Questions of Faith RELIGION IN THE MODERN WORLD Series Editors: Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead,Lancaster University Editorial Advisor: David Martin, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics Founding Editors: John Clayton, University of Boston, and Ninian Smart, formerly of University of California – Santa Barbara The Religion in the Modern World series makes accessible to a wide audience some of the most important work in the study of religion today. The series invites leading scholars to present clear and non-technical con- tributions to contemporary thinking about religion in the modern world. Although the series is geared primarily to the needs of college and uni- versity students, the volumes in Religion in the Modern World will prove invaluable to readers with some background in Religious Studies who wish to keep up with recent thinking in the subject, as well as to the general reader who is seeking to learn more about the transforma- tions of religion in our time. Published: Don Cupitt – Mysticism After Modernity Paul Heelas, with the assistance of David Martin and Paul Morris – Religion, Modernity and Postmodernity Linda Woodhead and Paul Heelas – Religion in Modern Times David Martin – Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish Steve Bruce – God is Dead David Smith – Hinduism and Modernity Peter Berger – Questions of Faith Forthcoming: Juan Campo – Pilgrimages in Modernity Bronislaw Szerszynski – The Sacralization of Nature: Nature and the Sacred in the Global Age Questions of Faith A Skeptical Affirmation of Christianity Peter L. Berger © 2004 by Peter L. Berger 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Peter L. Berger to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2004 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Berger, Peter L. Questions of faith : a skeptical affirmation of Christianity / Peter L. Berger. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-4051-0847-9 (alk. paper) – ISBN 1-4051-0848-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Apostles’ Creed. 2. Theology, Doctrinal – Popular works. I. Title. BT993.3.B47 2004 238¢.11 – dc21 2003044373 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10 on 12.5pt Meridian by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com Contents Preface vii 1 “I believe...” 1 2 “...in God” 14 3 “...the Father Almighty” 31 4 “...Creator of heaven and earth” 43 5 “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord” 53 6 “He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary” 69 Excursus: On Prayer in Christ’s Name 81 7 “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried” 85 Excursus: On the Empty Tomb and Other Miracles 97 8 “He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead” 103 9 “I believe in the Holy Spirit” 115 10 “...the holy catholic church, the communion of saints” 130 11 “...the forgiveness of sins” 144 Excursus: On Christian Morality 156 12 “...the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting” 163 Bibliography 177 Index 180 Preface This book is an exercise in what used to be called “lay theology.” That is, its author is not a professional theologian, and the intended audience is assumed to consist, in the main, of similarly unaccredited people. If some professional theologians should read it, they will undoubtedly find various errors and misinterpretations in the discussion of religious thinkers and doctrines. That is a risk that must be taken by a lay person who ventures into a field in which he is not academically accredited. Evi- dently, I think that the risk is worth taking. And if I look at the works that many professional theologians have regaled us with in recent years, I become even more convinced that a lay intrusion into their precincts is fully justified. The structure of the book is very simple. Each chapter (with the excep- tion of a couple of excursi) is based on a phrase of the Apostles’ Creed. This document, alas, does not date from the time of the Apostles. It was composed early on in the history of the western church, probably in Rome, and was subsequently adopted in the east as well. It is the most compact statement of Christian faith and, along with the Nicene Creed, the one that is most often recited in worship. Obviously it does not cover everything that Christians have believed. But it covers most of it and is thus a convenient guide for a tour d’horizon of Christian beliefs. My subtitle combines the words “skeptical” and “affirmation.” This is not an oxymoron. My argument is skeptical in that it does not presuppose faith, does not feel bound by any of the traditional authorities in matters of faith – be it an infallible church, an inerrant scripture, or an irresistible personal experience, and takes seriously the historical contingencies that shape all religious traditions. Nevertheless, my argument eventuates in an affirmation of Christian faith, however viii Questions of Faith heterodox. Of course the reader will be free not to follow me to this conclusion. In the name of honest advertising, I should state my own location on the theological map. I feel uncomfortable with all available theological labels and ecclesial affiliations. My biographical roots are in Lutheranism, and I would still identify myself as Lutheran, albeit with great reserva- tions. I attend services in an Episcopal church, not because I am in any sense on the road to Canterbury, but because the two Lutheran churches located at convenient distances from my home are impossible for oppo- site reasons (one belongs to the Missouri Synod, which adheres to a quite stifling orthodoxy; the other is a parody of “political correctness,” which, if anything, is even more stifling). I most feel at home in the tradition of liberal Protestantism, going back (in attitude, not in substance) to Friedrich Schleiermacher, because this tradition embodies precisely the balance between skepsis and affirmation that, for me, defines the only acceptable way of being a Christian without emigrating from modernity. I should emphasize, however, that I do not consider this book to be a liberal Protestant manifesto. Readers who do not so locate themselves may find themselves able to go along with me at least part of the way. Some of my best conversations in recent years have been with Catholics – the kind who are prone to say, “I am Catholic, but...” This “but” is important. Quite a few years ago, in a book by that title, I used the phrase “the heretical imperative” to describe the situation of religious believers in the contemporary world. The Greek word hairesis, from which the English “heresy” derives, means “choice.” That is, a heretic is one who picks and chooses from the tradition, retaining some parts of it and giving up other parts. I argued (correctly, I continue to think) that such exercises of choice are inevitable in a situation in which no religious tradition is any longer taken for granted. The individual now must make choices. And even if he defines himself as an orthodox adherent of this or that tradition, that too is the result of a choice. This situation is both liberating and burdensome. All in all, I think that this is good. I cannot see how taken-for-granted religion is superior to religion that is chosen. Kierkegaard, in his passionate attack on the taken-for-granted Christendom of the Danish established church of his time, urged us to become “contemporaneous” with Jesus. That is hardly feasible. The Christendom which he attacked hardly exists anymore (certainly not in Denmark). Its taken-for-granted status has been exploded by modernity and pluralism. What this means, however, is that in a strange way we have become “contemporaneous” with the earliest Christians, who also existed in the exuberantly pluralistic world of late Graeco-Roman civi- lization, and for whom Christian faith was possible only as a deliberate act of choice. I don’t think that we should deplore the fact that our situ- Preface ix ation, in this particular aspect, is similar to that of Paul as he preached in the agoraof Athens, where a multitude of gods competed with each other. Some sympathetic readers of the manuscript of this book have pointed out that I do not engage with much of contemporary theology. I acknowl- edge the point. But the purpose of this book is not to comment on this or that theologian, contemporary or other. I refer only to such theolo- gians as are directly pertinent to the argument I try to make. Put simply, the book explains how one contemporary individual, skeptical in temperament and reasonably well informed, manages to affirm the Christian faith. This book was written over a period of about two years, in moments of time snatched from other busy activities as a social scientist. Conversa- tions with a number of people helped me in this enterprise. I will here mention only three. Brigitte Berger, as with other books of mine, was the by no means passive audience of what she likes to call Dichterlesungen. Robert Arida (of Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral in Boston) and Claire Wolfteich (of Boston University’s School of Theology) were very helpful in introducing me to authors and modes of theological thought with which I was previously unacquainted. Peter L. Berger Boston, Autumn 2002