This Is The Truth

I am about one third way to become a Catholic. The Catholic church has an RCIA process for anyone wishing to join the faith. RCIA takes about one year to be completed, culminating in the baptism of candidates during Easter period.

RCIA is a frank and open discussion platform about Christianity faith and other faiths in general. There are no right or wrong answers. Everything can and should be put out for discussion.

I do have a lot of questions that I like to ask, as a way of finding out about the thoughts of Catholics and Christians in general. However, I do feel reserved about probing too much, as I realised there are not necessarily answers available.

One question that has unsettled me quite a bit is the views of Catholics towards other faiths.

I know Christianity, like other monotheistic faiths, holds the view that it is the truth, and perhaps the only truth. Therein lies my problem. Although it may sound illogical, I have no problem with anyone declaring their faith to be the only truth. However, I become uneasy when someone declares the other faiths are not the truth, or even outright false or fake. In that case, I am quite tempted to call for proofs.

Let's say I claim that my wife is the most beautiful woman on this planet. Can anyone convince me otherwise? Hardly. Because I define how a woman is to be considered beautiful. If, however, I say that my wife is more beautiful than yours, then I think we both must firstly agree with the definition of what is beautiful.

And so when an RCIA participant wondered why followers of other faiths do not come to believe in Christianity when it is the only truth, I was quite peeved. It is perhaps even ironical that I do not agree with the view that Christianity is the only truth. I think I will throw this question to Daniel, who has completed his theology course and waiting to be ordained a priest.

Daniel has said that one can't believe in Christianity based on reason alone. It also has to be based on faith. Pope John Paul II said that reason and faith are like two wings of a butterfly. You need both wings to flap for flight to take place. Since faith can not be rationalised, therefore you only have reason to back your belief in any debate with others. How is that going to stand up?

The movie Kung Fu Panda has touched me quite a bit, in philosophical and spiritual sense. When Po the panda was finally given the dragon scroll that will make any man (animal?) a top kung fu expert, he was shocked to find it completely blank. After much meditation, it dawned on him that the secret was to have faith and belief in himself. This story coincides with a traditional Chinese saying that The Book of Heaven is wordless (无字天书).

The truth must be discovered by yourself. There can not be one truth only for everyone. As we can see, even Christians sharing one Bible have different understanding of the truth.