An atheist wrote to me and said:
"Faith is belief without evidence. That is irrational, by definition. You should only believe things for good reasons, such as sufficient evidence.
Now to go on to your circular argument: You can prove Jesus is God if you believe the bible because the bible says so. And you should believe the bible because the bible says so. Are you really this stupid? You are placing your authority with bronze age goat herders, and that is not only irrational... but down right stupid."
"Faith is belief without evidence. That is irrational, by definition. You should only believe things for good reasons, such as sufficient evidence.
Now to go on to your circular argument: You can prove Jesus is God if you believe the bible because the bible says so. And you should believe the bible because the bible says so. Are you really this stupid? You are placing your authority with bronze age goat herders, and that is not only irrational... but down right stupid."
And I replied:
Rubbish man. Faith is belief with evidence and is rational. I have faith in my wife based on rational and sufficient evidence. I cannot prove her worth to you but I would stake my life on her.
And so it is with faith in Jesus. I have more than sufficient evidence - the philosophical arguments for God's existence (teleological, ontological, necessity, cosmological etc), the evidence of the resurrection, the explosive growth of the early pre-Roman Catholic church in spite of paganism and persecution, the huge number of people including the brightest stars of human thought who have been firm Christians (Newton, Lewis and Pascal to name just a few), the amazing interior cohesion of the scripture, the histiographic record of the scripture (shown in secular scholarship to be the most reliable ancient document in existence) and my own personal life experience - my testimony - where I have seen and lived in God's love, where I have seen him working and living and active in my life and the lives of others around me.
You call me stupid because I disagree with you. You are proud and fearful. Face the implications of the evidence rather - investigate with a blank slate and determine to follow the evidence even if it contradicts you - even if it offends you - even if it forces you to radically change your viewpoint and thus leads to your own social embarrassment and personal loss. That courageous facing of implication of evidence is faith. That is true faith - not blind belief, but the courage to face and live the truth. Do you have it?
Rubbish man. Faith is belief with evidence and is rational. I have faith in my wife based on rational and sufficient evidence. I cannot prove her worth to you but I would stake my life on her.
And so it is with faith in Jesus. I have more than sufficient evidence - the philosophical arguments for God's existence (teleological, ontological, necessity, cosmological etc), the evidence of the resurrection, the explosive growth of the early pre-Roman Catholic church in spite of paganism and persecution, the huge number of people including the brightest stars of human thought who have been firm Christians (Newton, Lewis and Pascal to name just a few), the amazing interior cohesion of the scripture, the histiographic record of the scripture (shown in secular scholarship to be the most reliable ancient document in existence) and my own personal life experience - my testimony - where I have seen and lived in God's love, where I have seen him working and living and active in my life and the lives of others around me.
You call me stupid because I disagree with you. You are proud and fearful. Face the implications of the evidence rather - investigate with a blank slate and determine to follow the evidence even if it contradicts you - even if it offends you - even if it forces you to radically change your viewpoint and thus leads to your own social embarrassment and personal loss. That courageous facing of implication of evidence is faith. That is true faith - not blind belief, but the courage to face and live the truth. Do you have it?
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