If
ignorance is bliss, then faith must be downright euphoric.
The
general consensus is in. Faith is based on a lack of information. “As everyone
knows, religion is based on faith, not knowledge.”*
Surprisingly
enough, a lot of Christians think the same thing. Catch phrases like “blind
faith” and “leap of faith” promote the misconception that ultimately we must simply
cross our fingers, close our eyes, and do the ultimate trust-fall. Those who
are skeptical see Christianity as the product of an irrational mind.
Unfortunately, for the most part, this is a fairly
accurate appraisal of the situation. A great deal of religious activity carried
out in the name of Jesus is a flimsy business.
It’s a tired tale. The Christian student goes to college
and the professor methodically dismantles the student’s religion. Since faith
is “contrary to reason,” higher education inevitably edges it out. Christianity
is quaint, antiquated, and requires ignorance in order to survive.
In contrast to this, the average atheist prides himself
on being a rational thinker. From where he’s standing, “Most of the
faithful haven’t considered the evidence for the existence of God in a spirit
of rational inquiry” Religious faith is as substantial as Santa Claus.
Mindless devotion to religion does not represent
Christianity well. Add to that the prominent focus on shallow emotion and it
looks even worse. The realm of the Christian seems to be all about performance
and feelings. As far as the atheist is concerned, it’s “strummed guitars and
saccharine smiles.” And he’s right.
For the most part, a lot of “Christianity” is exactly
that. Crowds gather for a spiritual buzz, at the expense of rational thought or
study. An atheist can take a glance at the landscape of denominations and
conclude that “the
sheer out-of-step zaniness of religion leads the religious to insist ever more
stridently on the importance of blind faith.” To the world, faith is
essentially an empty-headed hope, fashioned out of shallow emotion and
unthinking conjecture.
The
Bible says otherwise.
A
rational examination of the universe allows for the possibility of a Creator. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His
eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood
through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:28). If
the argument that there is no God was solid and unavoidably conclusive, by now
the debates would be over. Just the fact that the discussion remains open indicates
neither side has the monopoly on empirical support.
The rendition of “faith” tossed into the
fray is a faint shadow of the faith described in the Bible. True faith is more
than a belief in God (Hebrews 11:6). It is more than a pleasant blindness or a
wild leap. “Now faith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it
the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were
prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things
which are visible” (Hebrews 11:1-3). The words “assurance” and “conviction” quickly
move faith away from the blurry kind of “wish-thinking” that prevalent in the
discussion. The basis of faith is built on the premise that “what is seen was
not made out of things which are visible.” This means the realm we can see came
from a realm we cannot see.
Christianity holds to the idea that this
visible level of existence was produced and is currently sustained because of
another more durable existence (II Corinthians 4:18). It comes down to the fact
that some things can be confirmed by empirical evidence and some things are
confirmed by rational thinking based on the empirical evidence.
The same rational approach is used by
science. (Please note that science is not an opponent of religion in and of
itself. However, it is a tool of choice often used by many who dismiss the
possibility of a Creator.) There are some things directly observed and measured
by science resulting in conclusions about reality. There are also some things
that are not directly observable or capable of being reliably measured by
science, resulting in conjectures about reality. Black holes, dark matter, and
multiverses are all considered legitimate possibilities. However, none of them
have been proven.
This does not mean they do not exist.
But it is worth pointing out that the reasoning used to explore these concepts
is no less a form of “faith.” In fact, one scientist is somewhat apologetic for
the theory of multiverses proposed by his colleagues.
“Two central scientific virtues are
testability and explanatory power. In the cosmological context, these are often
in conflict with each other and there has been an increasing tendency in
theoretical physics and cosmology to say it does not matter whether a proposal
is testable: if it fits into our other theories in a convincing way, with great
explanatory power, then testing is superfluous. The extreme case is the
multiverse proposal, where no direct observational test of the hypothesis is
possible. Despite this, many articles and books dogmatically proclaim that the
multiverse is an established scientific fact. (George Ellis—Oxford Files: News and Reviews in Astronomy
and Geophysics).
It comes down to this. Your model of this existence will affect your
conclusions, especially when it comes to using tangible evidence to deduce
facts about what we cannot see. It is the same path traveled by science. Faith
does not have to resort to selective blindness or leaping.
But it’s vital we focus on the fact that faith is not built on the latest
findings or lapses in good science. Faith has one and only one source. “So
faith comes from hearing, and
hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Faith is built on our knowledge
of the Bible.
But
don’t flinch. This is not another form of irrational belief. The foundation of
true faith is a book with eerie continuity and endlessly relevant insight.
Despite centuries of intellectual pecking, its integrity remains intact. It
stands as the one true thing in a world of vague conclusions.
Real
faith is rational. Real faith is heart-felt, but it is not pure emotion. Real
faith comes from the Word. Real faith does not require you to close your eyes.
Actually, it requires you to keep them wide open.
*
Quotes taken from a variety of writers anthologized in the book The Portable Atheist, edited by
Christopher Hitchens.
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