God did not intend to create puppets.
Sometimes we meet people who do not believe but are sincerely interested in what we actually believe and why. Talking to them can enrich both parties. We get rid of prejudices against them, and they, on the other hand, can confront our experience of faith with their deepest life questions.
The German priest and theologian Jan Loffeld, in his well-known book “When God is Missing,” states that the gradual extinction of faith in God is (at least in the European environment) a natural consequence of social development. We Christians have proclaimed our faith, even if we do not always act flawlessly. Rather, it is necessary to “take the dignity of man and his freedom seriously. God did not intend to create puppets.
My impetus for this discussion is the consideration that a loving God loves believers and non-believers equally and grants everyone the freedom to turn to him with faith or not to count on him in their lives. And therefore, even nonbelievers can live a fulfilled life. Faith in God is our free choice; if there were no alternative, there would be no choice.” Would it still be a loving God?
But Jesus says, “Eternal life is defined: that they know you, the only true God, and the one whom you have sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). Even if we admit the possibility of free choice, does this statement not mean that the rejection of faith in God can lead to the loss of eternal life? Let us look for the answer in our experience. We know many who do not believe in God, and yet they are good people: they raise their children with love, work responsibly, actively participate in public life, help those who are discriminated against or marginalized for various reasons, and honestly seek the truth amidst a barrage of misinformation. We meet them at school, at work, participate in joint projects, and share our personal and family concerns.
Sometimes we understand those who have not found their way to God better than some believing Christians. Are we to think that a person must end up in hell just because of their unbelief? Does that God, who loves all people, condemn many of them to eternal punishment even though they have done nothing wrong? Would that still be a loving God? Jesus’ statement does not necessarily mean that eternal life is a reward for people who have believed in God in this life. We can also understand it in this way: it is precisely by entering eternity that a person truly “will know the only true God and the one whom God has sent, Jesus Christ.” Some will know him already here on earth. Others will not know God in this life but will encounter him only in the transition to eternity. This full, intense, complete knowledge of God, meeting him, dissolving in him, is not even possible in this life. However, it This is the essence of eternal life. Support for faith comes only from the experience of faith.
But is it advisable for him to bear witness to faith and ‘preach the gospel’? What if, even without accepting God in this life, we can accept him in the next? You may have had different experiences with good people. Sometimes they simply dismiss our faith, sometimes they like to discuss it as an exotic intellectual topic and sometimes they are genuinely interested in our beliefs. Such a conversation can enrich both parties. We can overcome our prejudices towards them, and they can confront our experience of faith with their deep questions about the meaning of life, good and evil, pain, eternity, and so on. Through these conversations, we learn to delve into the core of our own experiences. As Loffeld says, ‘The support for faith today is neither tradition nor Christian culture, only the experience of faith.’
In the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus refers to his disciples — people who have shared his experiences and come to know God on earth through his teachings. He asks his Father to keep them united in love so they may meet him in heaven more profoundly. Jesus is deeply concerned for those who believe in him and want to live with him here on earth. Because it is such a great gift, they must share it with others. They must bear witness to their faith.
Who does Jesus have in mind here?
At the same time, however, we can consider John’s style of expression, which is often figurative and symbolic. When Jesus speaks to the Father in the Gospel about ‘those you have given me,’ does he mean only those who have believed in him? Or does he also mean those who will believe later thanks to them? Or perhaps he means those who will not explicitly believe in him but who will have a desire for truth and love in their hearts, i.e., a desire for God? The Bible does not give us a clear answer to these questions. But it does say one thing clearly: God loves everyone equally, believers and nonbelievers alike.
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