Recently, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a statement on how her faith informs her position on abortion. It was a response to the claim by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone made regarding the passage of a House Bill 3755. Known as the Women’s Health Protection Act, its intent is to guarantee the right to abortion even if the Supreme Court of the United States overturns Roe v. Wade.
Archbishop Cordileone said the bill “is surely the type of legislation one would expect from a devout Satanist, not a devout Catholic.” Pelosi replied, “The archbishop … and I have a disagreement … I believe God has given us a free will to honor our responsibilities.”
This is nothing less than a clash of beliefs. What is one to think? What is one to believe?
I believe part of God’s image in man is we have a will similar to His, to make decisions free of coercion. Of course, His will is Holy, ours, not so much.
By an act of their will Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Cain chose to murder his brother Abel. Judas chose to betray Christ. As humans we do not always chose to do what is holy.
Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians wrote, “Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith,” 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2.
I believe everyone has faith, that is, each of us live by a set of beliefs that cannot be empirically proven. For instance, the atheist believes there is no God and subsequently lives like there is no God, but he cannot prove there is no God; what might be termed a natural faith.
In contradistinction, the Christian believes in a biblical faith, a saving faith. Everyone has faith, but everyone’s faith is not informed by the Scriptures. This is what Paul meant when he said, “not all have faith.”
By an act of their will people make all sorts of decisions, but the freedom to do as we please does not sanctify those decisions, does not make those decisions inherently holy or godly. Our decisions are godly to the extent they are in keeping with the will of God as He has revealed in the Scriptures.
Sadly, the kind of faith expressed by Pelosi seems to be the kind of faith the majority of our culture embraces, faith in their own will and decisions, and no faith in God and His will.
“Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them,” Psalm 139:16.
I believe what the Psalmist wrote, but not all have faith.
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