RCIA Resources Session 1

Religion, Reason, and the Question of God

RCIA – Session 1
Zero preparation required

Aim of this session

By the end of this session, participants should understand that:

  • religion is not superstition or habit
  • the religious question arises naturally from human reason
  • belief in God is reasonable
  • faith does not oppose thinking
  • the Church begins here because everything else depends on it

No one is asked to make an act of faith yet.
This session establishes first principles.

1. What Do We Mean by “Religion”?

Before asking whether religion is true, we must be clear what it is.

Religion is not:

  • vague spirituality
  • emotional comfort
  • cultural inheritance
  • blind obedience

Religion means this:

The recognition of God, and the duties which follow from that recognition.

If God exists, then:

  • He is the source of our existence
  • we depend upon Him
  • our lives are not self-explanatory

Religion is therefore not first about:

  • rituals
  • institutions
  • feelings

It is about truth and obligation.

Penny Catechism

Q. Why did God make you?
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next.

This question assumes:

  • that God exists
  • that life has a purpose
  • that human beings are not accidents

That assumption must now be examined honestly.

2. Is Religion Natural to the Human Person?

Across all times and cultures, human beings have:

  • worshipped
  • prayed
  • sacrificed
  • appealed to a higher power

Even when religion is rejected, it is often replaced by:

  • ideologies treated as absolute
  • moral causes treated as sacred
  • personal convictions treated as unquestionable

This points to something important:

The religious question arises from human nature itself.

People do not need to be taught to ask:

  • “Why do I exist?”
  • “Does my life matter?”
  • “Is there meaning beyond death?”
  • “Why does good feel binding and evil feel wrong?”

These questions arise naturally.

Religion is not imposed on humanity.
It emerges from humanity.

Penny Catechism

Q. How do we know that there is a God?
A. We know that there is a God because our reason tells us so, and because we are taught it by faith.

Notice the order:

  • reason
  • faith

The Church insists on this order.

3. Is Religion Opposed to Reason?

A common modern assumption is that:

  • reason belongs to science
  • religion belongs to feeling

This is false.

Reason is simply the human capacity to:

  • think
  • judge
  • draw conclusions

By reason alone, we can observe:

  • things exist, but do not explain themselves
  • nothing causes itself
  • order is not the same as chaos
  • moral obligation feels binding, not invented

These observations do not yet give us the Catholic Faith.
They do not yet give us revelation or sacraments.

But they do lead to this conclusion:

Belief in God is reasonable.

Unbelief is not the default position of reason.
It is one philosophical position among others.

Modern question

“Is belief in God irrational in a scientific age?”

Science:

  • studies measurable processes
  • depends on intelligibility and order
  • does not address ultimate meaning or moral obligation

Religion does not compete with reason.
It responds to questions reason itself raises but cannot complete alone.

4. False Explanations of Religion

Religion is often dismissed as:

1. Fear

If religion were only fear:

  • it would avoid moral responsibility
  • it would flatter weakness

Yet authentic religion consistently demands:

  • self-discipline
  • sacrifice
  • accountability

2. Ignorance

If religion were ignorance:

it would disappear with education

Yet belief in God persists among:

  • the learned
  • the reflective
  • those capable of serious thought

3. Social control

If religion were merely control:

it would always support power

Yet religion frequently:

  • condemns injustice
  • challenges rulers
  • demands conversion

The Catholic Faith in particular centres on:

  • humility rather than domination
  • moral responsibility before God
  • judgment as well as mercy

This is not a comforting invention.

Modern question

“Is religion just a psychological coping mechanism?”

Religion often requires precisely what comfort avoids:

  • truth over preference
  • conversion over excuse
  • obedience over self-will

That is not how coping mechanisms function.

5. Why the Church Begins Here

The Church does not begin by saying:

  • “Accept everything immediately”
  • “Suppress your questions”

She begins by asking:

Is belief in God reasonable?

Because:

  • faith without reason does not endure
  • belief without understanding collapses
  • coercion produces conformity, not conversion

RCIA is not pressure.
It is a serious search for truth.

6. What Is Being Asked of You Now

At this stage, you are not required to:

  • make promises
  • reach certainty
  • silence doubts

You are asked to:

  • take the question of God seriously
  • resist easy dismissals
  • remain intellectually honest

If God exists, He matters.
If He does not, nothing ultimately does.

That question deserves attention.

7. Questions for the Week

Reflect quietly during the week:

  • Have I really examined the question of God?
  • Do I live as though truth and goodness are real?
  • If God exists, what would that imply for my life?

No written answers are required.

8. Closing Summary

Religion is not superstition.
It is not habit.
It is not fear.

It is the reasonable response of the human person to the reality of God.

Next week we will ask:

Can reason alone tell us who God is, or must God make Himself known?

Optional Closing Prayer

God of truth,
if You exist, lead us toward what is real.
Give us honesty of mind and patience in seeking,
and do not let us settle for shallow answers.
Amen.