[Sundaycommunity] Faith vs. Belief

[Arthur Blomme]

              Faith vs. Belief

    As a child in catechism I was taught a set of beliefs, a Creed. I
    was told that this was my faith. However, my faith is something much
    more than mere beliefs.

    When Jesus says, ‘Were your faith the size of a mustard seed you
    could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the
    sea,” and it would obey you.’ The faith that Jesus refers to is
    quite different from the faith I was taught as a child.

    For Saint Paul, faith in the resurrection is central. He writes that
    through this faith, death has lost its sting. On another occasion he
    says our faith in the resurrection conquers death. In this Sunday’s
    Epistle, Paul speaks of the gift of faith given to us—not a spirit
    of timidity, but one of "power, love, and self-control." Christian
    faith has power precisely because it overcomes the archetype of all
    fear: the fear of death.

    For Jesus and Paul, faith is more than an intellectual affirmation
    of doctrines or myths. It is a deep conviction, a stance toward life
    that calls for the courage to face reality and remain steadfast in
    the fight for justice. Understanding that Paul wrote his epistle
    from a cold Roman dungeon, facing death and largely abandoned, gives
    powerful context to his uplifting courage. This genuine faith imbues
    us with love and self-control, embodying the power of courage,
    resolve, conviction, and integrity.

    When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of his
    empire, these very traits of genuine faith were likely what he
    coveted for his army and civil service. Yet, in a tragic twist, he
    ultimately sowed their demise. By compelling the bishops to convene
    the Council of Nicaea, he orchestrated the creation of the Nicene
    Creed—a unified belief system designed to organize the empire. I
    believe this is the pivotal moment where the empire shifted the
    meaning of faith. It was no longer the courageous faith of Jesus and
    Paul, but was hollowed out into a set of mandatory principles. A
    faith that took the sting out of death was transformed into one that
    required obedience to a creed, often under pain of death.
    Ironically, Constantine undermined the very traits that had
    originally attracted him to Christianity, substituting obedience to
    a creed for the genuine, courageous faith of the early Church.

    Today, the courage fostered by faith in the resurrection is all but
    lost. In our country, Christian traditions and institutions appear
    to be waning, replaced by a technocratic modernism. The Nicene Creed
    is virtually meaningless in our contemporary culture. Yet, obedience
    to a new, technocratic, trans-humanist creed is alarmingly dominant.
    Our mainstream media daily delivers a narrative—a story we believe
    tobe reality—that functions as a new creed: Russia is trying to
    dominate the world; to call out genocide is to be antisemitic;
    science is no longer a method for discovery but a set of
    unquestionable precepts. We are told that without Big Pharma we
    would die, and if we speak against this narrative, we risk being
    jailed, "canceled," or financially crippled. We are ruled by fear.

    If we possessed a faith that cancels fear, we could indeed say to
    this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it
    would obey us.

    Addendum:

    On the face of it compare the protest climate here in Canada to the
    outrage found in many other places in the world.  In our country
    there has been very little reporting on mainstream media  about the
    50 ship flotilla loaded with supplies filled with courageous
    protestors who stood up to the Israeli threats of death and
    destruction in order to bring supplies and break the brutal siege of
    the IDF.  In an act of piracy the IDF seized these ships in
    international waters and took the protesters into custody. The
    response in many places in the world  was strong.


    +

    www.youtube.com

    Global PROTESTS Break Out as Israel SEIZES Gaza Flotilla <#>

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    It is no coincidence that these momentous events are not broadcast
    to us.  The Gazan  genocide doesn't fit into the dominant narrative
    as do many other important events.  In Jesus' words the truth will
    set you free and we thus have to have the courage to look past the
    narrative being fed to  us to see the cold hard realities that lie
    beyond. Only then can we act appropriately.


    Art Blomme Oct. 4, 2025
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