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The Book Project
I am just past 30,000 words on my book project. The project (in my mind) is titled “Jesus and the Greeks.” The book carefully combs through John’s book to find the frequent and oft-missed references to Greek thinkers. The thinkers I spend the most time focusing on are Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus. Each brings a unique way to interact with and understand the Logos. John 1:1 famously begins with the statement In the beginning was the word…
The word for “word” in Greek isn’t the word we use when we mean on a page or even spoken. The word for word in John’s Gospel is Logos. The idea of Logos has a rich tradition in Greek Philosophy as a method for explaining how to live a good life.
I taught a class on it last fall. If you’d like a preview, I can send you the links.
But I keep noticing how much this project is fueling my faith.
An Example
For example, I recently finished a section on John 5:31-47.; John 5:39-40 provides this little nugget.
39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
If you read the scriptures with detail and nuance to understand how Plato interacts with this passage, like I do, it is safe to say you respect, admire, and deeply value scripture. It would be easy and occasionally correct to seek life in the scriptures diligently. But Jesus gives me and the Pharisees an admonishment. Hold on to the scriptures too tightly, put too much weight on them, and you miss Jesus. If John is correct, you miss Logos and, from a Greek philosophical standpoint, the good life. The scriptures are easy to point to and say there is God, but God doesn’t guide us to put faith in the scriptures. God speaks about putting in God.
This passage allows me to be free from any hindrances that scripture might put on me, to live, love, and bring light, as Jesus did. It also allows me to have grace for myself when I misread things and then extend that grace to others, usually starting with my family and anyone else.
Deeply understanding the Gospel accounts is essential for any Christian. Increasing one’s understanding of the person one follows feeds one’s faith. What is interesting to me is how often stories like this (below) are told.
What Fuels Your faith?
So, I wanted to ask: What feeds your faith? I am not here to judge you if you aren’t Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Atheist, MAGA, or Anti-MAGA. My question is, what fuels your faith?
A few weeks ago, I reposted an article on how to describe your faith. That article was viewed and read nearly 10,000 times last year (an average of 25 daily).
I suspect many of us can’t describe our faith or aren’t living our faith because we aren’t conscious of what we are feeding it. This isn’t a get-off social media post. This is a “what is in your social media feed” post. Is it pastors teaching the gospel, or is it CNN, FOX, and OANN talking about Trump? Is it #BookTok or business growth experts? Is it sports, hunting, or construction projects? Is it workout videos from the Rock? By the way, if I ever get to start a Faithful Fatherhood podcast, he is one of my dream guests. If any of you have a connection, I will start the podcast just to interview him.
Where do you spend your time?
What is it that you spend time on? When you gather on social media, what are you talking about? Whatever that is, it fuels and feeds your faith. If you want your faith to be different, you might have to feed it differently. Because whatever you consume for faith fuel affects your work and your family. Remember, Fatherhood is an examination of all three areas. If one area atrophies, the other will suffer eventually.
If you are still having trouble describing your faith and you aren’t living the life you want to live, look at your habits. Better still, when life is going the way you want, enhance those habits.
What are you doing to fuel your faith? Let me know in the comments because you may have an excellent way for the rest of us to engage, and I would love to highlight it.
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