There are some big questions that everyone asks at one time or another:
Is there life after death or do we just extinguish when we die?
Is the universe an accident, or was it created with a reason?
If there is a God, why do my prayers go unanswered?
Can the Bible be trusted when it comes to the Big Questions?
Does Faith make sense, or do we need it now that science is filling in more and more of the gaps in our knowledge?
Granted, these are not the questions that some feel they can ask in Church. Too many times, the Church has seemed to favor only affirmations of the 'right answer' and frowned on doubt or tough questions.
Maybe that is why more and more people are 'losing their religion': their religion doesn't seem to be big enough for the big questions. They suspect that what they have been told isn't true- and they wonder about what they haven't been told, yet. Some folks in churches, and some leaders in churches, seem to be afraid of asking the big questions. Instead of asking questions and running the risk of doubt, they hold on to certainty and target the source of the questions.
One of the primary targets of the Church is Science. When Galileo pointed his telescope into the heavens, the Church was not happy with what he saw. The same was true for Copernicus, and for every scientific discovery since then that has threatened the accepted beliefs of the day. Even today, there are religious leaders who declare that Science is anti-God and can't be trusted. Others, see it differently. In light of all the advances of Science and the historical antagonism of Religion, more and more people believe Religion is the problem and Science is the answer.
So, is Science or Religion the problem? My answer is, "Yes". That is the subject of my sermon this Sunday, part 2 of, "Losing My Religion...Discovering God".
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