Article February 17, 1973 Issue

Overcoming Our Credibility Gaps

GEORGE DEVEREUX BRYSON

The general skepticism that has grown up in some countries in recent years about almost everything one has been taught to accept as venerable and time-honored is marked by a tendency to question the veracity of almost all authority. The skeptical say, "I don't believe it. Show me! Who says so?" Hence the term "credibility gap." It stems both from the fact that the sources which proclaimed the so-called truths and laws have so often been found unreliable, and from one's own unwillingness to accept anything other than a preconceived result.

What about credibility and prayer?

For centuries religion has looked upon prayer primarily as a form of request. People have been taught to ask God for benefits or for forgiveness, to plead with Him to show mercy. The failure of these prayers to consistently heal the sick and sinning has caused a wide credibility gap to grow between mankind's recognition of God as good and all-powerful and their faith in prayer to that God. But through the understanding that logical, scientific reasoning inspires in us and through a larger sense of God's love we can overcome this lack of faith.

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