IS THE CHRISTIAN FAITH A BLIND FAITH?

 

IS THE CHRISTIAN FAITH A BLIND FAITH?

 

Photo: Nafis Abman/Pixels

 All too often religion is considered as a pursuit that is irreconcilable with science and reason. It is something we just have to entertain, they say, even though it much does not square with reality; maybe it’s because of the innate inclination of man for the sublime and supernatural. By this same strain of thought, many people are averse to religion and consider it as vain or stupid.

There are, however, admirers of religion (and even very staunch religious folks) who hold that religion is sometimes a leap in the dark, with mere hope for safe landing, because some of the beliefs held so dear are unprovable.

For example, former US president Barack Obama, in his book The Audacity of Hope, page 219, says, “Reason—and science—involves the accumulation of knowledge based on realities that we can all apprehend. Religion, by contrast, is based on truths that are not provable through ordinary human understanding—the ‘belief in things not seen.’”

For this reason, detractors of religion insist that faith should be kept out of public deliberations, politics, science, and such likes. On the other hand, those who are so attached to their religion shun their contenders to let them be because, though they can’t prove their beliefs, yet they’ve made the choice to own it by “faith”.

The very word “faith” stems from the Latin root word fidere. And it speaks of trustworthiness, or reliability, or credibility. Even the Greek word pistis which is rendered as faith is Scripture has no connotation of blindness. It rather speaks of assurance, conviction, or trust. Only those who don’t know the Scripture or those prone to superstition interpret Biblical faith as blind.

The quote “belief in things not seen” by Mr. Obama is actually taken from the Holy Scripture, from a passage where “faith” in Biblical sense was defined and encouraged, with numerous examples.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen.

—Hebrews 11:1

Now how can anybody read the above definition and come out with the conclusion that the Christian faith is a leap in the dark? The problem with Mr. Obama’s interpretation—and the interpretation of many—is that they truncated the verse and stripped it of its full sense.

First, the verse says that faith is “the substance....” Substance, in every dictionary and usage, has to do with the tangible, the real, the verifiable. It says that faith is the substance of what is expected. In other words, though what is expected is not yet obvious or has not yet arrived, you have the substance of it. This is rephrased and made clearer in the second part of the definition: the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the substance, is the evidence ...of things hoped for, of things not seen. This way of speaking, known as parallelism, is characteristic of the ancient Jews. ‘Substance’ parallels evidence; and ‘things hoped for’ parallels ‘things not seen’.

So, though you don’t see what you hope for, you have the evidence (or substance) of its reality—you have the conviction, the title deed, the proof.

Isn’t this an everyday thing in our courtrooms? No one saw who touched the gun, the camera didn’t capture that, but behold, the suspect’s fingerprints are on the gun! By this evidence (the fingerprints) the court establishes that he definitely had some physical contact with the gun. You have the evidence. Or, maybe the authorities were absent at the crime scene; but now the accounts of strangers who don’t even know one another are strikingly similar. Now you have the evidence. You have proof. Or, a landed property is in the dispute; but then the authorities provide the title deed—the evidence.

Again, consider a pauper who suddenly discovers the last will of a deceased billionaire where he is mentioned as the beneficiary of a huge fortune. Now, that legal document is the substance of the wealth he hopes for. Though he hasn’t seen the fortune yet, he has the evidence of the thing not seen. His move to lay claim of it and possess it is not blind faith, and it is a far cry from taking a leap in the dark.

Having got the evidence, all that is left is to wholeheartedly accept (or believe) the unseen which the evidence has confirmed, or very well choose to persist in stupid scepticism and ignorance.

To accept the evidence is what the Scripture means by to have faith or to believe, while denying the evidence is known as unbelief or infidelity.

Now God holds nothing against anyone who is sincerely sceptical of some supernatural phenomenon on account of lack of evidence. His wrath is rather on those who, despite the evidence, reject the truth. This is the case with Apostle Thomas when he doubted the report that Christ Jesus had resurrected by saying:

Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe (John 20:25).

This was a man who had followed Christ everywhere and seen Him do mighty things, including prophesying His own death and resurrection. Finally, Christ has resurrected. There are several reports of His appearance here and there to many who had been His disciples. And the empty tomb is there for all to go and see. All these are attestations to all that was written in Scripture concerning the Christ. The evidence is now too overwhelming for the matter to be untrue. Yet Apostle Thomas refused to believe that the Lord could have resurrected. What was he thinking—that his friends were lying or what? This is like a judge who rejects the profound court evidences just because he himself didn’t see with his own eyes the matter that was being contested. How ridiculous! So was the case with Thomas for which the Lord rebuked him:

 

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (John 20:27-29).

 

Blessed are those who have not seen the thing hoped for but have believed, that is, have accepted the evidence.

The only reason the Lord met Thomas in his doubt is that the Lord had already chosen him with the other ten as Apostles to be eyewitnesses of His resurrection (John 15:27; Acts 10:40-41). By long, intimate relationship with the Master, Thomas had earned that privilege to be eyewitness of the Lord’s resurrection. If not for this, the Lord would never have appeared to him at all to indulge his doubts. Thus it is with many sceptics today who, in spite of the evidences, choose to “lie against the truth” like corrupt judges. God will simply ignore them until the Last Day. They are damned already (Mark 16:16).

Furthermore, in life, not always do we content ourselves with what appears, nor do we always limit our judgement or assessment to the apparent (or unapparent, as the case may be). This is why we often use such idioms as “there is more that meets the eye”. If, for example, laboratory analyses prove that a particular clean, potable water is poisoned, no matter how immaculate and odourless that water might be, only a fool or suicidal fellow would still go on to drink it. In this case you wouldn’t live by appearance but by evidence. The Scripture puts it this way:

For we walk not by sight, but by faith.

—2 Cor. 5:7

 

                                          Photo: Nothing Ahead/Pixels

 So, clearly, reason is not divorced from the Christian faith. Other religions are perhaps a leap in the dark; not the Christian faith! Our faith is always reasonable; and yes, even more reasonable than science.

Apostle Paul said, “[Pray for us] that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith” (2 Thes. 3:2). Invariably, by this, the Apostle shows that faith results in sound thinking and good behaviour, whereas lack of it inevitably makes people evil, unreasonable, and wicked.

But someone would argue, “You Christians are surely unreasonable, for your beliefs are simply because God has spoken. God speaks and you follow, without questioning. Isn’t that unreasonable?” It is similar as Barack Obama said, “[Religion] insists on the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God’s edicts, regardless of the consequences.”

Well my answer is: Is that unreasonable? If God is the Creator, all-powerful, all-knowing, infallible, and all-loving—and He is, and even much more—then is it unreasonable and “dangerous” to heed His voice without objection? I think what is unreasonable is to be sceptical and cynical to the words of the Creator who is all-powerful, all-knowing, infallible, and all-loving. Or, you might as well reject the report of a beloved friend, a laboratory scientist who, having conducted his research, tells you that the cup of drink on your table is poisoned. So it is with God who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving.

The reasonable question should rather be whether or not the reports or words were in fact the word of God the Creator, all-knowing, all-powerful, infallible, and all-loving; it should not be whether His word is to be taken line, hook, and sinker, for that, my friend, is unreasonable.

All through Scripture, God gave the benefit of the doubt (as though doubt is a virtue) to all those who sincerely wanted to be sure that the word they heard were truly His before committing their lives. Take Gideon for an example, who asked for signs before embarking on what he thought was dangerous (Judges 6:14-40). And Scripture further commands that we “try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). Also consider Peter, who said to the Lord, “If it’s truly You, then invite me to also walk on the water” (Mat. 14:28). Years later, recounting his experiences, Apostle Peter would testify:

We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

—2 Peter 1:16-18

 

Apostle John has this to say:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you... (1 John 1:1-3).

The writer of Hebrews weighs in on the matter:

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will? (Hebrews 2:1, 3-4).

From the above, we see that eyewitness accounts and miracles are evidences of the truth of the Christian faith.

 

A Few Applications

We believe that God created the world in six days about 6,000 years ago. God Himself narrated the story to His servants the prophets. So though we weren’t there, we have evidence. Our faith is not blind.

We believe that all humans are descendants of just one couple, namely, Adam and Eve. We weren’t there but we have evidence. This is our faith.

We know that God judged Sodom and Gomorrah with fierce judgement for their pervasion. We weren’t there but we have reliable account for evidence. This is faith.

We believe that God dispossessed the Canaanites, etc., of their lands and gave it to the Israelites after He delivered them from Egypt the house of bondage. We weren’t there to see it with our eyes but we have evidences. This is our faith.

We believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God died for our sins, was buried, resurrected for our justification, and ascended into Heaven. We weren’t there to see it with our eyes but we have evidences. This is our faith. It is not blind.

We believe that there is the Kingdom of God for the saints in Christ and there is the Lake of Fire for the unbelievers. We haven’t seen them but we have evidences. This is our faith. It is not blind.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will return. It has not happened but we have evidence of this hope. This is our faith. It is not blind.

We believe that Jesus Christ will judge the whole world. It’s yet to happen but we have evidence of it. This is our faith. It is not blind.

We believe that the Scripture is the infallible word of God. We weren’t there when it was penned, but we have evidence of its inspiration. This is our faith. It is not blind.

We believe in miracles, that is, God’s intervention in the course of nature which He Himself ordained. We have evidences. This is our faith. It is not blind.

We believe that God through the Holy Spirit lives in those who believe in Jesus Christ. We don’t see the Holy Spirit but we have evidence of Him in us. This is our faith. It is not blind.

We believe that God is real and deserves our absolute worship and reverence. We don’t see Him but we have evidences of Him. This is our faith. It is not blind.

We believe that the Christian faith is absolutely true, because we have satisfying evidences.