On the above series—Reasonable and Probable Grounds to Believe—this will be my 24th and final column. As a summary on the series, I provide new leads on a very old cold file, which is based on a reasonable and probable grounds approach to conclude there is a God. As temporary guests on this planet, many of us live and die without making a personal choice to believe or not believe. Every day our natural world, as we know it, provides us with varying degrees of awe and wonder that are difficult to comprehend, and more often than not surpass our common understanding. So, if we regularly experience complications in our natural world, it is little wonder then that within a supernatural world, where God dwells, that we experience increased difficulty to understand, to relate, and to embrace God’s presence.
Two extracts from my very first column read: “The phrase reasonable and probable grounds to believe meant that if you (as a police officer) provided the investigational information you had acquired, say to four or five ordinary people, and sat them down and had them discuss the whys and wherefores of your information, then after a reasonable time of pondering the matter, they too would conclude like you, that reasonable and probable grounds were present to believe that the person was responsible for committing the offence.”
And that, “One does not need proof to have faith. To those of faith, the need of so-called facts to support their belief may well be looked on as shallow and irrelevant, not to mention irreverent, and that a claim can justifiably be made it is religiously improper to attempt to explain faith by rational argument. Perhaps the most scientific proof there is a God comes from the simple fact that so many people believe that indeed there is a God. In essence then, for me to embark on a ‘reasonable and probable grounds’ approach to believe there is a God flies in the face of our common senses. Nevertheless, I shall try and sally forth.”
This was a tough case. I’ve delved into various topics: including our patterns of behaviour; examining how we believe or do not believe; our struggles with faith; a focus on scripture; believing and doubting; our religious variance; a relationship with God; our sense of values; spiritual intelligence; challenging the status quo; and to live and to die. And yes indeed, at the end I became convinced (all over again) that reasonable and probable grounds exist to believe there is a God.
Writing columns for Anglican Life has been a pleasure. I thank all those readers who have offered their many generous comments of appreciation and support. And a big thank you to Emily Rowe, the Editor, whose skillful ways of making all complicated matters look easy, along with her generosity in providing special dispensation in meeting certain guidelines, is all very much appreciated.
…May the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of peace be with you all your days!
