Faith In John Wheelwright's A Prayer For Owen Meany

Like anything in life, faith starts out for most as a journey. Often growth in faith is so gradual it is hardly noticeable. There’s no thundering voice of God striking down the disbelievers, but rather small miracles like getting an A on a test with little preparation. It is only self reflection faith grows because of struggles in life. In A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, John Wheelwright’s faith and his belief in miracles juxtaposes Owen Meany’s innate beliefs. John Irving follows John Wheelwright’s growth in faith and miracles and highlights Owen’s steady support.
For instance, Owen Meany works to point out to John that faith remains something inexplicable by the intellect. It cannot be rationalized or reasoned out. Owen Meany, in fact, strengthens this idea. When
John prefers Rev. Merrill because his sermons reassure parishioners that “doubt [is] the essence of faith, and not faith’s opposite.” (114). Owen, on the contrary, doesn’t enjoy Reverend’s preaching. He says that “belief is not an intellectual matter” he continues to even criticize Merrill saying “if he’s got so much doubt, he’s in the wrong business.” (115). John states that “[he is] a Christian because of Owen Meany” (3) and therefore Owen’s take on faith proves highly influential. By the time that John reaches his full potential, this point is strongly accented. John visits Reverend Merrill regarding Owen’s death and faith comes up. When The Reverend reveals to John that he is John’s father he speaks in the voice of Owen Meany, bringing John to trust a miracle occurred. Merrill does