblings and parents. They emphasize respect including growing in understanding of plants and animals and their relationships with various plants and animals. Other Indigenous beliefs can be quite different. For many centuries, Christianity understood humans as separate from and above the rest of the world with the plants, animals, and land to be used by us however we needed to use them. Exceptions include St. Francis of...

Chapter 22: Faith and Society Societies with a single dominant faith resist change as they fit and support each other. A movement for change in one will meet resistance in the other. For example, assume a patriarchal society with a patriarchal church. A movement to give equality to women in society will be resisted by the leadership of the church. A movement to give more equality to women in the church will meet resistance by the leadership of the society. Societies without a dominant faith facilitate change by society and faith communities. Some churches gave equality to women long before western society did. Some churches still resist equality. Societies without a dominant faith tend to have greater diversity and adapt more easily...

Chapter 23: Quantum Mechanics and Reality Quantum mechanics (quantum physics / quantum chemistry) was born out the desire of scientists to discover tools for making predictions and the problem that the sub-molecular world seems to behave differently from the visible world. Before they realized that the spectrum results from the necessity of energy changes at the atomic level to be in discrete levels with no in-between or partway options, they developed a model for atoms which looks like little planetary systems. Intensive research by many scientists over decades revealed that only mathematical models using probability are of use in predicting and explaining behaviour. The quantum part of the name refers to energy existing in discrete...

Chapter 24: Mind Our minds are our windows on the world. Our understanding of faith centers in our minds and our responses in faith are grounded in our emotions and faith concepts. Our minds are where we are aware of what we believe, of our beliefs, and examine and modify our beliefs and actions. Mind puzzled and spurred poets and philosophers for centuries, and challenges scientists trying to explain how our brains work, how we make decisions, and how to develop artificial intelligence. Their research helped Facebook learn more about how each of us makes decisions than most of our friends. Our minds are certainly part of how we are made in the image of God and others (“Let us make man/humans in our image.”). Scientists thought they...