"Blind faith, no matter how passionately expressed, will not suffice. Science for its part will test relentlessly every assumption about the human condition." - E.O. Wilson
"The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry." - Richard Dawkins
"Dawkins considers that all faith is blind faith, and that Christian and Muslim children are brought up to believe unquestioningly. Not even the dim-witted clerics who knocked me about at grammar school thought that." - Terry Eagleton
Faith is a word that used to carry a great deal of significance and honor. To have faith was to have trust in something or someone, and it was a noble quality to have. In many circles today, however, faith is a pejorative term. Faith is seen as a weakness, something that exists only because of ignorance. If we lack knowledge, faith is what makes up for that lack of knowledge.
Imagine a spectrum, with knowledge and faith on opposite ends. The more knowledge we have, the less faith we need. Conversely, the more we lack knowledge, the more faith we need to have.
This is the contemporary picture of faith - as our knowledge gaps fill in, faith recedes. So powerful is this image that many Christians have bought into it as well. This is tragic, as it completely goes against the Biblical idea of faith.
Consider the case of Thomas - dubbed mockingly as "Doubting Thomas". Here is the story, taken from John 20:24-29:
John 20:24-29 - "Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Thomas was one of the twelve disciples, and he walked with Jesus for three and a half years. He experienced Jesus' miracles. He saw Him heal the lame, give sight to the blind, cast out demons, saw Jesus calm the storm and feed the 5,000. He heard Jesus teach about the kingdom of God and declare that if Jesus was killed, that He would rise again in in three days. He was there for all of that.
And then came the arrest and trial of Jesus, followed by the horrible crucifixion. For any follower of Jesus at that time, it had to be just awful, horrific. They all had to be seriously questioning whether Jesus really was who they thought He was. After all, what kind of Messiah gets captured and crucified?
But then came the reports. First from the women. Jesus had risen from the dead! And those reports were followed by the testimony of Peter and some others. The tomb really was empty, they said.
But in the midst of all this, what does Thomas say?
Thomas says something here that I think many of us have said at one time or another. Picture this scenario. You get a phone call from a friend who tells you that they had the most amazing thing just happen to them. And as they tell the story, it gets more and more fantastic. Maybe they've met a celebrity or won a new car as a prize or whatever. But as the story goes on, it begins to sound like just an incredible thing. And when they're done, you're thinking to yourself, sounds great, but I'll believe it when I see it.
I'll believe it when I see it. It's a phrase we use all the time, and it's not new. Thomas said the same thing when he was told about Jesus rising from the dead. He said, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Unless I can see the marks of his death - the holes in his hands and side, and I'm able to actually touch Jesus, then I will never believe this crazy story you guys are telling me.
At this point, we need to ask a question: Did Thomas lack faith? I think the easy answer is, yes, he did. He did not believe (Jesus said, "do not disbelieve"), and he said he wouldn't believe unless he had credible evidence that Jesus actually rose from the dead.
But let's see what faith really is though.
Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Let's look at some of these words to unpack this a little bit.
The word "faith" is the Greek word pistis. It is used proper some 227 times in the New Testament. It means, "a conviction of the truth of something; belief with the predominant idea of trust." So pistis is a trust in the truth of the thing in which one has faith.
The word "assurance" is the Greek word hupostasis, and it means, "a foundational quality; a firm and resolute confidence."
The word "conviction" is the Greek word elegchos, and it means, "proved; that by which a thing is proved or tested."
Now here the thing in which we have this resolute confidence is something we cannot see. Faith is the resolute confidence in something that cannot be observed directly, but which nonetheless believable because it has been tested and found to be worthy of our trust.
In the New Testament, there are many stories of people coming up to Jesus and He lauds them for their faith. Why? They maybe have not seen Jesus do any miracles themselves, but they have heard many stories from their friends, and they come to the point where they trust in who Jesus is and what He is capable of. So Jesus says, "Your faith has made you well."
As Christians, we understand faith this way. We cannot observe God directly, but we see the effects of His work in the world and in our lives. And so we trust in Him, we have faith that He is real and that He desires for us to know Him.
Many in the world today see faith as something to ridicule, that faith means believing in something for which there is no evidence whatsoever. The Biblical understanding of faith is just the opposite - it is trusting, having confidence, in that for which we have good reason to believe.
For Thomas, his faith was dependent on perhaps a little more evidence than it was for Peter. Peter seemed ready to believe much more quickly than Thomas did. It wasn't just that Thomas didn't have faith. Remember, faith is confidence in that for which we have good reason to believe. But what a "good reason" is for one person might not be "good reason" for another person.
We look at the stars and the vastness of space and the grandeur and immensity of it all, and maybe for you and me that is enough of a good reason for us to believe that God is real. But for someone else, the vastness of space and the grandeur and the immensity of it all simply tells them that we are small and insignificant specks in the universe, and for them, the required amount of evidence for them to believe is greater than it might be for you and me. Before we speak too critically of such people that need more evidence, let's look at how Jesus responded to Thomas.
Jesus said to him, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
So yes, Thomas didn't believe. But it wasn't that Thomas lacked the capacity to have faith; nor did he lack the willingness to believe. He just didn't have a good enough reason to believe.
Now was Jesus critical of Thomas here? No. If Jesus wanted to criticize Thomas for his unbelief, he might have phrased it very differently. He wasn't afraid to say to His disciples, "Get behind me Satan!" or "Oh you of little faith!" He doesn't say any of that here. He shows Thomas His hands and side, and invites Thomas to touch them. In other words, He gives Thomas exactly what Thomas needs to believe. And Thomas responds with, "My Lord and my God!"
God loves us, and He wants us to have faith in Him. He realizes that what each of us needs is different from person to person. And He is willing to give us each what we need to believe. And then at THAT point it becomes a question of whether or not we're going to believe. It becomes a matter of willingness and desire.
Now, the end of this scene is interesting. Jesus then says to the disciples, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
So this is not a negative statement about Thomas. If He was down on Thomas, again, He would have said something critical, and He might not have given Thomas what he needed. So he affirmed Thomas' need for more evidence by actually showing him more evidence. But here He goes beyond that. It's one thing, Thomas, that you believe because you've seen Me. It's one thing that you need that much evidence, but the reality is that most people will not get the chance to see My hands and My side, and those people who believe without that degree of evidence will be blessed for their faith.
You and I will not see or touch Jesus' wounds. We cannot believe on the basis of that kind of physical evidence. We have to believe apart from that kind of evidence.
So what are some reasons why we might believe in Jesus? I'll offer three.
First, we believe due to the general trustworthiness and reliability of the Bible. Here is a little article on that subject: http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/auth-bib.html.
Second, we believe due to our own personal experiences. Maybe you've seen answers to specific prayers. Maybe you've seen God provide for you in miraculous ways. Maybe you've seen God heal you from a physical or emotional ailment.
Third, we believe due to the testimony of others. When people we know well and trust tell us stories of God's faithfulness and protection and provision and answered prayer, we have good reason to believe them. Those stories encourage us in our faith.
Here's the long story short: faith is not believing because we have no reason. Faith is believing precisely because we have good reason. And everyone, every day, exercises faith. Getting on an airplane, sitting in a chair, driving in a car - we do all these things because we think we have good reason for doing so. Trusting in Jesus is a faith that is well-grounded in history; we have good reasons for it. Faith in Him is good and honorable and right.
