Can "faith" effectively tell you how to wire a house or perform heart surgery? In any serious, practical endeavor, would you trust someone whose knowledge was not based on the best empirical observation and rational analysis? So why should religious truth be any different? Religious truth can also be subject to empirical observation and rational analysis. Why not have rational religion?
2006-10-04 08:00:38 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
As examples of rational religion, I'd offer the deists among the Founders (Tom Paine, for example), and plenty of 20th century liberal theologians.
2006-10-04 08:16:25 · update #1
Didn't you know, you have to accept Jesus into your heart.
As an after thought, I wonder how many of them are Cardiologists?
2006-10-04 08:08:30 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Intellect and reason have decided limitations in the spiritual realm and to a great extent in the physical.
Truth is not a series of facts but the person of Christ. As soon as you can subject God to empirical observation and rational analysis let me know. As for religion we have enough.
As for wiring my house or doing surgery, I can call on many well trained people who work and live without the intellectual concrete boots of empiricism.
I could call Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza as well as Hume, Berkeley and Locke and many atheists to help with the wiring. Your choices, I believe, are much more limited. In fact the choices of the empiricist in understanding life and love are not satisfactory for much of humanity, religion and faith aside.
As to faith. Faith is a gift from God which activates a human ability. It has to be experienced to be understood. Faith transcends belief and moves, if you will, outside the box of human reason.
Faith comes by a Word of revelation from God. Much imitated, never duplicated. Faith is never to be confused with belief or the presentation of religious systems. In fact "religious faith" is a misnomer.
Faith is what the old alchemists were looking for. It is that ability which speaks things into existence and proves God before all. At the most simplistic level; faith gives me a house which is already wired and closed heart surgery to begin with.
2006-10-04 10:15:25 · answer #2 · answered by Tommy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do not enough faith to be an atheist!!! That requires a lot of faith.
I have a personal relationship with God, He talks to me through His word. It is hard for people who have not invited Holy Spirit to their hearts to understand this. I have my faith, but I also believe that the Bible is God's life manual for us, the scripture is God's eyewitness account how we got here.
Science can NEVER prove that kind of things one way or another because none of that stuff cannot be observed or produced in the laboratory and no one of us was there in the beginning...
2006-10-04 08:12:40 · answer #3 · answered by SeeTheLight 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Faith is commonly known as a belief, trust or confidence often based on a transpersonal relationship with God, a higher power, elements of nature and/or a perception of the human race as a whole. Faith can be placed in a person, inanimate object, state of affairs, proposition or body of propositions such as a religious credo.
2006-10-04 08:05:04 · answer #4 · answered by momie_2bee 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The way I see it is... faith is the ability to believe the unbeliveable.
Like the poem about the prisoners. Two prisoners looked out thru the bars...one saw the mud the other saw the stars. What i'm trying to say is if it makes you feel good, Why not ?
2006-10-04 08:40:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Amazing you should ask this, since the cardiologist who did my grand daughter's surgery is a Christian.
He has faith that God will guide his hands in the operating room...
Enough faith that he was willing to walk to the Ronald McDonald house after hours to pray with a couple of terrified old Grandmas....
Let's see, our baby was six months old then...she is eight years old now, and a cheerleader!
Is it OK with you, if I say:
Praise God!!
2006-10-04 08:22:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
True or saving faith is not "blind". It is coming to know and believe what God has said is the truth. When God speaks to a person made alive spiritually by His Spirit they know it is God who speaks and lets face it we all have our "faith". Some believe this scientist or that one (they don't all agree), or some believe this writer or that , what or who ever but the true faith according to the Word of God believes God who has demonstrated His faithfulness and power for thousands of years. none of His Word has failed.
2006-10-04 08:13:35 · answer #7 · answered by beek 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am absolutely positive that Jesus is real and He is my Saviour.
I am absolutely positive that God is real and created the universe.
I am absolutely positive that Jesus went to the cross for all people, whether they accept it or not is a different matter.
Christianity is a rational religion, history has recorded the facts.
I know, that I know, that I know, that I know that Jesus is real and that He loves me.
2006-10-04 08:12:06 · answer #8 · answered by IN Atlanta 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Uhh...I had to seem up stamping and repulsive... initially, those words that folk make up those days are so ridiculous, i'm particular none of them do it each and every time after sex. i'm almost one hundred% particular the chick receives indignant and the guy would not get to do her again if he did that. So definite, those issues are fictional and are quite discouraged.
2016-12-04 06:35:44 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
So they can get out of having to come up with any type of proof whatsoever.
2006-10-04 08:02:08 · answer #10 · answered by Kenny ♣ 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋