Finding the Center: Religion and Sanity in a Disoriented Age
An Essay Inspired by E. Stanley Jones
In a world fragmented by ideologies, fractured identities, and social upheaval, the question posed by a medical student to E. Stanley Jones—“Is religion natural?”—resonates with contemporary fears. The modern mind, shaped by scientific rationalism and sceptical of institutional religion, fears that faith is somehow a relic of superstition, a psychological crutch, or worse, an imposition upon authentic human freedom. Yet Jones responds not with argument, but with testimony—a deeply experiential affirmation of Tertullian’s ancient claim: “The soul is naturally Christian.” His insight offers a compelling lens through which to understand religion in our present context, not as an external structure but as the internal reorientation of life toward its true centre.
I. The Disorientation of Modern Life
Contemporary society, in its pursuit of autonomy, technological advancement, and consumer satisfaction, has become “eccentric”—off-centre. Jones uses the powerful metaphor of a great flywheel shaking itself and its surroundings to pieces when misaligned from its centre. This image aptly captures the tremors of our age: environmental collapse, mental health crises, identity confusion, and the loss of shared moral vision. At the root of these disintegrations lies the substitution of the self, the market, or the state for the true centre of life. In displacing the Divine, modern society has untethered itself from the grounding rhythm of reality, and in doing so, has lost coherence.
This critique is not new. Blaise Pascal observed, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing but only by God the Creator.” This existential void surfaces in the profound sense of alienation and restlessness that plagues contemporary life. In such a state, religion is not unnatural; rather, irreligion is the anomaly—a rupture in the soul’s intended harmony.
II. Religion as Re-Centring
Jones asserts that obedience to Christ results in a profound sense of “being at home,” of feeling “universalized and adjusted.” This experience is not private escapism, but a radical realignment of one’s life with the moral and spiritual fabric of the universe. Far from being unnatural, faith becomes the act of returning to what is most natural—our created purpose. Augustine’s oft-quoted words capture this: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
The process of re-centring, however, creates inevitable friction with a disordered world. The values of the Kingdom—self-sacrifice, humility, peacemaking, forgiveness—are alien to societies driven by consumption, pride, and vengeance. Thus, the follower of Christ is perceived as “strange.” But Jones asks an incisive question: Is it not society that is strange and unnatural? If the world’s trajectory is self-destruction, then the Christian, though counter-cultural, is the one living in alignment with reality.
III. Christ as the Sanity of the World
In the figure of Christ, Jones finds the only “sanity” in a world that has lost its bearings. Christ stands as the axis upon which the wheel of human existence can turn without disintegration. His life exhibits an uncanny poise, a moral clarity, and a transcendent compassion that remains unmatched. He is at home among the poor and the powerful, offering both critique and healing. In contrast to the madness of empire, war, and greed, He represents the sanity of sacrificial love and divine order.
The paradox of Christ’s life is this: He was judged by the standards of the world to be insane (Mark 3:21), yet He alone lived in perfect alignment with the will of God and the structure of creation. As G.K. Chesterton aptly wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” Christ’s sanity was revolutionary because it re-centered humanity not on power but on love, not on self but on the Father.
IV. Implications for the Present
Religion, then, in its truest form, is not mere ritual or institutional formality. It is the re-centering of the human soul on Christ, the re-integration of the person with the purposes of God. In a disordered world, religion is the rhythm of sanity. Far from being unnatural, it is the recovery of nature’s design.
This has practical implications for education, ethics, governance, and culture. If the soul is naturally oriented to Christ, then human flourishing—true education, true justice, true freedom—can only emerge when aligned with the values of the Kingdom. Where religion is dismissed or distorted, societies become eccentric, revolving around transient ideologies or materialist aims, and the result is breakdown.
Conclusion
E. Stanley Jones reminds us that obedience to Christ is not a denial of our humanity but its fulfillment. The disobedient soul is “orphaned,” adrift in a cosmos it does not understand. But the soul attuned to Christ is naturalized—at home, whole, and harmonious. In the present context, the greatest need is not more religion as institution, but more religion as re-centering: life aligned with its true center, which is Christ. In Him, we recover not only our faith, but our sanity.
Bibliography
E. Stanley Jones, Christ of the Indian Road. Abingdon Press, 1925.
Tertullian, Apologeticus. Translated by T.R. Glover, Loeb Classical Library, 1931.
Blaise Pascal, Pensées. Translated by A.J. Krailsheimer, Penguin Classics, 1995.
Augustine of Hippo, Confessions. Translated by Henry Chadwick, Oxford University Press, 1991.
G.K. Chesterton, What’s Wrong with the World. Dodd, Mead and Company, 1910.