Brief Answer:
What do you think “faith” is? You seem to have a misunderstanding of what Christianity means by “faith.”
Detailed Answer:
Misunderstanding “Faith”
In today’s culture, the word “faith” has taken on a distorted meaning. Faith is simply trust in something, but it is not trust without reason. When making important decisions, we don’t place our trust in someone or something without solid evidence or good reasons to do so—unless we’re acting foolishly. Blind faith, where trust is given without any evidence, is extremely rare in life, and it is dangerous, and unreasonable faith that contradicts clear evidence is inviting disaster.
Many people think faith is just a vague, unsupported belief, driven by feelings or hope, without any evidence or reasoning behind it. This narrow view assumes all faith is “blind,” but that is simply inaccurate. While blind faith does exist, lumping all faith into this category is a serious misunderstanding.
The 3 Elements of Faith
All faith, including the kind Christians talk about, has three key components:
- The object of our faith (for example, a chair).
- What we believe about it (for example, the chair will hold me up).
- The reasons for that faith (for example, it looks sturdy, chairs typically support people, and no pranksters seem to be around).
Faith is simply trusting something for good reasons. We use this type of faith every day, whether in science, personal relationships, or daily activities. This is the kind of faith described in the Bible—a reasoned trust, as God always provided reasons to base the trust upon.
Do some Christians have their faith without good reasons for it, some do, as do people in every belief system, but the Chirstians who do are not following the type of faith their Bible prescribes.
Faith in Everyday Life
We all live by faith, whether we realize it or not. Most, if not all, decisions we make are based on faith without 100% certainty:
- We have faith our car brakes will work when we press them.
- We trust our current job is the best option for us.
- We believe historical figures like Caesar Augustus and Aristotle existed, even though we have never seen them.
Even your confidence that you will wake up and have another tomorrow is an act of faith. While the evidence points to good health and no immediate danger, there’s no way to prove tomorrow will come. That is faith, based on good reasons, but not on absolute certainty. So, for anyone to reject reliance on faith throughout life demonstrates an invalid and unsupportable position.
Reasonable vs. Unreasonable Faith
No one would avoid driving a car because they are a “brake agnostic”, uncertain whether the brakes will work. We use the evidence we have and make decisions based on reasonable faith. Acting without reasons, guided only by feelings or wishful thinking, is the blind or foolish faith many mistakenly associate with all religious belief.
Some people even hold onto beliefs against all evidence. This type of faith could be appropriately labeled “foolish faith.” Some unfortunate fans of the Detroit Lions football team sincerely believed their team had a chance at the Super Bowl in 2008, but such a faith was foolish as it sadly went against the vast majority of evidence (the Lions went 0-16 that year).
Reasoned faith, which we rely on in life, is grounded in evidence from all applicable areas of knowledge. This is the kind of faith Christians are encouraged to have.
What kind of faith you have?
The question each person has to ask themselves: Is my faith the one supported by the best comprehensive case of reasons, or not? If it is, then it can be relied upon as a foundation to base life upon for expected outcomes.
And here is the more telling question: What are your reasons for your faith? If you cannot give solid supports against all competing options, you are operating in the blind or foolish faith, and have an equally deficient hope for the outcomes you expect.
Demonstrate Your Faith
When someone claims Christianity is based on blind faith, ask if they would like to consider the evidence making your belief reasonable. If you need to brush up on it, explore resources like this website or others, and share well-supported examples with them.
Finally, challenge them to provide evidence that their faith—whatever it may be—isn’t blind or foolish.
