Is blind faith even a Biblical concept? I know I keep making these long winded statuses. And I know most people dont even take time to read them. But I have to tell the truth where truth isnt being told. Many atheists claim that Christians are ignorant backward people, who ignore logic. Many Christians are VERY guilty of this accusation. They hold fast to the idea that you need no evidence to believe in God. Therefore they often feel, that should be the standard for which they preach the Word of God. Quoting Biblical stories such as Thomas (aka Doubting Thomas) doubt of the resurrection of Christ. And Christs words to him about those that have believed without seeing being blessed more so than those that have believed after seeing. Or the story of Abraham, and Gods command for him to kill Isaac, his only son. How much faith he must have had. The blind faith apologists will even go as far as to say that digging deep into scripture can be considered evidence of lack of faith. You must be in doubt of what it says if you are doing deep, in depth study into the original text and into the historical context of the verses. This tends to be fuel for the atheists claims of the ignorance of Christians. I want to lay waist to both claims in this post. In the story of the resurrection of Christ. The story turns toward Thomas. After Jesus rose from the dead, the other disciples had believed that He was alive. Thomas had his doubts about it and did not believe. It was only after Jesus came to Thomas and let him see His wounds, that Thomas believed. Jesus asked if he had only believed because he had seen. Then he exclaimed that those that believe without seeing are blessed more than those that have seen and believed because of that. This is not blind faith. Thomas had not seen, and yes Jesus said that faith without seeing was best. But why did Thomas doubt? That is the question I think needs asked. Not what made him believe? Thomas didnt fully believe what he had been told before the death of Christ and His resurrection. So his problem isnt that it took him seeing Jesus to believe, its that he didnt believe the evidence that was presented prior to His death and resurrection that made Thomas faith small. If he had believed when it was told to him before, than he would have believed when it was taking place. No blind faith required. Only trust in the words of a man that he also believed to be God. Hebrews 11 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. (This is where it shows that faith drove Abraham, but not blind faith. “ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead”. His faith was in the fact that God would not break his promise to him. This came from 100 years of God not breaking promises to him. Not from some epiphany of faith, brought on suddenly by a new found righteousness. He considered the evidence.) Acts 17 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. (Only a few people in Thessalonica accepted Christ as the true Messiah. In Berea, more were accepting because of their willingness to “examine the Scriptures”. These were a proof to them, and it was counted as nobility, that they used them as such. This is not blind faith. They had the evidence that had been there all along.) 1 Peter 3 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, (How, I ask, are you supposed to “make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you”, if you shouldnt study, for proof sake, or ask questions to learn more about your God? Should you just have blind faith? Not according to Peter.) 1 Thessalonians 5 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. (In testing spirits, prophecies or teachings, you are not to squelch or despise them. But that doesnt mean you do not test them. In our attempt of not doing wrong by teachers and prophets in the Church, we tend to just not test who they really are, who God would find them to be. We act as if it is only outsiders that may deceive us, but it is always a wolf in sheeps clothing that gets us.) 2 Timothy 2 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (You, through works, are a proof of God to those in doubt. If proof were not needed, than works would be of no use. But they are of great use. They are evidence of faith.) John 10 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. (Jesus talks of people not believing in Him, even when He gives them signs and works in Gods name. He doesnt ask for blind faith, only faith after those works that bear him witness have been presented as evidence.) John 10 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them,even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” (Christ says here, “ that you may know and understand”. Not because of blind faith, but because of evidence through his works.) Romans 1 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Right off the bat, it says that God has shown it (what can be known of God) to them. Not that they never saw it. It refers to his attributes as invisible. His eternal power and divine nature. Yet it says that these things have been clearly perceived since creation, in the things that have been made. You have no reason here to believe that God is asking for blind faith. These things have been CLEARLY PERCEIVED, not hidden.) 1 John 2 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. (Should we have blind faith, that we have come to know Him? Thats not what this verse says. Its through the propitiation of the worlds sins that we have evidence. Not blind faith.) Proverbs 3 13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, (Simple as wisdom and understanding. Does it say “Blessed is the one who has blind faith, and needs no understanding”? No.) Hebrews 5 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Trained by blind faith to distinguish good from evil? Read it again. Its not speaking of blind faith, but of teaching and training in the principles of the oracles of God. The milk may even be likened to that of blind faith. Unskilled in the word of righteousness. The solid food may be like the ones who practice, through Gods word.) James 1 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. (Asking for wisdom, faith is a part of it, but only through knowledge that God gives generously to all.) 2 Peter 3 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (If you simply have blind faith and take no heed to gaining wisdom. Then you are ignorant and unstable. And you will twist the Scriptures to your own destruction.) Acts 1 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. ( The word proof is in this verse. No blind faith hear.) 1 Corinthians 15 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (Christs death was in accordance with scriptures. That is evidence right there. His burial and resurrection. In accordance with scriptures. Evidence. He appeared to Cephas, and to the disciples, then to more than 500 people at the same time, then to James, then the apostles and last, Paul. All evidence. Not a blind faith in a resurrection that no one witnessed.) John 20 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (In this verse, you gain life through believing, you believe through the writings in scripture about the signs that Jesus did. Why assume that blind faith is required of us now, when it wasnt then.) Acts 2 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. (Another example of Jesus showing himself through evidence, not blind faith.) 1 John 1 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (These men were witness to the physical manifestation of God. They could see, hear and touch God. And yet they are honored men among Christians, because of their faith. But wait. They saw, touched and heard God. Shouldnt that make their faith weaker than a man with blind faith? It doesnt. Blind faith only allows for others to trick your mind and deceive you through your ignorance. Faith through evidence is the only kind of faith. Hebrews 11:1 tells us what faith is. “1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” It is evidence and assurance in and of it self. So how could faith be without evidence?) So from this I have gathered that blind faith is an illusion, that has made its way into our every day Christian thinking. It is completely contrary to logic and reason. And if there is one thing we can be certain of, is that the Bible is logical and reasonable. And we as Christians have made that very hard for people that dont believe, to see. We avoid topics that are difficult to discuss by stating that you have to have faith. But what we really mean is that we have no idea how to explain the topic at hand and we need to throw up a wall to stop the onslaught on our beliefs. And when a Christian (such as myself) finds evidence that a traditional way of thinking could be wrong and even against scripture, we throw daggers such as: Youre a heretic, you are over analyzing the Bible, the Bible is Gods Word, do you doubt Gods Word?, etc... I do not doubt Gods word, and Im not even sure how you can over analyzing the Bible. The infallible Word of God is only in reference to the text in which it was originally written. Man has altered the mean of words and changed things as simple a punctuation in a verse. These things, as small as they are, become corruption of the meaning over time. Your knowledge is limited no matter who you are, or what your education is. No one will ever know all of the answers. But to stop trying to find them, is to stop seeking truth. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the light.” To stop seeking truth would be to stop seeking Christ.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 05:05:31 +0000
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