"The Difference of Two Religions"
Monsignor Lawrence Gibson, Pastor at the Saint Felicitas & Perpetua Church, believes that God exists due to personal belief as well as logical thinking. "Every effect has a cause," says the respected pastor, "and that cause is an invisible being." Pastor Gibson's view of the universe is quite simple; he believes that the cosmos was made purposefully by an entity that we refer to as "God." God must exist by reasoning that if he did not, and the universe was empty (as it once was), the universe would always be empty because there would be no "God" to create it. Furthermore, within the universe, there are laws that are neither changing nor created by man, if these laws exist, some entity must have set them so.
In life, things change. In Pastor Gibson's view, for anything to change, there must be an object that does not change. This object must be unaffected by time or altered by conditions. Since humanity is continuously changing and adapting, each person must look beyond the self, earthly creatures and objects to find this enduring presence which stands so strongly.
Pastor Gibson's view is very strong; its main points can be understood by anyone. People everywhere believe in a god of some type, whether their god is a divine creature as believed in the Catholic Church, or a god who has power over a single aspect of everyday life as believed in ancient Rome. This simple need to believe in something mystical is brought by the existence of the individual; the fact that a person is alive is proof that God has made himself known. Doubters of the Catholic Church are unable to understand the truth due to intellectual and moral reasons. Science, which has been in the opposing corner, avoids believing in something, simply because it is right, without testing it. Pastor Gibson believes that this method of attaining truth is wrong, because not everything can be understood in our always-changing world, not even things that do not change.
Miles away, Pastor Steve Weller, at the Venice Foursquare Church, holds many of the same views of God, preaching Christianity to an audience less than a quarter the size of Saint Felicitas & Perpetua's. Among his loyal congregation are former substance abusers attempting to turn their life around through religion. Pastor Weller believes that God exists by: The creation of the universe, the presence of a conscience, and the words of God's son, who can be proven Holy by numerous biblical sources.
Pastor Weller receives his personal belief in God by firsthand source. Using his bible only to assist his views, he speaks believing that Jesus Christ helps him personally by guiding him in the right direction and caring for him as a human being. Through the belief in a "Holy Spirit," Pastor Weller goes beyond reading Holy Scripture to experience exactly what Pastor Gibson meant when referring to a truth that can not be proven. Furthermore, he is an actual example of what Pastor Gibson meant by an ability to believe in something that can not be proven. Pastor Weller does not see a need to seek the ultimate answer in life, for he has already found it; it was in him all along.
Both Catholic and Christian views are similar in beliefs. The Foursquare Church of Venice has an extremely informal setting every Sunday, while the Saint Felicitas & Perpetua Church adheres to more traditional formality. While a informal church allows its people to come in as they please, dressed ready to go about their day or dressed formal, a formal church would not allow all of its regular worshipers to arrive in shorts, a tank top and sandals. I found this an interesting twist to a religion that invites all to participate. I might prefer a slightly informal setting; however, the Foursquare Church is so informal that I find myself seeing the two Churches as different ends of the spectrum, leaving me far from each, in the middle, undecided.
