God, how can we have faith in you? And how do we keep faith in times of difficulty? Trying to answer these questions of faith is a feat that leads to more questions. God, are you real? And if you are real, are you worth my loyalty?

At the start of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, everyone believed in God and people made decisions based on which church was truly following God. Then things changed. Use of the printing press spread, the Scientific Revolution began, democracy took root, and people started asking questions. For the first time, they stopped automatically assuming God existed.

Having faith begins with an awareness that both transcendent and imminent thinking exist. Transcendent thinking is the realm of spirituality, ideas, and cosmic order. The focus of imminent thinking is on earthiness, physicality, and natural ord ...