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"None of those who have Hell before their eyes will fall into Hell. No one of those who despise Hell will escape Hell.... Nothing is so profitable as to converse concerning Hell. It renders our souls purer than any silver."  

~St. John Chrysostom~

BOOK

Religion in Society  

Dear Aaron,

            I can surely appreciate your desire to take some time and think about our recent discussions. It certainly is a lot to take in all at once, and you need time to think it through and digest it. Maybe the upcoming break will help you to do so. I can also fully appreciate your frustration in not being able to get into very many good theological discussions on campus. In the midst of such an intellectual environment, you shouldn’t have to be writing to your old uncle to talk theology. 

I think part of the reason for this theological dearth you are experiencing is that, since religion is not important in our society, most people are not very well educated in it. It is the big black hole in most people’s education, and amongst other things, it hurts our ability to understand the world around us. For instance, you cannot really understand a nation without first understanding its religion. It is hard for us to understand countries that are typified by religious fundamentalism when we see all religions as equally right. I must admit that our belief in this area baffles me, especially in light of the Christianity that has been the faith of the majority of our population for most of our history.

As you are well aware, Christianity declares Jesus to be God, and every other world religion says that he is not. Jesus is an actual person who walked the earth 2,000 years ago. So when we claim him to be God, we are not simply putting another name on the Great Spirit. We are, on the contrary, pointing to a specific person in history, and declaring Him to be the incarnate God. Now I think everyone can agree that He either is or He is not. If he is, then Christianity would be right about who God is, and all the other religions would be wrong. If He is not, then as Christians we are the most foolish of all people, as we would be worshipping a dead guy. This is why we have no choice but to say that Christianity is the only true religion, even if the prevailing wisdom in America today, is to declare all religions to be equally right.

By the way, this is another reason why there is not more value put on religion nowadays. Not only are we severely undereducated in this area, but also as soon as society makes the claim that all religions are equally right, it makes them all equally meaningless. Why seek out the truth if everything is true? To look at it from a slightly different angle, what value would there be in going to college, if no matter what you did while you were there, everyone was assured of graduating with an A average? How could you distinguish yourself, or make yourself look good to an employer? Sure, there would be a few self-motivated individuals who would go simply from a desire to obtain knowledge, but most would not bother.

This is the state of religion today. There are some self-motivated souls who do not buy into the prevailing wisdom and are seeking to find the true religion, but most don’t bother. If all beliefs are equal, what is the point? Simply believe in God and be a nice person, and all will be fine. That’s exactly what most people are doing. This is why it is hard to get into a good theological debate today even on a college campus. We’ve educated people not to care.

            I guess this illustrates the need for more young men and women such as yourself to zealously evangelize. If the state is educating people to go to Hell, then we need to be educating them to go to Heaven. It may seem like an overwhelming task, but as long as God is with us, it doesn't matter who is against us.

You mentioned that it’s getting close to finals, and you may not have time to write before the end of the semester. So I’d just like to say that it’s been a pleasure corresponding with you. Hopefully I will see you over the Christmas holiday, and with your permission we’ll pick up where we left off next semester. 

With much love,

Uncle Greg