Misunderstanding Faith

A mistake made by some Christians and most skeptics is believing that religious faith, or faith in God, is blind faith.  But biblical faith is not a leap into the dark, but a leap toward the light.  As Greg Koukl nicely summarizes:

“Faith [on this mistaken view] is religious wishful thinking, a desperate lunge in the dark when all evidence is against you.  Take the leap of faith and hope for luck.  Curiously, none of the biblical writers understood faith this way.  Jesus tells his naysayers, ‘Though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me’ (John 10:38 NASB, emphasis added).  Peter reminds the crowd on Pentecost that Jesus was ‘a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs’ (Acts 2:22 NASB).

“Paul writes that the evidences from the natural world for God’s eternal power and divine nature ‘have been clearly seen,’ so much so that those who deny Him ‘are without excuse’ (Rom. 1:20).  Later he says that if we believe in a resurrection that didn’t really happen, we have hoped in vain and ‘are of all men most to be pitied’ (1 Cor. 15:19 NASB).  No religious wishful thinking here.

“So let’s set the record straight.  Faith is not the opposite of reason.  The opposite of faith is unbelief.  And reason is not the opposite of faith.  The opposite of reason is irrationality.  Do some Christians have irrational faith?  Sure.  Do some skeptics have unreasonable unbelief?  You bet.  It works both ways.”

—Is God Just a Human Invention, Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow, Kregel, 2010, p. 30 (Kindle edition)

Saddleback Apologetics Conference Audio and Video

Brian at Apologetics 315 now has the audio and video up from the recent Apologetics Conference at Saddleback church featuring Dinesh D’Souza, William Lane Craig, Norman Geisler, J. P. Moreland, Darrell Bock, and Greg Koukl.

Saddleback Church recently hosted an Apologetics Conference with a number of great apologists. Now their audio and video are available for listening and viewing online. But if you prefer MP3s or a podcast feed, you can download there right here:

• How Can I Know God Exists? – Dinesh D’Souza – MP3
• How Did the Universe Begin – William Lane Craig – MP3
• If God Exists, Why is there Evil? – Norman Geisler – MP3
• Has Science Made Belief in God Obsolete? – J.P. Moreland – MP3
• What Do the Gospels Really Say About Jesus? – Darrell Bock – MP3
• How Can I Defend My Faith Without Sounding Defensive? – Greg Koukl – MP3

RSS feed here. Subscribe directly in iTunes here. (HT: Rob)