Christianity is an encounter within human experience. We push out towards the horizon, the boundary between earth and sky, the mystery of God. We seem to get to that horizon, but then it eludes us. We get glimpses of God in this horizon experience. You always know that there is more, and so it is with the friendship of Jesus. This is an active faith that goes beyond understanding, feeling and experience to a way of life. Experience is at the heart of all belief. We all have had a personal development to our faith. We live our discipleship of Jesus in justice, love, and healing, as our faith springs into action.
a way of life
Authentic Christian Faith
Christian belief is not a mere intellectual exercise. The heart has its reasons. The reasons of the heart come from our religious experience of Jesus Christ in our lives. Our belief is a free joyous grateful response. We have the privilege of calling Jesus Christ a friend. However, this active experience is not just a private affair that has no effect on our lives. Our Christian experience leads to a liberating practice of love. It is not enough to say the words, we must live the life. We cannot be unfaithful to the essential message of Jesus Christ. We need a holistic approach to faith. If religion was intellectual only, it would be only an abstraction and a mind game. On the other hand, if it is only emotional, it becomes superstition. Christianity is a way of life, a commitment, an active involvement.
Belief in God
The ultimate source of all is the creative God. This universal gifted invitation from God is built on human trust, and needs a response from the whole person, that develops a way of life, a certain kind of spirituality. Belief is a free acceptance response, a particular approach to the religious question that all humans have about the ultimate concern in their lives.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 