If you attended the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, you might remember that I quoted Friedrich Nietzsche who wrote, “’Faith’ means not wanting to know what is true.”   

When Nietzsche used the word “faith,” he was referring to his childhood experience of sectarian faith as cognitive consent, under penalty of punishment, to a list of cultural values that masqueraded as religious beliefs.  As I mentioned Thursday night, Nietzsche was raised in a strict fundamentalist household where religion, in his words, imposed shame and self-loathing on individuals in order later to alleviate their shame and self-loathing. 

The so-called “faith” that Nietzsche was taught devalued God’s creation (including human persons) in order to focus the individual’s attention on salvation as an other-worldly experience.  This sort of religion is much like the nineteenth century miracle cure sideshows in which a slick-talking salesman convinced a crowd they suffered from numerous medical conditions that could be cured only by his unique brand of miracle remedy.  The fundamentalist religion that Nietzsche was raised on was no different from the fraudulent medicines hawked by “snake oil salesmen”; it inculcated a desire for escape from a corrupt world and then offered itself as the only means by which one could escape worldly corruption. 

“Faith,” in the way it was defined for Nietzsche was, in fact, the desire not to know the truth.  That so-called “faith” was a lie and it was based on a lie; it portrayed God as merciless and human nature as hopeless; further, it portrayed salvation as something that never really changed the created world. 

Anti-social religion, like what was taught to Nietzsche, is often legitimized by the misuse of the Scriptures.  Today’s second reading is a common target of misinterpretation by those who denigrate people, God’s creation, and even God, while proposing an imaginary escape from reality. 

Today’s second reading says, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” (Col 3:1-4) The section of the letter to Colossians where this reading occurs is a baptismal homily that borrowed heavily from an early Christian hymn. As is common in music and poetry, the references to “above” and “on earth” are metaphorical references rather than literal references.  

The letter to the Colossians does not use “above” and “on earth” to denote metaphysical and geographic locations, respectively. Rather, these are “after” and “before” references. The author was writing to the baptized at Colossae, reminding them of the difference that should be evident in their lives after Baptism when compared to their lives before Baptism. The letter isn’t selling rescue out of the world; rather, it is preaching repentance and reform leading to renewed faithfulness to God and neighbor.  

In the Scriptures, the word “faith” has a meaning vastly different from a fundamentalist use of the word.  In the Scriptures, “faith” means loyalty to a person.  Specifically, in the Christian Scriptures, “faith” means personal loyalty to Jesus and his teachings. 

The Gospel reading for Easter Sunday provides an example of the Scriptural usage of the word “faith.” John’s Gospel says that the disciple who arrived first at Jesus’ tomb “saw and believed.” (Jn 20:8) This statement means that he had remained loyal throughout Jesus’ arrest, trial, and death. He remained loyal despite the fact that he and the other disciples “did not yet understand the scripture that (Jesus) had to rise from the dead.” (Jn 20:9) The disciple accompanying Peter did not fully understand Jesus’ teachings, but he remained loyal, nonetheless. 

This is the “faith” into which we were baptized; it is the faith we pledge again when we renew our baptismal vows on Easter Sunday. We pledge complete and constant loyalty to Jesus; we make this pledge wholeheartedly even though we might need to grow further in our understanding of its implications. In fact, it is impossible to grasp the meaning of Jesus’ teachings in the absence of the commitment to be loyal to him. 

If you want a faith that is connected fully to both the realities of this world and the reality of God’s will, then you must pledge your loyalty to Jesus and follow through on that pledge by living a life that proclaims the renewal Baptism intends to cause.

There are those who would have you believe in magic or superstition – some otherworldly escape from reality – but there is no truth in such things. Truth is to be found in living fully the life given to you, and a full life is one of love of God and neighbor, as Jesus taught.