December 21, 2009

Sometimes I get asked how I can believe when there is no evidence for a god.  I get told that the meaning of faith is belief without proof.

The first question relies on a faulty assumption (in my opinion).  The second is a misconception.

This is a loaded topic to be honest.  One that can’t be covered by a single page, or even a single book.  But I’ve come to a few conclusions.

1) Sometimes people of science and people of faith get stuck on ‘my evidence vs. your evidence’.  And the truth is there is no my evidence, your evidence, his evidence or her evidence.

We all have the same exact set of evidence.  And what it means ultimately comes down to a matter of opinion.  Because in the end, that is how science works.

A good scientist works by forming a hypothesis, examining the available data, and then realizing that: it reaffirms the hypothesis, requires the hypothesis to be modified to more correctly fit the available data, or completely disproves the hypothesis, thus requiring a new one.  Most things about science are not facts written in stone never to be changed.

Some observations we can make about this universe are obvious and easy for everyone to accept.  Water is buoyant, gravity holds us to the ground, and the sun is rather bright. (At least in comparison to say a tree)  Other things are harder.  They’re much more open to interpretation, to opinion.

Scientists disagree on a lot of things.  That’s what makes science work actually.   The very emotion of it all.  Some people picture scientists as Vulcan’s in lab coats serenely toiling away at discovering the secrets of the universe, always agreeing, always taking the most logical path, never once bickering on an outcome, a path, or a possibility.  And the truth couldn’t be any farther away from this.

What does that have to do with this topic?  Believe it or not, there are scientists who see evidence in creation.  In a higher power.  Maybe not a Christian god, but perhaps a god.  And so do I.  I don’t consider myself a trained scientist.  I don’t have a degree.  I don’t have college schooling in the field.  But I have always had a keen interest in science, for as long as I have been alive.  And everything I have discovered, everything science has taught me, has only reaffirmed my belief in the fact that there is a God.

What is faith?  Is it truly something you have in the absence of proof, of logic?  Let’s see what the bible says.

Hebrews 11:1 in the KJV says:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

In NASB:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

What does that mean exactly?  Again a loaded question.

Faith is a conclusion we reach through observation.  In nonspirtual matters we have faith in many things.

We have faith the roof above our heads will stay where it is, because we’ve observed it did so the day before and the day before.

We can’t prove that, and the roof could fall.  But that doesn’t make it an incorrect belief or observation.

We have faith that the sun will rise in the morning, as it has done every morning of our lives.  We have observed that this always happens and few would doubt it will happen again.  But theoretically it might not.

Even in science, many things are based on faith.  We have faith that experiments can be verified through repetition.  Because no matter where in the universe you go, matter acts exactly the same.  Can we prove that?  No.  It would be impossible to travel the entire universe and test all matter to be certain it acts the same as everywhere else.  It’s even unlikely to do that across the earth.  But we have observed enough to rightfully come to this conclusion.

Few things are facts in the form of ‘absolutely impossible to be wrong and 100% proven true’ so much as ‘true to the best of our ability to test and observe.’

That is faith in the nonspiritual, and the spiritual.

Faith is the substance.  The evidence.  The assurance.  The conviction.  I have faith that God is real, because I have felt Him move in my life.  Watched as He has moved in others’ lives.  Did I literally see His hand?  No.  But when the wind blows open our door we know the cause from the effects.

Hebrews takes it a step further.  Faith IS evidence.  And that might seem contradictory, or even circular.  To a small extent, that’s fair.  But some circular reasoning is still correct.  Our life, our world, often lives in the truth that the majority rules and is correct BECAUSE it is the majority.  Nothing could be more circular.

How far have we come in science?  Yet faith still persists.  How much has man grown?  Yet God has not left our lives.  The Bible is still the #1 selling book in the world.  Each day it is translated into new languages.  And even in the most technologically advanced societies of today, religion has not died.

I have faith because I have all the evidence I need.  I have seen the complexity of the universe, and can not come to the conclusion that it is an accident or chance.

Faith isn’t a conclusion to reach when no evidence presents itself.  Faith is a belief culled by the observation of both things visible and not.  It is not a tool for ‘filling gaps’ but rather a final conclusion reached by a mind who stares at the whole of the universe and can only realize that there must be more.

The only things more miraculous than a man having faith in God, is the very fact that God too has faith in man.

Canterrain