What Does A Believer Have In Common With An Unbeliever?

Saint Paul asked this provocative question in order to stress the great difference between the follower of Christ and those who reject him or follow other gods. But on the general question of God and belief, Pope Benedict also thinks there is something in common between the believer and the unbeliever. And that belief may just become one of Pope Benedict's most original contributions to the Church.

NOVA SCOTIA, Canada (Catholic Online) - In his Christmas address to the Roman Curia of 2009, the pope proposed a new form of dialogue in the Church. A dialogue not with other religions or separated Christians, but with those who have not found belief. "I consider most important", Pope Benedict said, "the fact that we, as believers, must have at heart even those people who consider themselves agnostics or atheists." The pope anchored his vision by relating it to the "Courtyard of the Gentiles", that part of the Temple that was cleared by Jesus of the money changers  so that it might be that place of prayer for all the nations. 

It was "a free space for the Gentiles who wished to pray there to the one God, even if they could not take part in the mystery for whose service the inner part of the Temple was reserved."  "I think that today too the Church should open a sort of 'Court of the Gentiles'", the pope said, "in which people might in some way latch on to God, without knowing him and before gaining access to his mystery, at whose service the inner life of the Church stands."

The pope, therefore, intends this dialogue to be directed at those to whom "religion is something foreign, to whom God is unknown and who nevertheless do not want to be left merely Godless, but rather to draw near to him, albeit as the Unknown."

The project has been taken up by the Pontifical Council for Culture which is sponsoring events in various cities for encounter and dialogue between Catholic thinkers and secular thinkers. But Cardinal Ravasi, the president of the council, has stated that this project must become a fixture of the pastoral activity of every diocese. The pope has also said that this initiative should be a part of the evangelization of the "digital continent"--referring to the Internet.

But why is it so important for us to be in dialogue with people who apparently have so little in common with us?

The Age of Unbelief One reason might be that "unbelief" has become so common in the West, that we simply can't afford to ignore it. In the days of the apostles, it was religious people who made up the majority of their audience. They could take it for granted that they would be communicating their message to people that had at least some kind of religious common ground. The new Christians had many beliefs in common with the Jews. And the Gentile world knew many flavors of religiosity as well. At least Saint Paul could find that "Altar to the Unknown God" of the Greeks with which to introduce his message of Jesus Christ. 

Free Catholic PDF's - Home / Parish / School / Bulletin Inserts

But in Western society today, things are different. Although atheism and unbelief have always been around, they have probably never enjoyed the popularity and influence they have today. In popular culture, people tend to think in the categories and mythologies of evolution and scientific materialism. 

So it would make sense, that we should take into consideration the changes in our culture. But dialogue is only possible when there is some common ground to stand on. What could the believer possibly have in common with the unbeliever? There is one common element that--like the Altar to the Unknown God for Paul--might be for us a bridge to unbelievers. If we go back a few decades to the future pope's masterpiece, Introduction to Christianity, we find the answer.

The Avenue Of Communication Ratzinger observed that it's a part of human life to experience both doubt and faith. "Both the believer and the unbeliever share, each in his own way, doubt and belief", Ratzinger explains, "for the one, faith is present against doubt, for the other through doubt and in the form of doubt." Ratzinger continues:

"Perhaps in precisely this way doubt, which saves both sides from being shut up in their own worlds, could become the avenue of communication.  It prevents both from enjoying complete self-satisfaction; it opens up the believer to the doubter and the doubter to the believer; for one it is his share in the fate of the unbeliever, for the other the form in which belief remains nevertheless a challenge to him." 

Sharing The Fate Of The Unbeliever The apparent absence or silence of God is not at all outside the spiritual experience of Christianity. The Psalms are full of the experience of the apparent absence of God. Mother Teresa was accused of being an atheist because of the experience of darkness revealed by her letters. And it should be remembered also that the early Christians were also charged with being atheists because they rejected religious myths and took the side of truth. 

If we would be any help to our brother and sisters who are unbelievers, we must indeed face the reality that we share with the unbeliever. As the saying goes, we have to "keep it real". 

Opening Up To The Unbeliever Because if we don't "keep it real" we can't hope to pursue the question of God with unbelievers. No one likes a smug and absolutely certain atheist. But the smug and absolutely certain believer is also obnoxious. We know instinctively that this posturing of absolute certainty is a sham. Invincible certainty is the mark of the fundamentalist. There are atheist fundamentalists and Christian fundamentalists, and they are both impossible to reason with. 

Make this Christmas Extra Special with the Gift of Faith

But the pope recognizes that human authenticity requires struggle. Jacob had to wrestle with the angel to receive God's blessing. The Israelites identified themselves with that wrestling ("Israel" means struggle with God). We shouldn't be afraid to hide our own wrestling with God. We can admit, for example, that the presence of so much evil in the world is indeed a problem. Only by acknowledging our common experience with unbelievers, can we in turn challenge them with faith.

The pope has always been concerned for those who find it difficult to believe. If this dialogue matures, if we can build this "Courtyard of the Gentiles" with humility and openness, and with a little more goodwill by both believers and unbelievers, it just might bear good fruit.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'