Searching For A Source: Introduction

In the past I have almost been panicked about religion, but I think that has changed. While I’m no more committed to any one religious direction than I was, say, a year ago—and I am likewise not committed to “no direction” or any given assortment of directions—I am no longer stressed out about the idea of picking a religion. Instead, I am simply more aware of the factors that influence my decision, and I am better situated to pull apart religion and my brain to see what the real issues are and to better evaluate my choices.

My beautiful and sexy wife commented to me in the car the other day that it seemed to her that I used to be trying to figure out what religion is true, but now I am trying to figure out which religion I can believe in, and that the difference is subtle but powerful. I would add a paradoxical qualification to her assessment: I used to be trying to figure out which religion was true in a completely subjective sense, and now I am trying to figure out which religion I can believe in objectively.

Whether that actually is a paradox or whether it even makes sense is not really all that important. What is important is that given the recent upset in my commitment to Christianity, I am once again evaluating my options, spiritually speaking. This may be a genuine crossroads in my spiritual development, and it may just be a lull in my development as a Christian, i.e., a phase that I will pass through. I don’t know which one it is. In any event, I am aware that my thinking over he past year has changed dramatically, and so my rubric for evaluating religion is now considerably different, although I am basically considering the same set of religious options that I have been for some time.

In the next set of posts, I want to pull together all of the strands of my current spot in the quest for truth, and express my evaluation of my various religious options with respect to my evolving way of thinking about faith, truth, and religion. As I add those posts, I will also index them here. My intention is also to hopefully articulate more clearly some of the things I have been trying to say in the past several posts. In any case, stay tuned.

Part I: C. S. Lewis’s Model Of Moral Reasoning

Part II: The Problem With Pluralism

Unfinished Notes on Part III: Religious Choices And Their Values