Faith
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Thinking the Faith, Praying the Faith, Living the Faith is written by the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship.
Thinking, praying, and living the faith is at the core of ministry in the Office of Theology and Worship. In the following videos, learn more about what thinking, praying, and living the faith means to the leadership of the Office of Theology and Worship. Discover why it matters and what difference it makes in our lives, work, and worship.
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The Assurance of Things Hoped For
Kentucky seems to make the national news in odd ways. While I wish the state could stay under the radar in all things not basketball-related, we still seem to show up on the CNN national feed or the New York Times, often on less than flattering terms.
Case in point: the proposed Noah’s Ark theme park, where organizers say they will show “how Noah would have taken care of them (the animals), taken care of waste management, taken care of water needs and food needs.” [1] In short, it will be an interactive “experience” complete with petting zoo.
The political debate about the park has ranged from whether or not the business plan and visitor projections are solid to whether state tax incentives should be granted and infrastructure improvements funded by state dollars. The theological debate seems centered around evolution. I’m going to stay out of both of those debates. What I wonder is this: why do we need to see and touch and “experience” Noah’s experience on the Ark? What is our human obsession – or is it a uniquely American obsession? – with seeing, touching, experiencing, proving?
The apostle Paul said that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11.1) What does this need to “experience” mean for our faith?
When I read the story of Noah and the Ark, the point of the story is not how Noah managed to deal with the problem of waste management. The point of the story is that God provided the means of salvation for Noah, his family and the animals. My theological problem with this proposed park is the same problem I have with the creation museum in northern Kentucky. Why do I need to see interactive dioramas to show me the miracle of God’s good creation when a full moon reflecting on the moving waters of the Ohio River does it so much better?
Several years ago, there was a full scale model of the Nina, one of Columbus’ ships, making the rounds of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. I went on the tour. The “ship” was small, dark, dank, smelly, uncomfortable and altogether unpleasant. I began to wonder about the details of how those men lived aboard that boat, and the miracle of their survival was, unfortunately, superseded by the experience of that tiny boat. I’m unwilling to have matters of faith bogged down by an “experience” that could never come close to the real thing.
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The things on which my hope is founded can’t be portrayed in a diorama, interactive or not. The faith that undergirds my convictions can’t be portrayed, even by an 800-acre theme park. No amount of “verisimilitude” in construction can affect the promise represented by the story of Noah. My fear is that it may diminish the promise to something we can see or touch. Or be replaced by mundane concerns of waste management.
- Posted at 8:49 p.m.
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