Chapter 4. Bring About the Obedience of Faith • 41
The ultimate goal of a life of faith is eternal union with God in
heaven. Through the gift and experience of faith, we are able not only to
look ahead to what awaits us, but also to experience here some of God’s
divine life, “a taste in advance” of our sharing life with him forever (see
CCC, no. 163). While living a life of growing in faith might seem like
a waste of time and energy to skeptics and non-believers, both because
the objects of faith cannot always be proven and because faith often
“produces” little of measurable value, believers know the strength, the
wisdom, the confidence and hope that a life of faith gives.
CHALLENGES TO FAITH
The culture of the United States has been strongly influenced by the
eighteenth-century Enlightenment, or Age of Reason. That philosophy
coincided with the scientific revolution and was based on the premise
that reason and common sense should be our only guides. Its religious
counterpart was Deism, which claimed that while God exists, he simply
created the world and then left us to our own devices.
The founding fathers of our country were influenced by the
Enlightenment and the promises of science. Though some were attracted
to Deism, they supported freedom of religion and noted the value of
just as long as I please, and no longer; what I believe
today I will reject tomorrow, if I choose. I will believe what
the Apostles have as yet said, but I will not believe what
they shall say in time to come.” No; either the Apostles
were from God, or they were not; if they were, everything
that they preached was to be believed by their hearers;
if they were not, there was nothing for their hearers to
believe. To believe a little, to believe more or less, was
impossible; it contradicted the very notion of believing.
(John Henry Newman, “Faith and Private Judgment,” in
Discourses to Mixed Congregations
[1849])