RE: Faith is a measure of irrationality
June 26, 2014 at 1:35 am
(This post was last modified: June 26, 2014 at 1:50 am by BlackMason.)
(June 24, 2014 at 12:47 pm)Chuck Wrote: Faith itself is not a measure of irrationality. Faith is an often useful heuristic tool to avoid psychological paralysis in the face of inadequate information or evidence about the relative merits of an array of alternative paths that can be taken.
I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with you. I believe you are confusing faith with inductive reasoning. Heuristics rely on logically sound foundations. This is not the case with faith. A heuristic is a pattern that has been observed enough times to merit it's reliability. Does faith have any reliability? Does faith have a logical foundation?
(June 24, 2014 at 12:58 pm)Tonus Wrote:(June 24, 2014 at 2:10 am)BlackMason Wrote: When does faith become stupid?When it is improperly defined.
In Hebrews 11:1, Paul defines faith as the "assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen." The example of the person grabbing an umbrella when he sees indications that it might rain applies here, though I would substitute "expected" in place of "hoped for." If you have a friend who is very reliable, you will come to have faith in him when he agrees to something. If he says he'll pick you up tomorrow at 10am, you have faith that he'll be there.
I also disagree with you. Is it not true that you have observed that your friend is reliable in the past? I believe that it is so. Therefore, it is not faith that you are exercising when dealing with your friend, it is reason. Believing that your friend will come at 10 is reasonable because of the manner he/she has conducted him/herself. This is something "tangible" that you are basing your decision on. Does one have anything as "tangible" when dealing with faith?
John 20:29 KJV Wrote:Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Is that not the basis of faith?
8000 years before Jesus, the Egyptian god Horus said, "I am the way, the truth, the life."