Crisis of Faith

In the early stages of human civilization, man has always sought beyond himself to solve
the problems of his reality. The answer for many centuries has been that a sort of deity is
responsible for all movement in the universe. When a farmer finds his crops struggling to bear
fruit, he prays to a god. As we progress forward in science and technology, man no longer needs
God to solve his problems. In fact, after the Great Depression and World War II, man has sought
out a solution for sufferings. Many of contemporary philosophy took hold of man’s mentality
and thus emerged two kinds of answers to suffering: the scientific and political mentalities. The
scientific thought suggests all of man’s problems can be solved if given enough time and
resources through advancements in technology and medicine. The political thought suggests that
all of man’s problems can be solved through social action. To save the human race, we must
recycle, equality for all, build more hospitals, etc. Man no longer needs God to solve his
problems. However, in this paper I argue that mankind needs to be enlightened by the root of all
these problems we face today. The problem is not outside of us, but that the problem is an
internal problem. We can lament all day about how everything around us is wrong and action
needs to be taken to fix it, but I would argue that the problems of the world are not as numerous
as we might think. This paper will focus on solving the fundamental questions in the heart of
man or rather understanding the crisis of faith. In this paper the fundamental question that should
be asked is: What is the root of the suffering of man?
Before trying to understand what exactly is a crisis of faith, we first must ask ourselves:
What is faith? Many would hold that faith is to walk blindly down a street you do not know
under the guidance of a complete stranger. This, however, is not faith. Faith is as Peter Kreeft
says very well, "a response to data, to what has been divinely given ("data" means things given)-
that is, faith is a response to divine revelation."1 This is to say that we cannot merely say that we
believe in God, but we believe God. We believe that which we have seen. Faith requires pre-
existing knowledge in that which is believed. There is a natural inclination in man in which he
longs for something or someone to place his faith in. When I said "Faith requires pre-existing
knowledge in that which is believed" I meant that in order to have faith in something, we must
the thing in which we put our faith in must exist. We cannot place our faith in something in
which we have not experienced. To say this would be the same as placing my faith in the Flying
Spaghetti Monster. We have no idea what that is, nor do we have an experience in which the
Flying Spaghetti Monster heard our prayers. Therefore, we cannot place our faith in this.
Whereas we have faith in medicine as it has healed us in the past. We have faith in policemen as
they have prevented injustices that could have happened. We have faith in God as he has pulled
us out of difficult situations.
Now what is a crisis of faith? Peter Kreeft gives a good understanding of a crisis of faith
as he says, “No one "loses" his faith, as he loses his watch. Faith is never lost against our will,
any more than it is chosen against our will. We choose to believe, and we choose not to
believe.”2 He goes down the list explaining various reasons as to why one would “lose their

1
Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity (2001), Part I: Theology (What Catholics Believe) Ch. 1: Faith, pg. 17
2
Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity (2001), Part I: Theology (What Catholics Believe) Ch. 1: Faith, pg. 29
faith.” One of which is that man cannot understand how there can be a good God in the world if
the world is plagued with sufferings. Another reason is out of ignorance of the faith, indifference,
obsessed with material things or “having no time for God,” so to say, and among other reasons as
well. This does not occur only for those who were brought up outside of Christianity. In fact,
many atheists and agnostics have also come from a religious upbringing. In fact, according to
studies by the Pew Research Center in Washington DC, “Those who have left Catholicism
outnumber those who have joined the Catholic Church by nearly a four-to-one margin. Overall,
one-in-ten American adults (10.1%) have left the Catholic Church after having been raised
Catholic, while only 2.6% of adults have become Catholic after having been raised something
other than Catholic.”3 In my experience, the sacrament of Confirmation in my experience has
become a sort of “Catholic graduation” to my dismay. Many of my peers have left the Church
shortly after receiving the sacrament. Since Confirmation is received typically between high
school and college, it can drown beneath the many things that burden the young mind. Without
proper formation, many youths start to question if God is really there for them. A crisis of faith is
when an individual begins to seriously question the existence of a divine being and whether or
not they make any impact in their life. When one questions his creator in which he has always
thought as the source of whence he came, he must then begin to question himself. This brings up
one of the ultimate existential questions of “Who is God?” Did I really come from God? If God
does not exist, where did I come from? Thus, then brings the next ultimate existential question of
“Who am I?” Then naturally, one begins to ask: What happens after death? What is my purpose?
What am I living for? What is the meaning of life? Thus, then asks the third ultimate existential
question of “Where am I going?”
If we were to ask what the biggest issues are in the world today, most likely the answers
would be the global pandemic, racial discrimination, and gender ideology. I argue that the
greatest issue mankind faces today is how he lives his reality. Let us talk first about the global
pandemic COVID-19. I am not one to deny the importance of the matter. There has been many
that has suffered in the world due to this global pandemic, but the question that must be asked is
for a Christian, is this the biggest problem we face today? If Catholics believe in the resurrection
of the soul, should COVID-19 be the center of why we need God? Many people I am sure would
disagree with this opinion, but I do not think that this is the case. Nor do I think that the cure for
the disease is the answer to life. Before COVID-19, man still had problems. Paying bills, taxes,
in the marriage, among peers, familial, etc. So, will the cure for COVID-19 solve the problem of
man? No. This is to simply put, one of the many sufferings one can lament about in life. On a
deeper level, we begin to ask the question “Who is God?” For many will see the suffering in the
world and would want an answer. Is there really a God? Is he this cruel to allow my mother to
die from the Corona Virus? All questions pointing to one of the most critical existential
questions in life, “Who is God?”
Another problem that is arguably a major issue is that of racial discrimination. Today, we
have movements that promote awareness of the suffering of various races. The African
Americans, the Hispanic immigrants, the Asians, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans all have a
sort of campaign to bring about a sort of change in the system of society. However, I do not think
3
https://www.pewforum.org/2009/04/27/faith-in-flux3/
this will solve the biggest problem of man. If we were to remove racial differences from the
world, that all are completely equal, we run the risk of developing a communist society. This is
not to say that all should not be treated as equals for as the Christ says, “Do to others whatever
you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”4 This is simply to say that it
would mark the beginning of communism. Rather than to treat the other as exactly the same,
treat the other with the same human dignity as you would yourself. This is the difference
between Communism and communion.
Another issue the world finds itself dealing with (and arguably the most popular topics) is
that of gender ideology. This ideology argues that one is whatever one is inside. It is argued that
one may be born a male, but inside they feel as though they are female. That “she” was born in a
male’s body, but really is a female. This ideology can be traced back to Hegelian thought. Hegel
argues for the Weltgeist or “World Spirit.” This philosophy affected much of contemporary
thought. Hegel argues that man as the only being with intellect and will is dominant over reality.
The material world is merely illusions of the mind and everything that can be perceived is to be
doubted as reality. This ideology evolved into today’s gender ideology. The general consensus
on gender ideology states that society cannot define one’s being nor can the body limit the desire
to express the true nature of that being. This directly argues against objective truth. This is not to
say that subjective truth is not possible, for one who has had a wonderful experience at a
particular restaurant may have a different conception of the truth in its quality from someone
who has found a roach in their soup. Furthermore, this argument proposes that objective truth is
an oppressive obsolete social structure implemented in society so as to not authenticate the truly
free human spirit. What it means to be truly free is to overcome these obstacles and limitations to
be truly and absolutely free where one can be whatever they choose to be, independent of what
society thins to oppress onto an individual. Although it is beautiful to express oneself, it is not
the same as denying the truth of one’s being. Between the problems of racial discrimination and
gender ideology comes the other existential problem of man: “Who am I?”
We have now seen some of the problems the world faces today. Yet, we have seen that
these problems are not the root of man’s predicament. In order to be rid of vines in the garden,
one can simply remover that which covers the flower. However, unless we get to the root, the
vines will return and maybe worse. In the same way I think rather than answer man’s problems
issue by issue, we should go down to the root of it all and address man’s existential problem: his
crisis of faith. The sufferings of this world bring to us a particular kind of death. We hear the
expression: “I am dead inside.” This expression expresses the death one experiences on an
existential level through suffering or rather, the death of one’s being. Many of man’s sufferings
is not a result of the cruelness of a tyrant god, but is a product of man’s sin in which a loving
God allows through our gift of free will. Peter Kreeft quotes Thomas Merton saying: “’We are
not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves. And we are not at peace
with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.’"5 Further, he continues to speak of a
particular culture that which plagues society today: “Human nature does not change. Today we

4
Matthew 7,12
5
Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity (2001), Part I: Theology (What Catholics Believe) Ch. 1: Faith, pg. 15
live in what the Vicar of Christ has called ‘the culture of death…’"6 This is to say that today, we
live in a society in which suffering is very present.
The ultimate answer for these existential questions is essentially: Wait. According to
Kreeft, the Church’s response of faith for the problems of evil is to: …wait. God will conquer all
evil, in time, in the end. But we have to go through the middle of the story to get to the end. For
Christ says to answer evil with love. The injustices of the world could be solved by force or by
love for the enemy. The Gospel of Mathew says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for
an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When
someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.”7 This would be a
scandal in today’s world. To let the enemy triumph over me goes against my understanding of
fairness! It is not fair! However, if one has the answer to the existential problems in his life, he
knows God will take care of him. For to know God, he knows he can be trusted. For faith is not
“a walk in the dark.” Faith is having known God will take care of everything because there is an
experience of God’s intervention of an impossible situation.
Furthermore, if one knows who they truly are, they know that they have been saved. For
what we truly are, are sinners. Yet, God has sent his only beloved son to redeem us of our sins.
This knowledge answers the question of “who am I”. There is no need to look for identity in
society’s most trending fashion nor in what we think we subjectively think ourselves be. To be in
the truth is more beautiful than any ideology can offer. Finally, the question of “where am I
going” or rather the meaning of life. If God is our Father, and we are his children, then we must
listen to the Father. It is interesting that in the Christian faith, we hold that our God, creator and
knower of all, omniscient and omnipotent, shares with us a familial bond contrary to all other
religions that hold the god (or gods) as a supreme overlord beyond that of mortals. This is to say
that God knows what is best for our happiness as an earthly father knows what is best for their
child. The child may want to stick his finger in a power socket because he is convinced that there
is treasure hidden behind the wall and the only entrance is through the power outlets in the
house. Would the father of the child say, “Here is a fork son! It’ll make it easier to reach in
there!”? Absolutely not! Christ says, “What father among you would hand his son a snake when
he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the
holy Spirit to those who ask him?”8 This is what it means to have faith. To have faith is to rely
on the Father to care for us despite our rebellious nature.
Knowing now that the problem is not exterior, but rather and interior battle, we must give
an answer to this problem. Maybe you are not convinced that the problem is not yourself. There
are many people in the world who live morally good lives and do not necessarily know who God
is. What might the argument for that person be? There is no proof of God and therefore, I will
not waste my time following along. This person did not understand the paper well. For to not
acknowledge the existence of God is to give life no meaning. Peter Kreeft says, “"If there is no
God, there is no ultimate meaning to life. If we came ultimately from nothing and die ultimately
6
Ibid
7
Matthew 5,38-39
8
Luke 11, 11-13
into nothing, we are ultimately nothing. If we are made in the image of God, we are the children
of the King of Kings. But if we are made only in the image of King Kong, we are only clever
apes." This is to say that surely all things must have come from something. We are intellectual
rational beings. Therefore, we must have come from an intellectual rational being. In fact, this
being must be more perfect than man. For just as man cannot create anything more perfect (or
greater) than himself, so is with God who creates us lesser beings. To arrive to this notion does
not take a revelation of God, but simply to rationalize.
What I am essentially saying is that the problem of man is not the problems of society,
but of the interior life. For in an ideal world, all of mankind would live in the truth. Each and
every person would know their history and smile upon it. Despite all the difficulties and
sufferings in life, everyone could look at it with the eyes of faith knowing that the Father made
the perfect history for each of us in the same way the Book of Genesis state: “God looked at
everything he had made, and found it very good.”9 So, we can look at all the problems of today
and the very root of all the sufferings comes the questions: Who am I? Who is God? What is the
meaning to life? To which the Church responds with scripture in a wider sense, because
everyone is made “…in God’s image and likeness and God desires that all human beings be
saved, all human persons can be said to be children of God.”10
So, what are the faithful to do about this? The faithful are first to see the events of their
lives with these eyes of faith. This is to know that in their hearts, they are not worthy of the
mercy of God. Yet, God loves all his children. This in mind it is the mission of every Christian to
announce the God’s love not just in speech, but with their lives. To repay evil with love and turn
the other cheek. To love in the midst of suffering is where the Christian finds peace and it is in
this peace and love is where those outside of Christianity may experience God’s love for the rest
of humanity. Now this begs the question every Christian should ask themselves everyday: How
can I concretely be a sign of the love of God?

9
Genesis 1, 31
10
cf. Gen.1:27-28; 2 Pet. 3:9; Jn. 3:16-17