A Quick Word From the Bible: Take It On Faith
July 9th, 2009 |I find it interesting that out of everything I produce for this website, it’s this column that gets the biggest response. And usually it’s a negative response. But Dave, who’s own site’s at http://sophronismos.wordpress.com/ , had some kind words for me on last week’s column, Reader Mail. Thanks, Dave. It was nice to see one comment that wasn’t attacking me. It brightened my day, as they say.
Today’s column is written in response to another comment that was left on last week’s Reader Mail. So, I suppose this could have been called Reader Mail Pt 2, but that’s boring.
Anon writes:
“I consider myself somewhere between an Atheist and an Agnostic, because Atheism is nearly as great a leap of faith as are other religions. And, to some extent, I do feel lost and alone. I gaze upwards, at the starry sky, and I realize that my brain is not equipped to comprehend infinity. I realize that human beings, like all things that follow the laws of nature, are inherently limited. I search for something greater, but I cannot find anything with a claim of being greater that does not run up against the laws of physics without challenging them in a manner identical to the claims put forth by Science. And so I continue to feel that gnawing at my mind, the desire to comprehend the incomprehensible, but I realize that to accept any answer that does not satisfy my intellect is to concede my quest for understanding to the merely convenient. So I sometimes speak to religous figures, and I challenge them to explain why their claims are any better than none at all, and they usually resort to faith, despite my challenge being based in reason. Each of them has failed, and I have grown increasingly firm in my belief that there is no answer that is better than any other, although there are many that are worse. I only have faith that faith is not the answer, for to claim rightness from faith is, in essence, to claim that each individual is the center of his or her own universe.”
By the way, you really ought to label this a Christian webcomic in the ads. I felt misled after clicking the link.”Well, first off, I’d like to thank whoever you are for presenting an opposing view without resorting to name calling or any other juvenile behavior that internet commentators seem to devolve into when posting anonymously. Second, to clarify, Rupert & Me isn’t a Christian webcomic. It’s produced by a born-again Christian and it maintains what could be considered a PG-13 rating. It is hosted on a website that’s run by a born-again Christian, but I wouldn’t classify R&M as a Christian webcomic. But, that’s just me being nitpicky.
Anyway, so both my wife and I read this comment and we felt really sad. To us, how we interpreted it, this was person was lost, seeking answers, but also refusing to accept what was right in front of them.
Science is changing it’s theories everyday. Remember when we all thought the world was flat? I know it’s an extreme example, but the fact is, Science As Fact is only thus until someone else comes around and proves it otherwise.
Anon wants to comprehend the incomprehensible, but you can’t. It’s incomprehensible. I don’t mean to be flip, but you can’t understand the nature of the universe, because you didn’t design it. It’s like an ant trying to figure out a human.
Anon talks about how he/she only has faith in faith not being the answer, which is an odd thing to have faith in. Here’s the dictionary’s definition of faith:
faith (n)
1. belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof
2. a system of religious belief, or the group of people who adhere to it
3. belief in and devotion to God
4. a strongly held set of beliefs or principles
5. allegiance or loyalty to somebody or something
Faith is believing in something you can’t prove. But, you see, to a degree, I don’t believe that. I can prove God exists. Are you ready? Here we go. Look out the window. What do you see?
It doesn’t matter what you saw, all that matters is that you saw. And if God didn’t exists, neither would you and therefore you wouldn’t have been able to look out the window.
What’s easier to believe: A) That we all managed to pop out of nowhere from an explosion or B) That a loving God designed and built us and everything around us?
Anon says that he/she “sometimes speak to religous figures, and I challenge them to explain why their claims are any better than none at all, and they usually resort to faith, despite my challenge being based in reason.”
The dictionary’s definition of reason:
rea·son (n)
1. an explanation or justification for something
2. a motive or cause for acting or thinking in a particular way
3. the power of being able to think in a logical and rational manner
4. a cause that explains a particular phenomenon
5. the ability to think clearly and coherently
6. the ability to think logically regarded as a basis for knowledge, as distinct from experience or emotions
Faith is an explanation and/or justification for something. Why is the sky blue? Because that’s the way God made it. Why is the grass green? Because that’s the way God made it.
Remember, God gave us free will. We’re free do as we please and believe in what we feel like believing in. It started out that God was the end all be all for us and as time went on we strayed from Him. Anon says, “I only have faith that faith is not the answer, for to claim rightness from faith is, in essence, to claim that each individual is the center of his or her own universe.” But that’s what we’re doing anyway, as a species, we’re claiming that each of us is the center of his or her own universe. Every time we stray from God that’s what we’re doing. God should be the center of our universe, simple as that. Who are we to dissect the workings of the world? Has our hubris grown so that we find ourselves equal to God? I should hope not. Our Lord is a loving one, but He is also jealous.
For me, it’s easy to have faith in God, because I see proof of His existence everywhere I look. Every time I look across my desk and see my wife, I see proof of God.
Faith is supposed to be the belief in something that cannot be proved. But I believe that God’s existence can be proved all around us, and that, is based in reason.
When you’re lost and scared, you shouldn’t be looking for answers in textbooks or from your fellow man, you should be looking to God. He’s got all the answers. He should, after all, He created all the questions.
Your commenter, Anon, seems to have an understanding of faith as being self-centered and reason as being universal and objective.
Yet, he admits that he has a “desire to comprehend the incomprehensible” (a logical impossibility), that he wants an answer that will satisfy his intellect (as if it was necessary for the universe to be understandable to him personally), and he doesn’t want the answer to be “merely convenient” (I guess he means conclusions derived by other people just to satisfy the lazy and curious).
Unfortunately, Science does not satisfy any of these requirements: it cannot lead to the comprehension of the incomprehensible, it cannot be understood in its entirety by any individual, and almost all of its conclusions are derived by others.
Supposedly his challenges to religious people are based on “reason,” that is, a requirement that they answer everything to his satisfaction; yet, he doesn’t want any answer that sounds like each individual is the center of his or her own universe. Supposedly he rejects any answer based on “faith,” because then he would have to accept an explanation that might oppose the “laws of physics,” which after all are a set of universal claims that he surely does not understand in full.
I think you are being unaccountably kind to your critics, given their inconsistencies. The worst of all is the complaint that he was “misled” because it turns out that you have a point of view that he disagrees with, as if every webcomic is required to entertain him without challenging his personal prejudices, and moreover must clearly warn him ahead of time that some remark might injure his fragile ego.
I wonder if Anon has considered that a Christian belief is better than none at all simply because it holds humanity in check? It provides something greater than ourselves to inspire us to nobility and selflessness. It provides a compass that prohibits us from destroying each other, if we obey it. Christianity honors life and the human race at its core. No faith needed to start there.
I am also a born again bible believing Christian. While I understand your response “I see my wife, I see proof of God”, it’s not something that’s going to convince a non believer. Despite the impossibility of sight in general, and sight of another human in particular, they will still say “I see your wife, I see proof of evolution.”
I think that talking about Jesus holds the greatest potential for convincing non believers who prefer a reasoned approach to comprehension. There is more literary proof that Jesus lived, died, came back to life and ascended into Heaven than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that George Washington ever crossed the Delaware. Yet nobody doubts the existence of Julius Caesar or the actions of Washington.
Understanding that Jesus was an actual person, not just a creation of religion, is a start. Your commenter says that all humans must obey the laws of physics. It is clearly obvious Jesus did not have to obey those laws. All of his miracles, the healings, the walking on water, the calming of the sea, were against the laws of physics. We don’t have to claim rightness from faith, we can claim it from fact. Jesus gave credible evidence that he was both human and God. In addition to the miracles, he fulfilled over 300 prophecies of the Old Testament. It would be statistically impossible for any person to fulfill even eight of them, let alone all of them.
Finally, the man died and came back to life three days later. Who else but God can do that? And none of these things require faith in the bible alone. In addition to them being in the bible, they have all been verified and written about by historians living at the time of Jesus who weren’t Christians. And we can still read those texts today.
I think that faith in God has a different meaning today than it did 2,000 years ago, but it isn’t a blind faith, as some would say. It is well rooted in fact.