So I start by posting a somewhat provocative title out there- is a Christian closer to an atheist or a Hindu? What I mean by this is when you look at religion, and when you look at faith, can we better be compared to a person who espouses no faith in the eternal or “god”, or someone who espouses belief in such things, but that belief is centered in a “god” concept that is very different from our own.
This question came to the forefront as I was reading an interesting chapter in Martin Luther’s Theology, one that talks about the three estates of Luther. Luther spoke of three estates into which people are placed, the church, the household (into which he also inserted work), and finally the state/civic realm. I don’t want to delve too deeply into those relationships right now, as I want to focus on the above question.
It’s interesting to think of the idea that all people are part of the estate of the church as Luther develops it. Basically, this means all people deal with religion. To him, this estate isn’t just about the Christian Church, but all faith and beliefs, including natural theology. Everyone has a relationship with God, whether they like it or not, whether it’s broken or healed. Everyone is dependent on God, everyone is given life by him, etc. Even the atheist.
This is all good and could bring up some interesting questions, but what really got my wheels turnings is this question of faith and the relationship between a Christian’s faith and the “faith” of nonbelievers.On one end, Luther says that atheism is the high point of false religion. After all, false religion, violation of the first commandment, is about turning on on self and away from God. Atheism is about one turning completely in on oneself and trusting only in one’s own self-actualization.
At the same time, Luther cautions us in our speaking of the “faith” of those in non-Christian traditions. In fact, the word “faith” he wouldn’t hold in common between the two. False trust in something other than the true God is no real trust at all. In fact false trust is opposition to God’s self-revelation in Christ and faith is supposed to be about seeing God as “for me”, as the one who sacrificed for me. That can only come from the Holy Spirit and a belief in another “god” actually pushes one in the opposite direction.
This is an interesting question for me, espeically as I think in terms of evangelism. Who is it harder to speak to of God? The one who believes there is no God or the one who believes there is a god, but who’s God is opposed to mine? The one who rejects faith as faith in that which is beyond self, or the one who agrees with faith in that which is beyond self, but who’s understanding of faith is so broken that it turns to a “god” who probably in turn forces the person to put faith back in one’s own works. How do I then approach these conversations. Where do I confront them with our differences? Where do I find points of similarity? I think Luther really forces us to think about the big differences, between ourselves and anyone outside the Church, while also giving us the gift of recognizing all people have a relationship with God and religion, no matter what they might say.
