The church is stronger when we ask questions

With my students in religious studies at Southeast Missouri State University, the only true and inviolable commandment to them is that they think. They must know and understand the positions taken by the instructor, but they are under no compunction to agree with them. Thinking critically is one of the great necessities of our age -- and any age. I quite literally rejoice when a student is able to use his or her mind to "push back" on the curriculum.

Unfortunately, conformity of thought is much more prized in society as a whole. Several years ago while on a Holy Land trip with my family, I asked our guide in the ancient Galilean town of Cana if he thought Jesus of Nazareth had brothers and sisters. "Of course," he replied. When I pointed out that his religious tradition did not allow for Jesus to have had siblings, the guide -- whom our family had only known for a couple of days at this point -- employed critical thinking. "You will never convince me that Joseph never touched his wife." That double-negative answer, perhaps a sign of his passion for the subject, was overheard by a cleric of the guide's denomination. Minutes later, our guide and this cleric got involved in a heated argument in Hebrew. [At least it sounded like Hebrew to my English-only ears.] Later, our guide shared that the cleric threatened to steer business away from him unless he abandoned his "heretical" observations.

When coercion is employed to produce "right-thinking" instead of persuasion, the result is often effective in the short-term but it rarely produces the fruit desired. People's questions are not forever dismissed through a threat. Fear's effect may put out a fire but never vanquishes the smoldering embers.

In the 17th century, Galileo opined that the earth was not the center of the universe and that in fact, our planet rotated around the sun [heliocentrism]. Church authorities, using Joshua chapter 10 as a prooftext, challenged the eminent scientist to explain then how it was that God stopped the sun in the sky, a sun that in the 1600s, was commonly believed to revolve around the earth [geocentrism]. Galileo refused to retreat from his position, at which point he was threatened with death unless he recanted. He did so and spent the remainder of his life under house arrest. But Galileo's assertions, which were shelved at the point of a sword for a time, are now the accepted truth of the world. The church that condemned his teaching so long ago -- finally, in 1991, admitted publicly that Galileo was right. Questions never go away. Embers continue to smolder.

We are entering the late stages of the 2013 Lenten season. Next Sunday will be Palm/Passion Sunday. Holy Week will follow to be culminated by Resurrection Sunday, the day commonly known as Easter. The teachings about what happened during this period of time are well-established.

If your church refuses to allow you to ask questions, if conformity of thought is prized above all else, you might want to think about something. You may wish to consider whether, as one writer put it, being in a "theological straitjacket" is going to answer your basic questions about life.

Thinking is a dangerous thing. It can be threatening. But I shudder to be part of a church that doesn't allow it. Ask your questions. Please ask them. The church, the community of faith, is stronger -- and better -- when we do.

Dr. Jeff Long teaches religious studies at Southeast Missouri State University and is administrator of the foundation and assistant director of marketing at Chateau Girardeau Retirement Community.