Faith has been the subject of numerous sermons, books and pamphlets throughout the Judeo-Christian world. It has been extolled by theists as essential and dismissed as an irrelevant relic of a superstitious past by others. The Christian New Testament defines faith as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1, KJV) And most of us understand that faith involves a belief in something that cannot be proven or demonstrated by ordinary means - that is through the five senses available to us as humans.
Well, what about it? Is faith a necessary and useful component of the human experience or is it a useless relic from man's ignorant past? And, if we determine that it is a positive, where should that faith be directed? Should our faith be in God, the Bible, a church, a pastor or all of the above?
In that same New Testament book referenced above, we read: "it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." (Hebrews 11:6, NLT) So, according to the anonymous author of this book, we must believe in God and the things which "He" has promised us. Following this statement, the author cites several Biblical characters as being representative of what real faith looks like and concludes the discourse by noting that all of them had died without receiving what had been promised to them. Nevertheless, the author of Hebrews makes the point that all of the individual examples which he/she cited believed God and the things which God had promised to them.
Now that is fundamentally different from what many modern Christians do when they place their faith in a book about God - the Bible (pun intended). Thomas Jefferson believed in God and Jesus Christ, but he didn't have any faith in the miracles recorded in the New Testament (He even copied and pasted his own version of the gospels without them)! Which should bring some questions to mind for all of us.
What if the account of creation in Genesis is not literally true? What if all life on this planet evolved from simpler life forms? What if there really was a Big Bang? What if there really wasn't any worldwide flood that wiped out all terrestrial life on this planet? What if there wasn't any physical exodus of the Israelites from Egypt? What if Jesus Christ was married and had a son? What if Christ's bones were recently discovered in an ossuary near Jerusalem?
Would these things destroy your faith in God and what "He" has promised you? Is it possible to maintain one's faith in God, Jesus Christ and the promises attributed to them if some or all of those things cited above are true? It is for me, what about you?
Well, what about it? Is faith a necessary and useful component of the human experience or is it a useless relic from man's ignorant past? And, if we determine that it is a positive, where should that faith be directed? Should our faith be in God, the Bible, a church, a pastor or all of the above?
In that same New Testament book referenced above, we read: "it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." (Hebrews 11:6, NLT) So, according to the anonymous author of this book, we must believe in God and the things which "He" has promised us. Following this statement, the author cites several Biblical characters as being representative of what real faith looks like and concludes the discourse by noting that all of them had died without receiving what had been promised to them. Nevertheless, the author of Hebrews makes the point that all of the individual examples which he/she cited believed God and the things which God had promised to them.
Now that is fundamentally different from what many modern Christians do when they place their faith in a book about God - the Bible (pun intended). Thomas Jefferson believed in God and Jesus Christ, but he didn't have any faith in the miracles recorded in the New Testament (He even copied and pasted his own version of the gospels without them)! Which should bring some questions to mind for all of us.
What if the account of creation in Genesis is not literally true? What if all life on this planet evolved from simpler life forms? What if there really was a Big Bang? What if there really wasn't any worldwide flood that wiped out all terrestrial life on this planet? What if there wasn't any physical exodus of the Israelites from Egypt? What if Jesus Christ was married and had a son? What if Christ's bones were recently discovered in an ossuary near Jerusalem?
Would these things destroy your faith in God and what "He" has promised you? Is it possible to maintain one's faith in God, Jesus Christ and the promises attributed to them if some or all of those things cited above are true? It is for me, what about you?
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