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“Daddy, Do You Believe in God?”
The Story of How We Lost Our Faith,
and How We Might Find it Again
by John Hunt
O Books, 2001; 364 pages
John Hunt has made his living as a publisher of religious books in the United Kingdom, and in this new book from his own pen he takes on the subject of what it means to be religious, and particularly Christian, today. Informed by decades of dialogue with religious writers of all stripes, “Daddy, Do You Believe in God?” is an intelligent and daring book, one that Hunt acknowledges “will offend my best customers” in its call for a radically new approach to religious understanding.
Hunt brings a theologian’s critical eye and a raconteur’s gift of gab to the task of surveying, as the subtitle puts it, “the story of how we lost our faith.” Expertly summarizing vast conceptual and historical stretches, Hunt easily brings the reader up to speed on how we have arrived at a place and time in history in which war and injustice are still carried out in the name of God and in which narrow views of salvation and literal readings of scripture combine to relegate Jesus and his teaching on the kingdom of God to the margins of the faith tradition that has been created in his name. While Hunt admits that his presentation offers nothing new, he has brought together such a wealth of data and observation, culled from dozens if not hundreds of sources, in such a trustworthy and passionate way that even readers who find his conclusions objectionable should be thankful for his effort.
The author admits at the outset that he does not expect his book to find acceptance among “those who are pretty certain of their Christian beliefs”; he doubts that he can make them “stretch their definitions of who counts as a Christian.” Nor does Hunt expect to move those who see being religious as a special form of gullibility, despite his contention that “even if you take [God] out of the equation Jesus still gave us the best model we have of relating to the world.” He writes, instead, for those who are “in-between,” “believing but not entirely sure what they believe in. They might not call themselves Christian but they wouldn’t call themselves atheists either.” Maybe, he hopes, this book will help these in-betweeners get started on a process of creative thinking about God and faith.
But Hunt’s book is also, perhaps most importantly, an affirmation for those of us who do not merely fall, but emphatically place ourselves, in that in-between area: decidedly spiritually and biblically oriented but deeply disturbed by the tragic historical and present-day realities that bastardize and offend the teachings of Jesus about how to live in the world and relate to God and neighbor. Not just the obvious “wars in His name,” but theologies of exclusion and elitism, and literal readings of texts that cry out for poetic understanding, and adherence to doctrines and dogmas that serve the purposes of institutions over the well-being of humans. John Hunt recognizes and names all these wrongs for what they are, and envisions a “new Christianity” in which our approach to the teachings of Jesus begins to evolve at a pace similar to that of the evolution of science and other forms of understanding our world.
Perhaps most heartening for me is Hunt’s vision of a new trinity of beauty, truth, and love. The universe, he says, “has unfolded from these principles like a flower from a seed. . . . The defining characteristics of this religion are the search for truth, the appreciation of beauty and the practice of love.” He continues:
Story-telling is a good way of communicating all three. It’s why there are so many sacred scriptures around the world. The Bible itself is a baseline on which many further stories have been built, like The Brothers Karamazov or Daniel Deronda. If you’re bored with Obadiah and Nehemiah, read Dostoevsky or George Eliot instead. Don’t get stuck on the Bible. Think of religious truth like a great novel. The main characters are the different religious leaders down the ages. . . . We create our story out of these past lives, much as they have created us.
Despite all its explication of the shortcomings of traditional approaches to a God-centered life, “Daddy, Do You Believe in God?” is a hopeful and exciting book. With challenges and epiphanies on every page it is a rewarding encounter with the art of believing in God and living accordingly. “So hold the idea of God in your head as a possibility,” Hunt encourages. “Live it as if it’s true. We need a big idea to aim for, something to carry us through the next million years, or we won’t make it. We need to grow to the next level of consciousness. It’s in living by faith that we grow. . . . It’s in growing that we meet God.”
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