Center for Informed Faith

Every parent knows the question is coming. We asked it of our parents, and they of theirs. Who hasn't stared at the clouds by day or the stars by night and wondered what lies beyond. Where did the world come from? What lies beyond the incomprehensibly vast universe? If there is a God, who made him? If someone made him, how can he be God? Our children's questions are our own.

It has been said that if the mind were simple enough for us to understand it, we would be too simple to understand it. Likewise, if God were simple enough for my finite, fallen mind to understand him, he would not be God. How does a mother explain marriage to her five year old daughter? How does a mathematician explain calculus to his third grade son?

The poet claims of Jesus Christ, "All the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that have ever sailed, all the parliaments that have ever sat, and all the kings that have ever reigned, put together, have not changed life on this earth as much as has that one solitary life." There are more Christians on the planet than adherents of any other faith, so the universal significance of the Christian position regarding the existence and deity of Jesus is clear. But is it justified?

"Jesus is Lord." This is the central affirmation of the Christian faith. Its Greek original is found scrawled on walls in the Roman catacombs and at the heart of the most ancient formulations of faith. When the Empire forced Christians to say "Caesar is Lord" or die, believers by the multiplied thousands chose to die. If presented the same option, we should make the same choice. Why?

Millions of Christians have recited the Apostle's Creed as a basic part of their weekly worship. This fourth-century compendium of basic Christian beliefs, likely edited from documents even older, was not written by the apostles. However, it contains a brief summary of teachings considered to be theirs, and so has been authoritative for centuries. Its fourth clause contains this affirmation: Christ "suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell."

Poliomyelitis, or polio, is a disease caused by tiny virus particles which attack the brain and spinal cord. Until this generation, polio was a kind of AIDS in American society. Why is polio not feared as it once was?