In writing this column, I am aware that I am preaching to the choir. After all, if you are reading this column, the chances are very good that you are a believer. But from time to time, even believers must step back and ask themselves some fundamental questions. This is especially true in our day when many of those who do not believe in God have become more assertive about their secular outlook on life that finds no need or place for God.
So why do we believe in God? While each individual will answer this question in a different way, it seems to me that there are three fundamental reasons why we believe in God.
The first reason arises from the world in which we live, a word that is alive with the beauty of the Creator. In the words of the Psalmist, “the heaven are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork” (Ps 19:1). The very beauty and glory of the world in which we live testifies to its Creator. The infinite cosmos in which we live proclaims the glory of God.
The second reason why we believe in God is often overlooked. We believe in God because others have testified to the presence of God in their lives. We believe because of a community of believers who witness to God. This witness is varied and complex. On the one hand, there is the simple but powerful faith of our parents who have brought us to faith. On the other hand, there is a host of other witnesses who proclaim the glory of God to us in many different ways. For example, there is the witness of artists and musicians who proclaim the transcendent beauty of God in their works of art. And there is the witness of men and women whose faith in God impells them to give themselves generously and selflessly for all that is good and beautiful.
Finally, we believe in God because of the witness of his Son, Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who has revealed the truth of God to us by his life, death, and resurrection. It is Jesus Christ who has shown us the profound love that God has for us by dying on the cross. It is Jesus Christ who has come from the Father to reveal God to us.
Jesus Christ reveals God because he is the Son of God, the very incarnation of God’s Word. Because he is the Son of God, Jesus Christ reveals what he has seen and heard in the presence of the Father. To know Jesus Christ, then, is to know God; to hear the voice of the risen Christ is to hear the voice of the living God.
There are at least three reasons, then, why we believe in God: the witness of creation, the witness of the community of faith, the witness of Jesus Christ. Although there are many people today who do not believe, this is not the case for us. For us, the witness of creation, the witness of the believing community, and the witness of Jesus Christ point to the One whom we cannot see or hear, but who is ever present in our midst. They point to the mystery—the awe-inspiriting mystery—of God. Father Matera