Trust. Belief. Allegiance.
Everyone, everywhere devotes themselves to something.
Why is this important? Unbelievers use the word “faith” when it suits them, when it benefits their point of view. “Trust the science” is acceptable. “Trust in Jesus,” is not. In this Truth in Two I explain the biblical view of faith, the reliability of a Christian view of life and things.
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Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat
FULL TEXT
“I have faith in government!” “I have faith in my group!” “I have faith in science!” I don’t know how many times I have countered such statements. My response? “Government agencies create laws that create more problems.” “What is your group based on and how can I trust it more than another group?” “And do you realize that science is simply an observation of the natural world? Science changes all the time.” Faith is not hoping that someone will change the things we don’t like, to the things we do.
In Scripture the word “faith” has three meanings: “Content,” “credibility,” and “commitment.” Hebrews 11 sets the standard for what “faith” is. The word “what” – the content of our Christian belief – appears five times in three verses. Our faith has a factual base. It is objective, reliable belief based on factual data, the credibility of our Christian belief Some mistakenly believe faith is a “blind leap” or a “well-I-can’t-prove-it-but-I-know-it’s-true” mentality. Paul maintained that God offered “proof to all men” by raising Jesus from the dead. Christians believe in someone who did something—a real person, Jesus, who came in real space and time, died a real, physical death, and literally, historically rose again from the grave.
So the words “debated,” “argued,” “proved,” “disputed,” “explained,” persuaded,” and “confuted” shows the credibility of Christian content. You see, the Christian worldview is reasonable; but, it is also something beyond reason. Clearly the work of The Holy Spirit is necessary to change an individual’s thinking from a human-centered to a God-centered perspective. And here is the Hebrews 11 response: “by faith Abram, by faith Noah” all the way through the chapter. Faith is credible content; but there must be a “by faith” commitment to it.
Do not be fooled by those who say Christians are the only ones with faith. Atheists, scientists, politicians, indeed everyone, has faith in something. And this Truth in Two is based on the content, credibility and personal commitment of faith that allows me, Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, to say, I am a Christian.
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3; John 20:8; Heb 11:1).
(Acts 17:31).
(1 Cor 15:1-4).
(cf. Acts 9:22, 29; 17:2-4; 18:4, 19, 28; 19:8, 9; 24:25).
(Rom 8:5-9; 1 Cor 2:10-16).
(Rom 11:33-36).
Amen.
(https://ricochet.com/248904/archives/knowledge-and-faith-can-be-the-same-thing/)
I love reading your prolific output! “Reliability,” or the testing for it, (not to mention “verifiability”) was a big deal in my social science research PhD. We may come at this in different ways but we are indeed addressing the same concern: if unbelievers expect acceptance of their “revelation” then all revelatory knowledge should be open for discussion. Interestingly (and positively, I think) I received NO push back on this (which I usually get) from my unbelieving colleagues at IUPUI.