I was pleased about the interest in Pastor Jensen's pamphlet: The Evidence for Jesus' Historical Resurrection. We ran out of copies at our Easter Masses, but will have other available this weekend. It is helpful for sorting through some of the confusion about who Jesus is and being able to give a response to various objections people make to his physical resurrection.

In his encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason) Pope John Paul II explains that faith and reason, science and religion are not ultimately opposed. We need not be afraid of of the ongoing search for truth or of new discoveries because all truth comes from God himself. A person who genuinely grows in truth comes closer to God.

At the same time we must recognize when someone is dismissing a truth of the faith without having really examined it. In his essay of Jesus' historical resurrection, Pastor Jensen gives an example of such an unfounded dismissal--those who say "miracles are not possible." He shows how that is an unwarranted philosophical assumption, not a scientific conclusion.

As St. Peter says in the opening quote, we need to be prepared to give a reason for the hope, the faith we have within us. Faith is of course a free gift from God that no one can merit, but it is not opposed to human reason. There are many good books today which explain the reasonable basis for our faith. One that I would recommend is Socrates Meets Jesus by Peter Kreeft. It is available at our local library. Also I would like to recommend classic works such as Mere Christianity and Miracles by C.S. Lewis and well as G.K. Chesterton's Everlasting Man.