Some of you keep making same mistaken assertions: (a) the faith is by definition irrational and/or (b) the reason site opposite faith.
Using the dictionary is fine for most purposes, but with regard to Christian faith you must account for the particular meaning faith has in the Christian religion. Faith has two parts: a set of beliefs and the willingness to act on those beliefs. The veracity of the many beliefs that constitute someone’s faith will vary according to his or her knowledge, intellect, and time spent considering particular issues. For example, I spend very little time evaluating the safety of bridges and generally believe that builders make them sturdy. As such I cross bridges with faith in their safety. Christians are said to have faith when they not only hold religious beliefs, but also willing to act upon them (I James). When someone makes Christian doctrine part of his or her belief system without first using their intellect to evaluate said doctrine, it is fair to call that an irrational choice. If a person spends time thinking about whether a doctrine is true, then their acceptance is a rational choice. His reasoning may be faulty, but he still made a reasoned choice.
The types of belief that inform faith are no different from others that people form based on their personal experiences, the opinions of experts, and acquired knowledge. I believe that Socrates was a real man, even though textual evidence for his existence is slim and comes from secondary sources. For the same reason I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a real man, a fact independent of whether He was divine or not.
As it applies to religion, people need to take account of the difference between general and special revelation.
For general revelation, the evidence under consideration is nothing in particular; but rather everything in general. By applying reason to everyday observations, anyone can draw limited theological conclusions: that God exists, that He is the Creator, and the like. This so-called “God of Philosophers” satisfies the basic requirements of all three Abrahamic religions. And general revelation is empirical because the evidence to be interpreted is readily available to all (Romans 1:19, Psalm 19).
A special revelation points to some very particular instance when or where the divine intersects with and/or manifests itself in physical reality. Special revelation claims include things like the Lord speaking to the Hebrews from Mount Sinai (Hebrews 1:1-2), the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:18-19), angelic dictation of the Koran to Mohammed and (in my tradition) Swedenborg’s witness of spiritual events. Personal experiences with the divine like inspiration, visions, divine visitations, answered prayers and the like also fall with special revelation. By their nature the claims of special revelation are less certain than those of general revelation since the supporting evidence comes from specific and limited sources like ancient manuscripts, historical records, archaeological artifacts and personal accounts.
The only difference between religious faith and all other forms of faith is the type of evidence under consideration prior to belief formation. The means used before coming to Christian faith (beliefs + the willingness to act on them) are the same for knowledge in other areas like history, personal relations, everyday living and religion are the same, i.e. reason applied to experience.
Using the dictionary is fine for most purposes, but with regard to Christian faith you must account for the particular meaning faith has in the Christian religion. Faith has two parts: a set of beliefs and the willingness to act on those beliefs. The veracity of the many beliefs that constitute someone’s faith will vary according to his or her knowledge, intellect, and time spent considering particular issues. For example, I spend very little time evaluating the safety of bridges and generally believe that builders make them sturdy. As such I cross bridges with faith in their safety. Christians are said to have faith when they not only hold religious beliefs, but also willing to act upon them (I James). When someone makes Christian doctrine part of his or her belief system without first using their intellect to evaluate said doctrine, it is fair to call that an irrational choice. If a person spends time thinking about whether a doctrine is true, then their acceptance is a rational choice. His reasoning may be faulty, but he still made a reasoned choice.
The types of belief that inform faith are no different from others that people form based on their personal experiences, the opinions of experts, and acquired knowledge. I believe that Socrates was a real man, even though textual evidence for his existence is slim and comes from secondary sources. For the same reason I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a real man, a fact independent of whether He was divine or not.
As it applies to religion, people need to take account of the difference between general and special revelation.
For general revelation, the evidence under consideration is nothing in particular; but rather everything in general. By applying reason to everyday observations, anyone can draw limited theological conclusions: that God exists, that He is the Creator, and the like. This so-called “God of Philosophers” satisfies the basic requirements of all three Abrahamic religions. And general revelation is empirical because the evidence to be interpreted is readily available to all (Romans 1:19, Psalm 19).
A special revelation points to some very particular instance when or where the divine intersects with and/or manifests itself in physical reality. Special revelation claims include things like the Lord speaking to the Hebrews from Mount Sinai (Hebrews 1:1-2), the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:18-19), angelic dictation of the Koran to Mohammed and (in my tradition) Swedenborg’s witness of spiritual events. Personal experiences with the divine like inspiration, visions, divine visitations, answered prayers and the like also fall with special revelation. By their nature the claims of special revelation are less certain than those of general revelation since the supporting evidence comes from specific and limited sources like ancient manuscripts, historical records, archaeological artifacts and personal accounts.
The only difference between religious faith and all other forms of faith is the type of evidence under consideration prior to belief formation. The means used before coming to Christian faith (beliefs + the willingness to act on them) are the same for knowledge in other areas like history, personal relations, everyday living and religion are the same, i.e. reason applied to experience.
