Is faith a reliable path to reality?

[Angry Ukulele Girl]

Hi there!

This is my first post
This is according to Hebrews 11:1
How exactly can “confidence in what we hope for”
and an “assurance about what we do not see”
be a reliable path to reality?
For example,
Would it be advisable to approach my bank account balance in such a way?

Thanks!

[1213]

This is according to Hebrews 11:1
How exactly can “confidence in what we hope for”
and an “assurance about what we do not see”
be a reliable path to reality?
For example,
Would it be advisable to approach my bank account balance in such a way?

Hi "Angry Ukulele Girl", how can anyone with ukulele be angry?

Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 is about what faith means. And the whole banking industry is based on faith that things will be as it is said. For example the value of money. For some reason people have faith that money has some value, although it is just something that banks can basically create out of nothing limitlessly.

But, how could you know faith in God is reliable, only by having faith in God.

[TRANSPONDER]

I agree with what you said, though probably not with what you meant.

Sure, faith or (religious) belief tells you nothing of what is, only what one believes, but you probably meant that what ones believes is how one knows it to be true, which is clearly not the case as lost of people believe different things and some must be wrong. As the video says (1) it is not the skeptic needs to ask for less evidence, but the Believer needs to ask for more. Faithclaims and Belief in them are not the path to truth and never have been. Demonstrable evidence is required or Faithclaims remain Unknowns or unverified hypotheses.


(1) can't be posted too often, some badly need to watch and learn from it. Faith and fiddled logic is regularly placed above logic and evidence.

[Tcg]

Hi there!

This is my first post
This is according to Hebrews 11:1
How exactly can “confidence in what we hope for”
and an “assurance about what we do not see”
be a reliable path to reality?
For example,
Would it be advisable to approach my bank account balance in such a way?

Thanks!

The first step i answering this question is to ask, "Is there anything that can't be believed based on faith?"


Tcg

[Diogenes]

Hi there!

This is my first post
This is according to Hebrews 11:1
How exactly can “confidence in what we hope for”
and an “assurance about what we do not see”
be a reliable path to reality?
For example,
Would it be advisable to approach my bank account balance in such a way?

Thanks!

Exactly! In your 1st post you got to the heart of the problem with faith.
Religious faith can confirm ANYTHING. You might as well call it "confirmation bias."

Using your example, you may "hope for" finding a deposit of a $Million. You may have "confidence" that a promise from the Lord may be fulfilled and you will find it one day in your account... actually see it. But there is no "assurance" you will ever get a penny.

[TRANSPONDER]

That depends upon how much one admits the database of fact into that, and that means how much one denies science.

It's been a Thing in debate here that some have denied evolution and deep time geology. Science? Pooh. That's just the opinions of those who call themselves scientists.

But have any swallowed the flat earth that is implied? Rather the picture of a flat circle (which even 1213 accepted, though he slapped it on a round globe) is rejected and a ball (which in the Bible it isn't) is what 'circle' is supposed to mean, is the option. Not just because science has demonstrated it (remember - flat earthists reject That science on their faith and "What we can observe") but what they think they can get away with, because Creationists tells them what science is to be rejected and what is not. Though they seem confused about whether evolution is true or not, within species, given that they don't seem to know how evolution - theory works.

So I suppose it comes down to how much science and which bits of it the Belief system they adhere to tells them must be denied and which bits are ok.

After all they reject evolution, which we use all the time (breeding) but prayer which cannot be 'used' to do anything and they know it well, is considered a doctrinal tenet of faith.

So we are back at Faith and denial (as was said not long ago where it conflicts with Bible - Faith) of whatever they don't like, even if demonstrably true, like the Bible endorsing slavery.

It seems that where Faith comes into it, even the Bible is to be rejected.

[Diogenes]

After all they reject evolution, which we use all the time (breeding) but prayer which cannot be 'used' to do anything and they know it well, is considered a doctrinal tenet of faith.

I have to smile at this. They reject evolution, instead believing in a 6 day creation and Noah putting all the animals on a boat.
Things that are obviously on the order of magical fairy tales are accepted while solid, infinitely detailed and congruent evidence from astronomy, geology, radiochemistry and biology is rejected. That's 'faith.' And, sadly, it is faith supported by pseudoscience and the huckster ramblings of people like Ken Ham and his dinosaur theme parks... remind me, why did the dinosaurs miss the ark?

[edit] Oops! I was wrong, According to AIG dinosaurs WERE on the ark.

...we can conclude that the universe is only a few thousand years old (perhaps just 6,000), and not millions of years old (see also “Did Jesus Say He Created in Six Literal Days?”). Thus, dinosaurs lived within the past few thousand years.
....
Therefore, dinosaurs (land vertebrates) were represented on the Ark.

https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/ ... noahs-ark/

[POI]

Well, we know of two individuals which do not do videos. O well.... Anywho, great vid...

[TRANSPONDER]

Like they say, we can take a horse to water (or bring the water to them), but we can't make them drink.

[JehovahsWitness]

HEBREWS 11:1 NWT

Faith is the assured expectation of what is hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen

Paul (the writer) defines faith as hoping for something for which we have verifiable proof ( "evident demonstration") . As such that it most certainly would be a good way to conduct business; indeed most bank transactions do exactly that.

When you deposit your money in a bank, do you know that you will be able do see your money again once it disappears into the bank tiller's draw? You hope so. You have good reason to believe you will, but it still boils down to belief.

Think about it: you give the man at the bank $1000 , he gives you a piece if paper with the bank's logo on it. From that moment you are living on "faith" . "Faith" that the bank as an institution is honest. Faith that the legal and financial institutions that guarantee (read : promise) you that, should you need your money back, that worthless scrap of paper can be exchanged for cold, hard cash.

You cannot SEE your $1000 any more (it's an "unseen reality"). Moreso in today's digital age, where you worked hard and then your client or employer transfered the money directly into your bank account. You never saw the physical cash, you just saw some numbers on a computer screen or at the bank go from zero to 1000. You believe that the system will honour what all those digital numbers represent. And you act on that belief. You Swipe your credit card to pay for the petrol (American English "gas") in your car. You buy your kids shoes. You buy groceries. Spending money that you cannot - or even perhaps have never, and will never actually see.


FAITH is simply, having confidence that the evidence that you can see (bank receipt) is a reflection of a reality ($1000 deposit) that you cannot.


JW

ps: I wrote my response before I read 1213's excellent post above.