I have been trying understand the limits of faith. My limits are very low. Habit leads me to think the sun will come up tommorow and that Einstein's law of gravity will not suddenly change. But I am agnostic to even this, as it is certainly something that cannot be proven in advance. In this way, to at least a certain extent, we all have faith in science.
But a real test of faith is given in The Bible. The story of Abraham is heralded as the ultimate test of faith. In this story, Abraham is asked to sacrifice on an altar his own son Isaac. I cannot help thinking that, if this happened in a modern day setting, Abraham would most likely be arrested as a dangerous schizophrenic or possibly even psychopath.
The story makes little sense: surely he must have had some doubt, in which case he could surley not risk murdering his own son. On the other hand, if God had really left him in no doubt, then where is the test of faith?
To me, I find the story of Abraham frightening. It holds the very essence of fundamentalism, yet tries to 'pass it off' as a virtue. The story highlights a very real concern for all Humankind, namely, what are the limits of faith?
But a real test of faith is given in The Bible. The story of Abraham is heralded as the ultimate test of faith. In this story, Abraham is asked to sacrifice on an altar his own son Isaac. I cannot help thinking that, if this happened in a modern day setting, Abraham would most likely be arrested as a dangerous schizophrenic or possibly even psychopath.
The story makes little sense: surely he must have had some doubt, in which case he could surley not risk murdering his own son. On the other hand, if God had really left him in no doubt, then where is the test of faith?
To me, I find the story of Abraham frightening. It holds the very essence of fundamentalism, yet tries to 'pass it off' as a virtue. The story highlights a very real concern for all Humankind, namely, what are the limits of faith?
