Since the Middle Ages, Christian theology has struggles with the issue of whether God's existence can be proven (McGrath 3). A number of approaches have set forward, especially by Anselm of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas (McGrath). In "The Faith," Brian Moynahan writes that the early Christians were persistent regarding the virtue of their faith (Moynahan 54). As pagans, they had spurned those who differed form them in blood and custom, but as Christians they lived together, prayed for their enemies, and sought to win over those who unjustly hated them (Moynahan 54). The basics of their faith were outlined by the Christian philosopher Aristides of Athens, in which he wrote "As Christians, they trace their origins to the Lord Jesus Christ.Son of God.born of a virgin.died and was buried.and rose and ascended into heaven" (Moynahan 55). It was another two centuries for a formal creed to be agreed upon, but a Rule of Truth, also known simply as "the Faith" was recorded by Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, in 180 A.D. (Moynahan 55). .

             It is said that every human heart holds "a seed of desire and nostalgia for God," and that is the inspiration for creative intelligence, such as the arts, literature, and philosophy (Neuhaus). Every human desires to know the truth and to live the truth everyday (Neuhaus). Truth generally comes in the form of questions about the meaning of life, of suffering and of death, and the answers given to such questions determine whether one thinks universal and absolute truth is possible, for "every truth, if it really is truth, presents itself as universal, even if it is not the whole" (Neuhaus). Although there are obstacles to reaching the goal, one may define the human being "as the one who seeks the truth," because the search is so deeply rooted in human nature, that it is unthinkable that it is all in vain (Neuhaus). The very search implies the rudiments of a response, in everyday life, as in scientific method, the search is premised upon the intuition that there is an answer, and to deny the "thirst for truth is to imperil existence" (Neuhaus).