Difference between revisions of "Faith"

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:Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1, NASB)
 
:Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1, NASB)
  
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==Scientific terminology applied to evolution==
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==The Practicality of Christian "Faith"==
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The terms fact and theory can be applied to evolution, just as they are to gravity.<ref name=Moran/> Misuse and misunderstanding of how those terms are applied to evolution have been used to construct arguments disputing the validity of evolution.
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The verb for the word "faith" in Greek is πιστεύω (pisteuo), which is translated most often as "believe" in English. Having faith, believing, trusting, or having confidence are all things that imply much more than a simple head knowledge about something, and more specifically God himself. For example, it is possible for one to acknowledge God's existence and know it as a fact deduced from logical arguments, and yet still not make God a practical faith, belief, trust, or confidence in their life. Faith, then, is a trusting action taken based on knowledge.
  
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In the study of biological species, the facts include fossils and measurements of these fossils. The location of a fossil is an example of a  
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Often times the example of a chair is given to illustrate the practicality of biblical faith. When you sit down in a chair (and perhaps you are now, while reading this article), do you generally worry whether that chair will hold you up? Usually, one will never think about the chair, and take it for granted. Another way to think of that same illustration is a person who sits on the edge of their seat, because they are nervous about the chair. They are not sitting back and resting in the chair, but tensed and ready just in case it turns out that the chair becomes untrustworthy and falls over.
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fact (using the scientific meaning of the word fact). In species that rapidly reproduce, for example  [[fruit flies]], the process of evolutionary change has been observed in the laboratory.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Dobzhansky T, Pavlovsky O |title=Experimentally created incipient species of Drosophila |journal=Nature |volume=230 |issue=5292 |pages=289–92 |year=1971 |pmid=5549403 |doi=10.1038/230289a0}}</ref> The observation of fruit fly populations changing character is also an example of a fact, using the scientific meaning of the word fact. So evolution is a fact, at least using the scientific meaning of the word fact. These facts require an explanation, just as the observations of gravity did.
 
  
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In biology, there have been many attempts to explain these observations over the years. [[Lamarckism]], [[Transmutationism]] and [[Orthogenesis]] were all non-Darwinian theories that attempted to explain the observations of species and fossils and other evidence. However, the '''Theory of Evolution''' is the explanation for all relevant observations regarding the development of life, based on a model that explains all the available data and observations. Thus, evolution is not only a fact but also a theory, just as gravity is both a fact and a theory.
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This is what it means to have biblical faith in God. It means a knowledge of God and who he is in his character and actions, and resting in that knowledge from day to day.
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{| class="wikitable" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3
 
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!style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Gravity!!style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Evolution
 
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|Things falling is an observation of the pull of bodies towards each other.||Fruit flies changing generation to generation is an observation of generational organism change.
 
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|Bodies pulling towards each other is called gravity.||Organisms changing generation to generation is called evolution.
 
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|Gravity is a fact.||Evolution is a fact.
 
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!style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |An explanation for the facts of gravity.!!style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |An explanation for the facts of evolution.
 
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|[[Aristotle]] and [[Galileo]] created explanations of the ''fact'' of gravity. These are now obsolete explanations. ||[[Lamarckism]], [[Transmutationism]] and [[Orthogenesis]] were created as explanations of the fact of evolution. These are now discredited explanations.
 
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|[[Isaac Newton|Newton's]] explanation of gravity is approximately correct but required refinement.||[[Charles Darwin|Darwin's]] explanation of evolution is approximately correct, but required refinement.
 
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|[[Einstein]]'s explanation is a refinement of Newton's explanation of gravity. Einstein's explanation is currently the most accepted explanation of the fact of gravity. || The [[modern evolutionary synthesis]] is a refinement of Darwin's explanation of evolution. This modern synthesis is currently the most accepted explanation of the fact of evolution.
 
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|Einstein's explanation of the fact of gravity is called ''The General theory of relativity''. ||The explanation of the fact of evolution provided by the modern synthesis is the latest and most widely accepted ''Theory of Evolution''.
 
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!style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Gravity is a fact and a theory.!!style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Evolution is a fact and a theory.
 
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==Faith and Knowledge==
 
==Faith and Knowledge==

Revision as of 23:58, June 23, 2008

The Biblical definition of Faith (from the Greek, πίστις or pistis) refers to trust,[1] and if applied refers to applying a confidence in what is already known about God (specifically Christ), to a situation where every detail is not laid out in full. We can see that kind of confidence as the Bible describes what faith is in the Epistle to the Hebrews. (This kind of trust based on knowledge is unique to historical Christianity and Judaism)

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

The Practicality of Christian "Faith"

The verb for the word "faith" in Greek is πιστεύω (pisteuo), which is translated most often as "believe" in English. Having faith, believing, trusting, or having confidence are all things that imply much more than a simple head knowledge about something, and more specifically God himself. For example, it is possible for one to acknowledge God's existence and know it as a fact deduced from logical arguments, and yet still not make God a practical faith, belief, trust, or confidence in their life. Faith, then, is a trusting action taken based on knowledge.

Often times the example of a chair is given to illustrate the practicality of biblical faith. When you sit down in a chair (and perhaps you are now, while reading this article), do you generally worry whether that chair will hold you up? Usually, one will never think about the chair, and take it for granted. Another way to think of that same illustration is a person who sits on the edge of their seat, because they are nervous about the chair. They are not sitting back and resting in the chair, but tensed and ready just in case it turns out that the chair becomes untrustworthy and falls over.

This is what it means to have biblical faith in God. It means a knowledge of God and who he is in his character and actions, and resting in that knowledge from day to day.

Faith and Knowledge

In the modern secular mindset and even in some evangelical circles, the ideas of faith and knowledge cannot coexist. In other words, many believe that faith is antithetical to knowledge and even science. Really, this is a misconception which comes from an ignorance of both what true biblical faith is (as described in brief above) and what knowledge really is (from a philosophical point of view). According to Dr. Dallas Willard (a Christian philosopher), faith is not opposed to knowledge because "faith is a kind of knowledge."[2]

In the Bible, faith is never offered in opposition to knowledge, but it is in opposition to sight ("for we walk by faith, not by sight" — 2 Corinthians 5:7). In the modern context, sight, or the use of the five senses, is almost always used as a limiter for the extent of knowledge. This is unfortunate, however, because there are practical things that people interact with all the time that cannot be sensed. For example, friendship, love, truth, beauty, and even knowledge itself are all things, which in essence, cannot be observed with the senses. These are all things that we have some sort of knowledge about, and yet they cannot be empirically tested, if "empirical" means the five senses.

The Opposite of Faith: Doubt

If faith is a trusting action taken based on knowledge, then doubt is having that knowledge but not trusting it to aid you through an unknown circumstance. For example, it would be like saying, I know about God and what He is capable of, but I won't trust that knowledge in this situation because of all the unknown factors involved. Therefore doubt is a reaction to uncertainties rather than certainties.

Jesus acknowledges that doubt is the opposite of faith.

And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen." (Matthew 21:21, NASB)

Taking the definition of faith and doubt as described above, Jesus is basically saying here, If you have a knowledge of who I am [and they did because they were with Jesus and saw that he was God], and you trust that knowledge in a practical sense, you will be capable of great things.

Although doubt is the primary antithesis of biblical faith, it may manifest itself in a variety of ways. It may manifest as fear, anxiety, depression, and lack of confidence. A lack of faith can even be very harmful, leading to self-destructive behavior.

The Uniqueness of Christian "Faith"

Secondary Benefits of "Faith"

  • Faith plays a central role in overcoming addiction. Virtually everyone is plagued by one or more addictions, and faith enables overcoming those weaknesses.

Biblical examples

  • Perhaps the greatest description of faith is Hebrews 11. It states: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."[3]
  • Paul indicated that faith itself is a gift of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:8-9 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit
  • In attempt to convert Jews to Christianity, Paul described Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac to God as an act of faith, though the Old Testament did not describe it with that term. As discussed above, a potential reference to faith is Genesis 22 where God tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. As Abraham prepared to do what God commanded -he was stopped. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Famous People on "Faith"

Martin Luther on Faith

Luther in his Table Talk papers writes this thought provoking and rather difficult passage on faith:

This is the acme of faith, to believe that God, who saves so few and condemns so many, is merciful; that he is just who, at his own pleasure, has made us necessarily doomed to damnation, so that he seems to delight in the torture of the wretched and is more deserving of hate than of love. If by any effort of reason I could conceive how God, who shows so much anger and harshness, could be merciful and just, there would be no need of faith.

Criticisms of "Faith"

References

  1. ↑ Definition of πίστις from zhubert.com
  2. ↑ How People Perish for Lack of Knowledge
  3. ↑ Hebrews 11:1 (NIV).

External links

Evangelical perspectives of Faith

Non-Evangelical perspectives of Faith

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