I'm teaching through the book of Hebrews at my Church, and we just got to Ch. 11. Recently, the profound fools were discussing the interplay of evidence, faith, and reason. I was working on this text (Heb. 11:1-6) for Sunday and it speaks to that in some ways. Here are a few of my notes. What do you think? Am I right?
Heb. 11:1 "Faith is....the evidence of things not seen.
**Evidence (ἐλεγχος) – way of getting at the reality of a matter, proving something. What is really real.
Illustration – If I am telling a story, and all of the sudden Melinda speaks up and says, wait a minute Josh, that’s not true, that didn’t really happen that way. I would be looking for evidence, someone that was there, a witness, a picture, a video, some proof.
**Can you prove, with cold hard evidence, that heaven and hell are real, that you will be in heaven, that you will see God, that you will see Christ and his pierced hands and feet? If someone said, “show me something physical in this life to prove it”, would you be able to? NO. But, your faith is that evidence.
This is why I sort of cringe when good intentioned people try to use Science, or History, or anything else to prove the Bible is true, to prove that Heaven and our hope is real, Why do I cringe? Because in this text, it is clear, what is the proof, what is the evidence in this life for things that we cannot see?? FAITH.
Secular humanism, Atheism, Anti-theism, they are all faith positions, but listen, so is Christianity.
Sounds like what we were talking about the other night @ applebees. I don't feel a desperation to produce cold, hard evidence. . . . .because I already have it. It is the transformation that is happening in my life right now. It is simply faith. That is not just some "frilly, feel-good" statement I hide behind. That is the truth. And you know what validates that? My actions, as outlined in the book of James.
ReplyDeleteProof and evidence abounds! You may not be able to observe in under a microscope or measure it out in a beaker, but it's there in abundant form if you look to the life of a true believer.
~Smitty
I am data driven and very much a skeptic by nature. To me, the fact that I have faith despite the skepticism is evidence of what your talking about. That said, I think we should exercise caution. Certainly, a statement of belief, even if it satisfies your own tensions, does nothing for the person you're trying to persuade. In your illustration, if you failed to provide the hard evidence for the veracity of your story, I think you'll have a hard time convincing your wife that she is wrong despite your passion and conviction that you are right. Which is why the author of Hebrews, writing to Jewish Christians, offers as evidence not just faith, but faith that was proved by actions. And for that matter, not just anyone's faith, but the faith of their hero's, the icons they had been told about since their youth. So, in other words, I think there is more to it than 'you ask me how I know he lives, he lives within my heart'. Some will call this delusion, not faith.
ReplyDeleteGood observation. Perhaps the meaning of faith in the text could be faithfulness? So the evidence of things not seen is faith, but the faith leading to actions of faithfulness to God and Christ, not just "pie in the sky" faith (or being more passionate than somebody else). The author of Hebrews had just written about their need to patiently endure with confidence through their persecution. One of the themes in Ch. 11 is the interval between promise and fufillment, and in that interval their heroes had to endure (i.e. be faithful).
ReplyDeleteSo would it be accurate to say, if someone "asks me how I know he lives", to respond, "my proof is my faithfulness." That makes me nervous:) (considering my faithfulness might be questionable at times, and boasting about it seems like a bad idea), but sounds like what we are getting at.
Mike, it sounds like that was what you were thinking as well.
ReplyDelete"It is the transformation that is happening in my life right now. It is simply faith. That is not just some "frilly, feel-good" statement I hide behind. That is the truth. And you know what validates that? My actions, as outlined in the book of James." - written by "the poet".