(April 9, 2013 at 11:52 pm)FallentoReason Wrote:(April 9, 2013 at 6:58 pm)Undeceived Wrote: What is your definition of "faith"? It seems you put faith and reason in conflict with one another. They work in partnership. Faith goes beyond reason.
I would think "faith" is a sort of "trust". The question here seems to be if it is justified trust, like when I get on a bus and I trust the driver not to crash. I would use some simple reasoning that would lead me to think it's rational to trust him/her, such as think to myself when was the last time a bus driver crashed in my city (dealing with probabilities), assuming he/she has been doing the job for years and therefore has the experience (dealing with an understanding of the nature of employment) etc etc. I would assume you think your faith in e.g. the A/S/K method is justified, but how exactly? You have no prior evidence that it works, which means it's literally a blind leap of faith into the unknown. Why not also believe 2 + 2 is 5?
Yes I believe faith and trust are the same and I believe it is true for scripture as well.
2+2=5 is not logical and has nothing to do with faith, it is wrong from our experience of math. Same for faith, as I've seen the results of 2+2=4, I've seen the results of faith, trust and A/S/K in those who were before me and the ones of my age and the ones coming up. Seeing faith in action for me is no different than seeing 2+2=4. This is the very reason God said the anti-christ will fool the entire world, even the elect, if that were possible. Through our faith Christians will realize what the anti-christ sales is false, we will see it as 2+2=5.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.
