Foreword
This book started off life as Believe It or
Not, a Skeptic's Guide to Christian Faith, featuring curiously childlike
drawings on the cover of a volcano, a dinosaur, a flying pig and what might be
a rabbit driving a motorcycle. The idea being, I think, that the Christian
faith was fantastic in nature and that the flying pig of true religion should
fly variously unscathed above the fiery eruptions of disbelief, the ferocious
jaws of atheism and the timorous flight of the agnostic. Or something like
that; the reality is perhaps less and at the same time more poetic.
Fr. John Heidt, or "FJ" as he was known,
was convinced that there was a Michelangelo or a Shakespeare lurking in every
parish and that it was part of a priest's work to raise up and encourage that
talent. Hence the peculiar pictures; they were drawn by a parochial "Great
Master" who turned out to be not so great an artist, despite being a very
good man and a competent machinist, and there are some who criticized Fr. John
for being unrealistically optimistic.
Parts of this book reflect that. In The Case of
the Disappearing Atheists, for example, we come across an author who is so
convinced of the ultimate triumph of catholic Christianity that he failed to
anticipate the very real rise of today's celebrity disbelievers. But for the
orthodox catholic Christian who understands that the gates of Hell shall not
prevail, this is sinning on the better part of valor and if "FJ" can
be accused of an excess of enthusiasm, he cannot be found guilty of the ennui,
defeatism, and ironic sophistry that settles like poisonous dust upon weary modern
minds.
No, Believe It or Not, and then Faith For
Skeptics, in the book's 2003 edition, challenges the reader to rise to the
tremendous mystery and uniquely redemptive power of Christianity in its
fullness. It is this that FJ believes in fervently, reflects upon and argues
for; and if this faith may seem remarkable, so too is its unique promise of
glory and world-defying sanity.
May God help us all to grow in this faith and if
you are one of those skeptics for whom this book was written, may these pages
provide a glimpse of the loving beauty of divine truth and act as a rung upon
the ladder that ascends to heaven.
Michael
Heidt
Reviews
I read this book with a rather breathless enthusiasm, carried along by its absolute clarity, its energy and wit, its intellectual and imaginative zest. It is quite simply one of the best brief introductions to the essentials of classical Christian faith I have encountered in years. It has spiritual depth without any sentimentality, rigour without dryness. Buy several copies and give them away as indiscriminately as you can to friends old and young who want to know why they should bother with the gospel.
Finally, a book written by an Episopalian who isn't ashamed of his Christianity! Fr. Heidt, who has recently been named the Bishop's Canon Theologian for the Diocese of Fort Worth, has composed a succinct and well-crafted work which would benefit not only the "skeptic", but the traditionalist and liberal as well! This book belongs in every priest's library. Most certainly worth purchasing.
104th Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams
Finally, a book written by an Episopalian who isn't ashamed of his Christianity! Fr. Heidt, who has recently been named the Bishop's Canon Theologian for the Diocese of Fort Worth, has composed a succinct and well-crafted work which would benefit not only the "skeptic", but the traditionalist and liberal as well! This book belongs in every priest's library. Most certainly worth purchasing.
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