Following the Easter weekend I wrote a post on evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. In the post I looked at various historical evidences in and outside the Bible. On Twitter someone tweeted at me, “clearly not by faith.” Was he implying that I choose not to base my belief in Jesus on faith? I can’t say for sure. But if that is the case then his understanding of “faith” in the Christian sense is misunderstood.
Blind Faith?
The Christian faith is not blind. Blind faith borders on the edge of superstition and ought to be questioned. The Christian faith is one that is based on evidence. In fact, the study of theology is defined as faith informed by reason. I go as far as to say if the things that I as a Christian profess by faith, including the resurrection of Jesus is not supported by evidence or reason then it is not worth believing in.
Courtesy of Unsplash.com by Oscar Keys
Does Everyone Have Faith?
In one way or another everyone exercises faith more than they realize.
Let me demonstrate. In the New Testament Jesus uses the imagery of a marriage to explain our relationship with God. Please don’t misunderstand. Our relationship with God is not a marriage, but it shares aspects of a marriage.
When my wife and I got married two years ago we made vows, or promises, to each other. Perhaps the one that stands out the most is the promise to love each other through good time and bad, through sickness and good health, until death do us apart. We said “I do” or “yes” to giving our life to each other in good faith. We have faith that we will live out the vows as we promised to each other.
Our marriage is based on faith because I cannot objectively prove to her that I will love her in all conditions until the end of our lives. Nor can she objectively prove to me that she will remain faithful to me until the end of my life. We can’t get in a time machine, video record a future part of our lives and return it to each other in the present and say, “Here it is! Proof! In the year 2050 we will be happily married.”
Historical Evidence
But there is sufficient historical evidence in our relationship that suggests that it’s highly likely that we will live out our vows. After dating for five years we have repeatedly demonstrated to each other that we love each by desiring what is truly good for one another. We both stand firm in our faith in Jesus and his teaching on marriage. By looking at the past and present we can reasonably assume things in the future. This is faith informed by reason. The scientific method of observance, trial and repetition cannot be applied to everything, including relationships.
Similarly when we look at the promises of Jesus and the fulfilment of these promises we can reasonably assume that he is who he said he is, the Son of God. One of which is the Resurrection.
God didn’t create us to be mindless zombies. He created us with an intellect and a world that is intelligible. He desires for us to learn and to discover. He doesn’t just want to apply our intellect to the physical world, but also to the spiritual.
Even Atheists Have Faith
There are many who subscribe to an ideology of “scientism.” By scientism I mean the belief that ONLY science can provide true answers and any knowledge that is not derived from the scientific method is false or at best insignificant. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that science does not lead to answers, but it does not lead to every answer, including whether my wife and I will be happily married in the year 2050.
Even a hard-line atheist and scientists like Bill Nye and Richard Dawkins have faith. They have faith, for instance, that the Big Bang took place about 14.6 billion years ago. They can never re-create the Big Bang (a theory proposed by a Catholic priest, Georges Lemaitre) and observe as energy and matter expands and creates a universe. But they can reasonably assume that the Big Bang took place by looking at the historical evidence left behind in the universe and the expansion of the universe.
So do I have faith? Absolutely. Is it blind faith? Absolutely not.
Questions: What is faith in your opinion? Do you have faith in anything? Can faith be reasonable?
