Most believers in God, when asked, will say that their belief is based in part on certain types of evidence that they trust, and in part on faith. The weight given to evidence and faith varies from person to person, but with a little pushing the honest believer will usually admit that God's existence cannot be established on the basis of evidence alone, and that faith is always involved.
I would like to explore in this thread the question of whether faith is a good way to arrive at reliable knowledge about the nature of the world and the things in it. In particular, I would like to discuss whether it is reasonable to believe in God because one has faith that God exists.
Let me start by getting one potential point of contention out of the way. People say things like "I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow", or "I have faith that my mother loves me". This is not the kind of faith I want to discuss here, and it is important that we have that clear at the start. Our "faith" that the sun will rise tomorrow is based on past experience - that the sun has risen every day of our lives without fail, and there's no reason to suppose it won't continue to do so in the near future. And your "faith" that your mother loves you (if you have it) is based on your lived experience, too. Probably your mother cared for you as a child. You probably keep in touch regularly. Your mother does things for you without always expecting you to do things in return. And so on and so forth.
So, this "faith" that the sun will rise tomorrow is actually evidence-based, and so is the "faith" that your mother loves you. This is different from the kind of the religious faith I want to discuss here.
Religious faith might be defined, approximately, as "belief even in the absence of good evidence". The term "leap of faith" is commonly used in this context. Perhaps as a believer you went to church, read the bible (or other religious text), and concluded that there's some evidence that God exists. But the evidence alone doesn't quite get you across the line. So, you make a final "leap of faith" - a choice to believe in God regardless of the lack of definite proof that God exists. This is the kind of faith that I'm talking about.
My question is this: is this religious kind of faith - belief even in the absence of evidence - a good way to go about obtaining reliable knowledge about the world and what is in it?
To start the ball rolling, I would like to ask the believers in God who are here the following questions:
1. Do you admit that your belief in God is based, at least in part, on faith?
2. What percentage of your belief in God would you put down to evidence, and how much to faith? Is there anything else I've overlooked that leads to your knowledge of God's existence?
3. Apart from your belief in God, is there any other area of your life where you rely on faith to make decisions or choices, or to believe in something? Please give an example or two if your answer is "yes". And keep in mind my definition of faith - belief even in the absence of evidence.
I look forward to your responses.
By 1988 or 1989 I was really, seriously disappointed with Messiah Yeshua - Jesus!
I considered that the quotations on ideas expressed by Rabbi Yeshua - Jesus in Matthew chapters five, six and seven, (The Sermon on the Mount), combined with
quotations from him again in John chapters fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen indicated that he truly was an intellect up there in the same league as
wise ol' King Solomon so.......................
how does somebody that bright come up with a plan somewhat like "many called, few chosen, a broad way leading to destruction, a narrow way leading to life...... and few finding it"............ and then for a cherry on the top... .there is some sort of really negative afterlife state that is so bad that our chopping off a hand or gouging out our right eye.... might be an appropriate way to attempt to avoid that negative afterlife realm?????????
So how and in what way I was wondering could all of that be termed "good news???????"
So..... I prayed and I asked for wisdom with chutzpah..... and I made Messiah Yeshua - Jesus an offer......
based on the original Hebrew of Leviticus 16 verse ten........
"but the goat on which the lot fell for Aza'zel shall be presented alive before the LORD
to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness
to Aza'zel." (Leviticus 16:10)
Since that time some really unusual coincidences seemed to have happened to me that
to my thinking indicate that Rabbi Yeshua - Jesus may have rather liked my unusual offer from back just after Yom Kippur 1990?????
I put in a bid.... proposed investment.... wager...... offer on the "debt / guilt of Azazel" as best as I could guess what that might somehow mean or imply????????
I am actually kind of surprised to still be alive.....
I kind of figured back in those days that my offer would lead to an early death.... but I was wrong?!
