The foundations of faith (7)

Religious experiences are real and certain, even if God isn’t. Part 2: We do know what is happening inside us

So, let’s stick with what we do know. The religious experience definitely exists. Whether God is the cause of the experience is not certain – and never can be. Perhaps before your doubts you felt it was certain, but actually, philosophically, you were wrong: you did not know religious experiences were from God, you only believed it.

But we do know the experience is real and that it is wonderful. So, let’s stick with the experience.

It is a self-authenticating experience as we know we feel what we feel. Now, I don’t go along with the modern trend that, “If I feel something is true then it’s true because that’s what I perceive”. The mistake there is to claim that what I feel inside my own heart and mind proves that things are true “out there” in the external world. However, I am keeping agnostic about claiming I can prove it’s true that God exists; that is something I hold by faith, not certain knowledge – but I do know deep down at the core of my being that my experience of what I believe to be the presence of God fills me with inexpressible peace, joy and love. And our encounters with God are enough to justify our judgement that there probably is a God; I’ll find out one day; till then I value my faith in God above all other things.

Objective factual statements about the world are agreed by everyone – though, of course, often people may lie and refuse to accept the truth, for their own selfish reasons. Faith judgements and personal values are not objective facts; they are personal value judgements. So, when we commit ourselves to a life of faith we are making our own personal value judgement: I put God first. Ultimately, this is where our experiences of God have led us: I choose to live by the love that I have encountered in God. There is no doubt that an experience of transcendent love exists, of being one with the infinite and eternal, of being filled with inexpressible joy and peace, of finding the ultimate in life such that you feel, “If I died now, I could die happy because I have touched the height and depth of what life has to offer”. These, and much more, are what our experiences of meeting with God bring us, and they are definitely real and true feelings; they are supremely precious, and – as we live by faith not sight – they are enough to persuade us to continue with our journey with God.