The Six PathsWays People Seek God

R210ASpiritual FormationLawrence Pascual

Introduction• These are six models of how people

seek God• From James Martin’s book The Jesuit

Guide to (Almost) Everything (Ignatian Spirituality) • The models are broad and can even

overlap• Person can belong to multiple

models

The Six Paths• Path of Independence• Path of Disbelief• Path of Exploration• Path of Return• Path of Confusion• Path of Belief

Path of Independence• Separate from organized religion• Believe in God (theist)• Church is meaningless, offensive,

dull, or all three• Though away from religious institutions,

finds comfort in religious practices learned as child•Comfort in the familiar

Path of Independence• Maybe hurt by church• Insulted (or abused) by priest, pastor, rabbi, and etc.

• Bored•Church services are boring, meaningless•Worship is not lively

• Disagreements•E.g., sexual abuse scandals of the clergy•E.g,. teaching on sexual morality•E.g., political stance

Strength of Independence• Healthy independence•See things in new ways (Outsider perspective)•Not restricted by rules•Be more honest• E.g., Critique of Church during sex scandals – Did they handle it correctly? Who did they take care of?

•Sometimes entrenched in church, we sometimes fail to see its flaws

Dangers of Independence• No commitment to any religion• Perfectionism: “All organized religion

is imperfect, therefore, belong to no one”•Forgets that everybody is more or less imperfect (even him or herself)

Path of Disbelief• Separate from organized religion• Atheistic or Agnostic• Scientific approach•Seeks proofs for God’s existence• Finding none that is suitable, reject theism

Strengths of Disbelief• Does not take religion for granted•Religion is not just something adopted as child•Requires thinking and choice•May think about religion more critically than believers

• Critical of beliefs•Does not accept things blindly•E.g., “People suffer because it is God’s will”• What does that even mean?

Dangers of Disbelief• Too much reliance on science and

intellect•Becomes a wall/fortress•Blindness and unwillingness to see divine in creation

• They need concrete, hard evidence proof of God’s existence (which is almost impossible)•Story of Atheist avoiding a flood on top of a house

Path of Return• Began in religious family, drifted away, but

returns to church (or other tradition)• Forced to attend religious services but find

it dull, meaningless, boring (similar to Path of Independence)

• Religion is distant, but appealing• Curiosity about God

Strengths of Return• Desire for maturity• Desire to reeducate themselves to

understand faith in mature way•E.g., God as problem solver•Prayed but God would not answer all prayers•Does God give what we want or what we need? • If God is not a problem solver, who is God?

• Return to religion

Dangers of Return• James Martin does not list any dangers• What dangers do you see?

Path of Exploration• Stepping into other religious

traditions• Exploration: Searching for a religion

that fits

Strengths of Exploration• Desire for God, for community or

spiritual home• One finds an understanding of God

and a community that suits one’s personality

• If returning to home religion, new appreciation for faith

Dangers of Exploration• No commitment to current religion• Not settling to one tradition since all

are imperfect•No tradition suits them

• God is someone who satisfies their needs•E.g., Cafeteria Christian•Pick and choose what to believe about God• Ignore other aspects•Pick the Christ of suffering, but forget the Christ of loving relationship

Path of Confusion• They haven’t left religion, but they

are confused about God• God is a problem and mystery• In between religious and nonreligious• Participates in worship services• Problems of belonging•Do they feel they are Catholic?•Do they consider themselves fully Catholic?

Strengths of Confusion• Fine-tuning their faith• In between religious and nonreligious• Haven’t made up their minds, refining

ideas about belonging to religion

Dangers of Confusion• Confusion becomes laziness• Too much work to think about religion

The Path of Belief• part of organized religion• believe in God• Maybe born into religious family•Cradle Catholic

Strengths of Belief• Confidence in their belief in God• Faith puts meaning into their lives:

joys and struggles in life•Never alone: God is always there

• Overcame confusion: Certainty and Confidence

Dangers of Belief• Inability to understand people on other paths• Judge others on their doubt or disbelief

• Certainty prevents compassion, sympathy, and sometimes tolerance towards those that are uncertain, nonbelieving

• Complacency in one’s relationship with God•E.g., cling to childhood faith. When tragedy strikes, abandon God of youth, and sometimes God completely

“Adult life requires an adult faith”• “Think of it this way: you wouldn’t

consider yourself equipped to face life with a third-grader’s understanding of math. Yet people often expect the religious instruction they had in grammar school to sustain them in the adult world” (James Martin)

“Adult life requires an adult faith”• “Just as an adult child needs to relate

to his or her parent in a new way, so adult believers need to relate to God in new ways as they mature. Otherwise, one remains stuck in a childlike view of God that prevents fully embracing a mature faith” (James Martin)

Discussion