Evidence vs. Faith?
On the way through Missouri on my recent trip, I stumbled upon on a article I found very interesting. I had written down a quote off it, and was going to do a blog simply on that, but fortunately I've found the article online. It's here: More than Faith.
The article is about Frank Turek, an author who is going to speak a church in the area (which he has presumably done by now). He's an apologist and has co-written the book, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. The newspaper article mentions he's found Noah's Ark (insert eye rolling emoticon here), but that's not what I wanted to write about.
In the article Turek is quoted as saying, "'Either you have evidence for our views or you have faith,' he said. 'Atheists say there is no God; that's their view of reality. A person who says he is Christian has to have less faith than a person who isn't. We have very good evidence for Christianity and thus don't need a lot of faith.'"
Turek here seems to have here a completely negative view of faith, apparently defining faith as believing something with no evidence. It appears that he has little or no room for faith, even saying that we "don't need a lot of faith".
*Satire Alert*
I know why he's confused though. My secret agents have managed to obtain the bible he reads, and it's a fairly unusual translation. In Mt 6:30, Jesus complains about the people, "You of little evidentialist apologetic !" In Mt. 8:10, Jesus marveled because of the Roman Centurion, saying "Truly I say to you, I have not found such little need of faith with anyone in Israel." In Eph. 2:8 the apostle Paul writes, "For by grace you have been saved, with little need of faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."
*End Satire*
Now, I hope Turek has just gone overboard with his dismissal of faith in conjunction with his apologetic work against atheism, and that he doesn't hold to that view of faith in general. Assuming that's the case, I still find this type of apologetic very unhelpful with its reliance on reasoning (I never did understand why we would expect to be able to use our finite reasoning ability to "prove" an infinite God). I also think this shows the tendency of some to reduce Christianity to acknowledging the truthfulness of a small (or large) set of statements, instead of it being pictured as something more like a life spent following Jesus. But possibly I have overreacted.
By the way, I think "faith" can be fairly accurately defined simply as "trust."
Technorati tags: Faith Evidence Apologetics Frank Turek Reason Atheists
The article is about Frank Turek, an author who is going to speak a church in the area (which he has presumably done by now). He's an apologist and has co-written the book, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. The newspaper article mentions he's found Noah's Ark (insert eye rolling emoticon here), but that's not what I wanted to write about.
In the article Turek is quoted as saying, "'Either you have evidence for our views or you have faith,' he said. 'Atheists say there is no God; that's their view of reality. A person who says he is Christian has to have less faith than a person who isn't. We have very good evidence for Christianity and thus don't need a lot of faith.'"
Turek here seems to have here a completely negative view of faith, apparently defining faith as believing something with no evidence. It appears that he has little or no room for faith, even saying that we "don't need a lot of faith".
*Satire Alert*
I know why he's confused though. My secret agents have managed to obtain the bible he reads, and it's a fairly unusual translation. In Mt 6:30, Jesus complains about the people, "You of little evidentialist apologetic !" In Mt. 8:10, Jesus marveled because of the Roman Centurion, saying "Truly I say to you, I have not found such little need of faith with anyone in Israel." In Eph. 2:8 the apostle Paul writes, "For by grace you have been saved, with little need of faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."
*End Satire*
Now, I hope Turek has just gone overboard with his dismissal of faith in conjunction with his apologetic work against atheism, and that he doesn't hold to that view of faith in general. Assuming that's the case, I still find this type of apologetic very unhelpful with its reliance on reasoning (I never did understand why we would expect to be able to use our finite reasoning ability to "prove" an infinite God). I also think this shows the tendency of some to reduce Christianity to acknowledging the truthfulness of a small (or large) set of statements, instead of it being pictured as something more like a life spent following Jesus. But possibly I have overreacted.
By the way, I think "faith" can be fairly accurately defined simply as "trust."
Technorati tags: Faith Evidence Apologetics Frank Turek Reason Atheists
posted by Freethinker at 2:05:00 PM
3 Comments:
"I never did understand why we would expect to be able to use our finite reasoning ability to "prove" an infinite God."
Hmm. Interesting thought. How do you view those Josh McDowell Evidence that Demands a Verdict books?
We are told that without faith it is impossible to please God. But so much of what we believe is, actually, grounded in historical fact. So is the point to find a balance?
It would be interesting to look at the translations of "faith" and "trust" sometime here. It's been some time since my college days, but it would seem the words were chosen for some reason.
At this point in life I tend to rest most on the passages in Romans and other talks by those like Paul when it comes to the existence question. Their root in history is more compelling to me.
Thanks for jogging my thoughts.
Thainamu -
I haven't read Evidence that Demands a Verdict, but I don't imagine I would like it that much.
Christianity does rest upon the historic fact of the Resurrection. And I think it's a good use of apologetics to show that the Christian faith is not unhistorical or unreasonable.
I just think the type of apologetics like Turek's, claim way too much certainty for what our reason and understanding of evidence can produce.
Parke - I think in many cases faith is used to mean "trust in God" or something like that. Kind of like synonyms.
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