How blind is faith?

[unknown soldier]

When they run out of good reasons to believe what their religion tells them, many Christians typically resort to faith even when they know painfully well that there are darned good reasons to doubt. In other words, they are turning a blind eye to truths they cannot accept.

Is this behavior based in blind faith--a refusal to see evidence that one will not accept? Isn't faith by definition blind?

[Miles]

When they run out of good reasons to believe what their religion tells them, many Christians typically resort to faith even when they know painfully well that there are darned good reasons to doubt. In other words, they are turning a blind eye to truths they cannot accept.

Is this behavior based in blind faith--a refusal to see evidence that one will not accept? Isn't faith by definition blind?

Some say that by definition "faith is the excuse people give for believing something when they don't have a good reason," which may or may not involve a refusal to see evidence.

Personally, I've always considered faith to be trust in a belief.


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[unknown soldier]

Personally, I've always considered faith to be trust in a belief.

Some Christians have told me faith means trust, but I wonder why they just don't say trust, then. And whom do they trust? I presume that they trust Jehovah, but I don't see how we have any choice but to trust Jehovah assuming he exists. Who would distrust Jehovah?

[Miles]

Personally, I've always considered faith to be trust in a belief.

Some Christians have told me faith means trust, but I wonder why they just don't say trust, then. And whom do they trust?

They trust their beliefs to correct because they don't know them to be.

I presume that they trust Jehovah, but I don't see how we have any choice but to trust Jehovah assuming he exists. Who would distrust Jehovah?

Would you trust a god who condones slavery, for moral guidance?

Or trust a god who creates evil, for determining good conduct?

Or trust a god who kills innocent children, for compassionate advice?

Or trust a god who makes mistakes, for anything?

...................I certainly wouldn't!


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[Overcomer]

The most quoted statement about the Christian faith comes from the Book of Hebrews. It reads:

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1).

It is not saying that we are to believe without evidence. It simply means that, while we do not see God, we can trust him with certainty for the things we hope, especially the hope of salvation. Why is that? Because of the evidence. It is imperative to look at that verse in the context of the whole Bible. It cannot be read -- or understood -- in isolation.

The Bible is big on evidence as the basis for faith and on our employment of reason. In Matt. 22:37-38, we read, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment.” In other words, we are to engage our minds when it comes to God.

The Bible encourages believers to examine everything as noted in the following verses:

1 Thessalonians 5:19-21:Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good…

1 John 4:1:Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Romans 14:5:Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind.

2 Timothy 3:14:You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them…

The Bible states that faith must be based on evidence:

John 14:11: Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”

Acts 1:2-3:…until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

The apostle Paul used reason in his preaching and teaching:

Acts 17:2-3: And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead.

And Christians are called to use reason when making a defense of their faith:

1 Peter 3:15:... always (be) ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you…


Therefore, the Bible itself doesn't promote blind faith. It promotes warranted faith.

I take the sum total of the evidence for God -- cosmological, ontological, axiological, teleological, experiential, fulfillment of prophecy, historical and archaeological -- to be convicting and convincing. Therefore, my faith is warranted. Having seen God answer literally hundreds of prayers in my life and in the lives of others down through the years, and having seen a few miracles, I have learned that my trust in him, even though he is not visible, is warranted just as Heb. 11:1 states.

Of course, the next step, beyond recognizing that God exists, is to figure out which of the world's religions presents the right understanding of him. If one does a comparison, it is obvious that all religions except Christianity fail in the key areas of correspondence and coherence. Again, one has to apply one's intellect and ability to reason to figure that out. Therefore, again, a Christian's faith is warranted.

And Christians have always viewed their trust in God as something that must be arrived at through reason and investigation as well as experience. Justin Martyr, Origen, Augustine, Aquinas, Pascal, Calvin, Wesley, Warfield -- if you read their writings, you will see that they don't just speak of the necessity of reasoning through Scripture, they apply their reasoning abilities TO Scripture.

I cannot conclude this post without remarking on one other thing about trust in God. Being a Christian is about being in relationship with God through Jesus Christ by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The more time a person spends getting to know the Lord through reading the Bible, praying, listening for his responses, recognizing his actions in one's life, etc., the more one learns to trust him. It's all about relationship. Compare that with other religions. None of them involve a relationship with God. That's just one of the many key things that makes Christianity different from all other religions.

I recommend ex-atheist J. Warner Wallace's site pleaseconvinceme.com for detailed information about the evidence for God and the reason why Christianity offers the truth.

I also recommend Ravi Zacharias' Jesus Among Other Gods for a good comparison of the world's largest religions.

I encourage those who love philosophy to read J. P. Moreland's Love God With All Your Mind as he explores the role of reason in Christian belief as well as Alvin Plantinga's Warranted Christian Belief which is available in its entirety online.

I leave you with an accurate definition of Christian faith. It is the trustful human response to God's self-revelation in his Word and actions. Or, to put it another way, Christian faith is drawing a warranted conclusion about the unknown based on knowledge about the known.

[1213]

...Isn't faith by definition blind?

I have understood faith means faithfulness, which means loyalty. And I have chosen to be loyal to God and Jesus, because I think they are good. I don’t think it is blind choice.

[unknown soldier]

Personally, I've always considered faith to be trust in a belief.

Some Christians have told me faith means trust, but I wonder why they just don't say trust, then. And whom do they trust?

They trust their beliefs to correct because they don't know them to be.
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Yes--good point. If Christians knew that Jehovah did what he was expected to do, then no trust would be involved. I don't trust the sun to rise in the morning!

Would you trust a god who condones slavery, for moral guidance?

Or trust a god who creates evil, for determining good conduct?

Or trust a god who kills innocent children, for compassionate advice?

Or trust a god who makes mistakes, for anything?

...................I certainly wouldn't!

While I definitely understand what you're saying, if I knew that God existed, then I would have to trust him. I don't see how I could choose not to. With power goes the imposition of trust. For example, we need to trust the government with our personal information whenever we file our tax return because it has power over us. Our government has condoned slavery, has created "evil," has killed children, and has made mistakes, of course, yet we must trust it. The same goes for God if he exists.

So be glad there is no God and no Jesus. We are much freer for it!

[Clownboat]

The most quoted statement about the Christian faith comes from the Book of Hebrews. It reads:

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1).

It is not saying that we are to believe without evidence. It simply means that, while we do not see God, we can trust him with certainty for the things we hope, especially the hope of salvation. Why is that? Because of the evidence.

Is there any evidence that a dead body (let's go with around 2 - 3 days dead) can reanimate and return to life?
I would like to review that evidence, because I would hate to believe without it.

[unknown soldier]

The most quoted statement about the Christian faith comes from the Book of Hebrews. It reads:

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1).

If you're convicted about what you cannot see, then that's the very essence of blind faith.

It is not saying that we are to believe without evidence. It simply means that, while we do not see God, we can trust him with certainty for the things we hope, especially the hope of salvation. Why is that? Because of the evidence.

I'm afraid that not only is there no evidence for life beyond this life, but such an "afterlife" is probably impossible. To believe in such a life is blind faith. You need to turn a blind eye to what is right under your nose--the reality of the finality of death.

It is imperative to look at that verse in the context of the whole Bible. It cannot be read -- or understood -- in isolation.

Christians tend to pick out verses from one part of the Bible that often has little to do with the passage they're trying to understand. If they prefer what the other passage says, then they say that that is what the passage in question means!

The Bible is big on evidence as the basis for faith and on our employment of reason. In Matt. 22:37-38, we read, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment.” In other words, we are to engage our minds when it comes to God.

How is blind love "engaging the mind"? If God is lovable, then nobody would need to be commanded to love him. If some people don't love him, then he should learn to take rejection and not have a fit harming those who scorn him.

The Bible encourages believers to examine everything as noted in the following verses...

Where does the Bible tell us to come to our own conclusions based on reason and evidence even if those conclusions run contrary to what the Bible indoctrinates? There is no such Bible passage, of course, and we are to believe blindly whatever the Bible dictates.

And Christians are called to use reason when making a defense of their faith...

What if they have reason to believe that their faith is leading them to incorrect conclusions? They must turn a blind eye to that reason and believe anyway!

Therefore, the Bible itself doesn't promote blind faith. It promotes warranted faith.

I used reason to conclude that the Bible is a tome full of primitive myths created by unscrupulous people. Does the Bible approve of my reason, or am I to blindly believe anyway?

I take the sum total of the evidence for God -- cosmological, ontological, axiological, teleological, experiential, fulfillment of prophecy, historical and archaeological -- to be convicting and convincing. Therefore, my faith is warranted. Having seen God answer literally hundreds of prayers in my life and in the lives of others down through the years, and having seen a few miracles, I have learned that my trust in him, even though he is not visible, is warranted just as Heb. 11:1 states.

I can say that I've seen prayer fail many times, and I've never seen one true miracle but numerous faked miracles.

Of course, the next step, beyond recognizing that God exists, is to figure out which of the world's religions presents the right understanding of him. If one does a comparison, it is obvious that all religions except Christianity fail in the key areas of correspondence and coherence. Again, one has to apply one's intellect and ability to reason to figure that out. Therefore, again, a Christian's faith is warranted.

I'd say that you are amazingly lucky picking out the true religion out of the thousands that are available. Of course, anybody can say they have the "true" religion regardless of what that religion may be.

So you are even with Jews, Muslims, Hindus,...

Compare that with other religions. None of them involve a relationship with God. That's just one of the many key things that makes Christianity different from all other religions.

Mormonism sees Joseph Smith as a prophet making it different from other religions. All religions are "different."

You will leave this debate with no proof for your beliefs verifying by your own actions that you are well aware that you have no grounds for your beliefs.

So Christian faith is quite blind.

[unknown soldier]

...Isn't faith by definition blind?

I have understood faith means faithfulness, which means loyalty. And I have chosen to be loyal to God and Jesus, because I think they are good. I don’t think it is blind choice.

But I've seen you turn a blind eye to evidence and reason by fleeing a debate when you realize your arguments don't hold up under scrutiny. That's blind faith.