Dear Theophilus, 

I agree with you, Theophilus, that there has been a lot of meat in the last several letters on recent developments in science. We have seen that the horizons have widened and what we thought were points of contention between science and faith, were not really that. What I have attempted to do is to push aside some of the objections that one hears to belief offered by some scientists. I think that we have discussed this enough and now I want to wrap up our discussion on science and to go back to looking at some practical aspects of our faith.

Experiments are carried out in science to validate claims. These experiments are crucial in determining whether something is accepted or rejected but not everyone has carried out all of the experiments. This would simply be not feasible for practical reasons. However, experiments are discussed in journals which are accessible to everyone who wishes to verify and repeat the results of a particular experiment. Most, however, accept the data presented in the journals as valid; so there is a factor of authority, even in science.

The other point that I want to make is that for simple experiments, we can have direct contact with data. But when we get to systems which study, let us say particles which are smaller than atoms, or systems which are very large such as our universe, then we cannot view the evidence directly. This evidence is gathered indirectly through complicated equipment which then presents the data in a comprehensible manner. Nobody claims that this is invalid; we have had too many tangible successes which show that this approach is valid but we should be aware of it.

The common conception is that the sciences are objective and present hard evidence in support of various statements whereas, religion presents fundamentally subjective opinions with very little hard evidence to support these claims. This is a somewhat unfair characterization of religious knowledge, but there is a kernel of truth in it which we will explore, shortly. The history of our faith has examples of quackery, of behavior which opposed rationality or the dignity of man. But this does not mean that science doesn't have its own skeletons. So, let's just put those incidents aside and concentrate on that which builds and which helps us to grow in our awareness and knowledge.

In a sense, our faith is more demanding than science. We come to accept the validity of certain discoveries made in science solely on authority for reasons that I have outlined above. In faith, when it comes to the crux of the matter, this cannot be done. Faith cannot be coerced or given on authority as the long sorry history of attempts to do this very thing show. Faith is something that we, and only we can incorporate. So, we are asked to experiment and to find out for ourselves.

Christianity has never been something that was carried out in a dark corner out of the vision of society. It stood or fell with the claims that it made and the central claim is that Christ rose to a new life in the Resurrection. Historically, we were not there with the early disciples to meet the risen Lord; but, we are still called on to meet and experience the Resurrected Christ in our lives here and now.

The experiment that I am referring to is prayer. It is through prayer that we meet the risen Christ most directly, and this is one of the reasons why prayer plays such a central role in the lives of Christians when compared to some other religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, for example. We must get to know God through Christ in a real and tangible way or our faith will be lukewarm and will disappear with the first sign of danger. But, you will say, I have prayed and nothing happened.

Consider a scientist and compare his efforts to yours. A scientist goes to his lab and works diligently over a matter of years. A lot of the work feels like drudgery but it forms the basis for making a discovery, discoveries which, by the way, come very far apart from each other. But, he persists, and perseveres and is sometimes frustrated but continues in his search. When it comes to prayer, are we ready to devote this kind of effort? Many are not and give up prematurely and then complain that their prayer life gives them nothing.

What is important to realize, as well, is that you are never isolated in your life of prayer. There is a large community of those living and those who have passed from this earth who are united with you in Christ. The importance of having a community with which you are organically united is that this acts as a safeguard against becoming sidetracked in our thinking. We bring before the community our experiences and it is the voice of our community, the Church, which is then heard in judgement over what we have to say. This reference to the thinking and judgement of the Church is referred to as tradition and this is very much akin to what we have in the scientific community. We present our discoveries and interpretations before the scientific community to hear their views and to hear their criticisms and to ascertain that our own personal bias has not crept in to distort our conclusions.

The other thing that I want to impress upon you is that prayer and our interaction with God, in prayer, are real and tangible things. They are not something that is totally internalized as we play mind games with ourselves. We will get tangible results if we set out on a serious and determined life of prayer and we will meet God in the person of Jesus. This is what millions of people have attested to. But, I agree with you. It is not good enough for others to speak about their experiences. The accounts of the experiences of others are useful in giving us some ideas about what others are experiencing or have experienced. However, what is of crucial importance is that you have your meeting with God and that God becomes a living reality in your life. This is the reason why it is important that you start to pray and start to discover the God who has traversed the width of the universe to meet with you.

I have reminded you that you need persistence and the Church has a special word for this perseverance on our part and that word is faith. Faith has sometimes been caricatured as believing something that is intrinsically wrong or untrue, as something which belongs to the realm of childishness. This is totally wrong. Faith is not accepting on blind acquiescence. Faith is not accepting authority, unquestioningly. It is struggling with doubt and uncertainty. In a sense, it is realizing that we know more than we are aware of and this hidden knowledge, this knowledge that dwells in our deepest recesses we call faith. This factor sometimes comes out in those who are terminally ill and who realize the truth of things that are buried deeply in their subconscious. During that particularly sensitive time of life, as the approach of death is measured in days or hours, then hidden resources trickle out to give guidance and strength. There was a case of a woman who was terminally ill and who had a dream. In this dream she saw a candle on the ledge in front of the window. Suddenly, this candle went out and fear overtook the woman in the dream because it was obvious what this action signified. Death was there. But, almost instantaneously, the candle relit but, this time, it appeared behind the window pane. A transition had occurred for the candle and this woman was being told that her life would relight on the other side. Some would argue that this was simply a sign of wishful thinking and that this had no reality. Genetically, something was programmed into the genes of this person, as in all of us, to make death more palatable. The obvious unasked question is: why make it more palatable? Why should there be fear of death at all if there is nothing else? The answer sometimes given is that the fear of death is a trait included in our genetic code so as to prolong the existence of our species. But, you see, this does not answer the fundamental question. Why is it that biology is so concerned about the continuation of the species? There are innumerable examples from our history that attest to the fact that the concern for continuing the species is not quite as strong as we sometimes make it out. In general, the answers given by some scientists in this matter are a little too glib and lack that texture of depth which says there is something of substance here.

If prayer is so important, and so necessary for us, why don't we pray more? Each of us has his own answer to this question and the answers are varied. The point isn't to analyze and ask questions and discuss. The point is to do, to become active, and to start on a life of prayer. But I agree with you Theophilus, that we need instruction in prayer. We need guides and we need to be taught and maybe we can start looking at this question in our next letter.

Yours, as always,

Bar-Abbas