Paul writes – Ben Myers via a post on his blog put me on to Catholic Theologian Tomáš Halík and in particular his book Patience with God: The Story of Zacchaeus Continuing in Us.
“Using the gospel story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus, Halík issues an invitation to all people who stand (like Zacchaeus did) on the sideline – curious but noncommittal. The fact that Jesus gravitated to the poor and the marginalized means that he also has a special place in his heart for diligent seekers on the margins of the community of believers…”
Ben thinks, “…Tomáš Halík has produced one of the best and most beautiful responses to the new atheism, in his … book Patience with God (Doubleday 2009). His argument is that the real difference between faith and atheism is patience. Atheists are not wrong, only impatient. They want to resolve doubt instead of enduring it. Their insistence that the natural world doesn't point to God (or to any necessary meaning) is correct. Their experience of God's absence is a truthful experience, shared also by believers. Faith is not a denial of all this: it is a patient endurance of the ambiguity of the world and the experience of God's absence. Faith is patience with God. Or as Adel Bestavros puts it (in the book's epigraph): patience with others is love, patience with self is hope, [and] patience with God is faith…”
Halík worked as a psychotherapist during the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia while at the same time was secretly ordained as a Catholic priest and active in the underground church. Since the fall of the regime, he has served as General Secretary to the Czech Conference of Bishops and was an advisor to Václav Havel. He has lectured at many universities throughout the world and is currently a professor of philosophy and sociology at Charles University.
In his introduction to Patience with God Halík makes a number of useful and suggestive comments. These, for me, were reflected on against the backdrop of two fascinating pieces of writing by Nicholas Lash: Where Does ‘The God Delusion’ Come From? (2007) And The Impossibility of Atheism (2007 & 2008).
Provocatively, for some, Halík begins his introduction:
“… I agree with atheists on many things, often on almost everything – except their belief that God doesn’t exist. In today’s bustling marketplace of religious wares of every kind, I sometimes feel closer with my Christian faith to the skeptics or to the atheist or agnostic critics of religion. With certain kinds of atheists I share a sense of God’s absence from the world. However, I regard their interpretation of this feeling as too hasty, as an expression of impatience. I am also often oppressed by God’s silence and the sense of God’s remoteness…”
“…Patience is what I consider to be the main difference between faith and atheism…”
He continues, “…What atheism, religious fundamentalism, and the enthusiasm of a too-facile faith have in common is how quickly they can ride roughshod over the mystery we call God [italics, mine].
Further, he says, “…I’m convinced that maturing in ones faith also entails accepting and enduring moments – and sometimes even lengthy periods – when God seems remote or remains concealed…”
And, one final quote:
“…We don’t need faith when confronted with unshakeable certainties accessible to our powers of reason, imagination, or sensory experience. We need faith precisely at those twilight moments when our lives and the world are full of uncertainty, during the cold night of God’s silence. And its function is not to allay our thirst for certainty and safety, but to teach us to live with mystery [italics, his].”
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