All Posts by Mike

The argument goes something like this:

The world is a scary place!  When we are born, we have people that take protect us from this.  As we grow, we realize that the world is indeed quite harsh, although we (hopefully) have the benefit of loving parents taking care, making decisions, and sheltering us from the evil and pain for as long as they can.  Once we get out on our own, it is natural for us to long for that childhood protection we once enjoyed, so we CREATE for ourselves an all-powerful loving God, from whom we can 'ask' for help, and have 'hope' that we will someday meet and be delivered from the misery and unfairness we experience in the world.

Sigmund Freud called this condition 'wish fulfillment'.  Napoleon credited Christianity as the 'opiate of the masses' – which is useful to those in power as a means to keep the people suppressed, as they look forward to 'pie in the sky in the bye and bye' while they suffer under tyranny in the present.  Are these proofs against the truth of Christianity?

First of all, these kinds of discussions commit what is known in Logic 101 class as the 'genetic fallacy'.  This means that just because the 'accusation' may be true, it doesn't mean that the underlying assertion is not true.  For example, I believe that interest rates will fall next year so I could afford to purchase a house.  That sounds like a classic case of wish fulfillment, but you would be foolish to say that they will not come down just because of my wishes!  They will or will not come down irregardless of my wishes – my wishes neither make it true NOR false!

The same is true with Christianity.  In order to prove, or simply to believe, that Christianity is false, its critics will have to do MUCH more work than simply denigrate the 'motives' of the believers!  Indeed, if Christianity is true, then we would expect that people would be longing for it!  If we are truly separated from our Creator and He is the ultimate expression of our purpose, it makes sense that we WOULD desire Him!  And if the Creator is actively searching for us and also longing for our reconciliation, it is not beyond belief that the needs within us would be left there by Him, to be used to draw us toward Him!  

And finally – this particular criticism actually works against the critic!  

Is it not possible that a person may project their 'wish' for autonomy and their 'fear' or 'dislike' of a righteous God by projecting (wising) that He does not exist?  So, if religious belief can be seen as a kind of 'wish projection', so can religious unbelief!

Faith has received a bad rep lately.  In modern times faith has come to be synonymous with belief, or even worse, with ‘blind acceptance.’  It is now usually accepted that 'having faith' is something a person does in the absence of evidence, or even despite evidence of to the contrary.  People 'with faith' are ridiculed as having less intelligence than those who accept beliefs based upon 'evidences.'  

But when all is said and done, all knowing requires faith.
 

“Faith is an inescapable element of all human understanding, not excluding that of scientists who may be tempted to categorize it as unpardonable ignorance.”    Carl F. H. Henry

The fact remains that all methods of knowing ultimately rely on certain assumptions.   Therefore, everything we think we know relies on certain assumptions, just like all the decisions we make.  

For example, we assume that the restaurants we choose are going to provide us with healthy food, or that we will all wake up in the morning ready for the next day.  None of these (and countless other decisions and assumptions we make every day) are provable, or are assured.  We take them ON FAITH!  Sure, we make 'educated' assumptions, which takes away the 'blindness.'  We can and do, every day, rely on intuitive statements backed up by logical evidences and philosophies and experiences, all which may or may not be 'known beyond the shadow of a doubt.'  But they get us by in our day to day lives.  So, a 'properly placed faith' is not blind!

The implication then, is correct.  Is there logical evidences for Christianity, and to confirm our experiences with Jesus?  That is one of the purposes of Christianity.  And as we have reviewed elsewhere, Christianity is not only A REASONABLE faith, it is the ONLY REASONABLE faith!

What is a properly functioning faith in God and in Christianity?  It begins with a proper understanding, and place in our lives for faith, as described above.  Then, we 'work out' our faith in our actions.  If our faith is not evident in our actions, then what good is it?  

So the description of The Christian Faith as simply an 'unfounded belief' is flatly wrong.  The Christian Faith is a living, experiential substance that is clearly logical and is only fulfilled when based in the truths of God and Christ.

John Keats said “Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced.”  Things that have no evidence as to their cause or function, such as our longing for the infinite, are things that can only be explained by a properly functioning faith.  An Evidentialist is on shaky ground in these arenas, even if some day a chemical or protein is discovered to ‘cause’ these longings in the brain.  All this will do is prove that we are ‘hard wired’ for a need for faith, not answer the question ‘Why do we believe it?’  

Once we have a proper understanding and respect for the role of faith in our lives, we will more easily accept the faith aspect of a believe and relationship with God.

Faith has received a bad rep lately.  In modern times faith has come to be synonymous with belief, or even worse, with ‘blind acceptance.’  It is now usually accepted that 'having faith' is something a person does in the absence of evidence, or even despite evidence of to the contrary.  People 'with faith' are ridiculed as having less intelligence than those who accept beliefs based upon 'evidences.'  

But when all is said and done, all knowing requires faith.

“Faith is an inescapable element of all human understanding, not excluding that of scientists who may be tempted to categorize it as unpardonable ignorance.”    Carl F. H. Henry

The fact remains that all methods of knowing ultimately rely on certain assumptions.   Therefore, everything we think we know relies on certain assumptions, just like all the decisions we make.  

For example, we assume that the restaurants we choose are going to provide us with healthy food, or that we will all wake up in the morning ready for the next day.  None of these (and countless other decisions and assumptions we make every day) are provable, or are assured.  We take them ON FAITH!  Sure, we make 'educated' assumptions, which takes away the 'blindness.'  We can and do, every day, rely on intuitive statements backed up by logical evidences and philosophies and experiences, all which may or may not be 'known beyond the shadow of a doubt.'  But they get us by in our day to day lives.  So, a 'properly placed faith' is not blind!

The implication then, is correct.  Is there logical evidences for Christianity, and to confirm our experiences with Jesus?  That is one of the purposes of Christianity.  And as we have reviewed elsewhere, Christianity is not only A REASONABLE faith, it is the ONLY REASONABLE faith!

What is a properly functioning faith in God and in Christianity?  It begins with a proper understanding, and place in our lives for faith, as described above.  Then, we 'work out' our faith in our actions.  If our faith is not evident in our actions, then what good is it?  

So the description of The Christian Faith as simply an 'unfounded belief' is flatly wrong.  The Christian Faith is a living, experiential substance that is clearly logical and is only fulfilled when based in the truths of God and Christ.

John Keats said “Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced.”  Things that have no evidence as to their cause or function, such as our longing for the infinite, are things that can only be explained by a properly functioning faith.  An Evidentialist is on shaky ground in these arenas, even if some day a chemical or protein is discovered to ‘cause’ these longings in the brain.  All this will do is prove that we are ‘hard wired’ for a need for faith, not answer the question ‘Why do we believe it?’  

Once we have a proper understanding and respect for the role of faith in our lives, we will more easily accept the faith aspect of a believe and relationship with God.