Hebrews says, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb 11:1). It sounds a little bit like "the sound of one hand clapping," but ... what is faith? The world likes to mix up "credulity" with "faith." Credulity is the willingness to believe something without proof. Isn't that faith? Aren't faith and reason distinct? Maybe ... but not biblically. In Greek, peithō is the primary word. It means, "to convince (by argument, true or false)." Now you can see a difference. First, it is "to convince" which means "to persuade or cause to believe." Second, it includes the idea of argument ... reason. Biblical faith is not merely "I believe." It is "convinced." It is not a belief, but a conviction. I believe it and I act on it.
My favorite illustration of this is in Exodus. Moses ran off into the desert because he tried to help his people, he killed an Egyptian, and his people ratted him out (Exo 2:11-15). After years in the desert, God called him to go back and "set My people free." It didn't go well. He told his people about God's plan, and they were excited (Exo 4:28-31) ... until Pharaoh ordered them to work without straw (Exo 5:19-21). This ... was not a people of faith. They had not been ... convinced. So God pours out plague after plague, always affecting the Egyptians and never the Jews. Again and again, God provides ... evidence. Again and again, Pharaoh's heart is hardened ... until finally, the children of Israel are told to perform a weird ceremony of blood on the door and a particular meal and they're saved from the literal angel of death. So, this ragtag family of slaves find themselves ejected from slavery when they were sure Moses was a fraud. When they stood at the edge of the Red Sea, Pharaoh's army behind them, and God opened up the waters, they didn't balk. They walked across. That was faith. Because God had convinced them He was real and alive and intervening. Sure, it was short-lived, but you get the idea.
My point is that faith is not without reason or evidence. Biblical faith is not mere belief ... credulity. Biblical faith is confidence, not simply assent to facts. If it is a living faith, it produces changes in behavior (James 2:17). It changes lives ... providing further evidence ... encouraging further faith. Biblically, saving faith is a gift (Eph 2:8-9; Php 1:29; Rom 12:3; John 6:29, 64-65; etc.), but we aren't left to mindless, irrational belief. We have reasons for our confidence. A sure foundation.
I'm not sure where this belief that all Christians have a blind faith, taking a leap in the dark, came from. But I hate it. Every Christian should denounce the claim that we only have faith and the secularist has reason. As you point out, faith is reasoned belief. Sure, it is belief in something we can't empirically measure, but that doesn't make it any less real. To my mind, belief in the Big Bang takes more "faith" than believing in God. Neither can be measured or seen, but one certainly makes more rational sense than the other.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts, David, and I agree with you that “faith is reasoned belief” (at least biblical faith is, not the other superstitious or spurious faiths out there). I don’t consider myself a gullible or foolish person; nor are most of the people I know with deep faith in God. In my experience (perhaps yours, too), it is the doubters, the scoffers, and the skeptics who are the ignorant ones--usually uneducated about the things they deride.
DeleteA perfect example of this is the evolution vs. creation debate. Since I have a strong interest in this topic, I have many books written from the creation side--authored by extremely intelligent men and women, with advanced academic degrees and highly functioning powers of reason and intellect. (They are not “knuckle draggers,” as often depicted.) These individuals are not guilty of dismissing the supposed evidence for evolution but are able to refute it, whereas the evolution proponents often can’t defend their own evidence, much less disprove ours.
And the Big Bang story? Piffle! (as Stan likes to say).
One of the blessings of becoming a “senior saint” is that one’s hindsight grows stronger (even while one’s eyesight grows weaker). My confidence in God--His Word and His plan--only deepens as I see more evidence of Him at work all around me and learn of all that’s happened in the past and is still to come. How wonderful it will be to one day see the whole picture as clear as day (1 Cor. 13:12). Until then, I’m keeping my hope up and my spiritual eyes peeled.
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