Can faith be tested logically?

Question

reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity. Does anyone know how this works? I never took a logic course in college. Can faith be put through these tests?

Answer 1

Well although this is a very long topic i will try to give you the brief summary of at least how you can get started. Descartes had a philosophic idea that to prove one point you need to disprove all other points. Thereby by disproving other points you can prove that your point is right. This is the mistake many people make in trying to verify the existence of god. You can never use the Descarted approach and here is why. If you believe that to prove a point you need to disprove all others then try to disprove that you are not sleeping right now. You cant!!!! That is a major discussion in philisophy and logic. You cant prove you are not sleeping because you dont know if you are dreaming until you wake up, logically you might be dreaming right now!!! Therefore we have to disregard the descarted approach because to prove something you always need for another thing to be accepted from beforehand for example to prove what percentage of animals are mammals you first need to agree what mammals are. Therefore it is impossible to prove EVERYTHING since you always need something to be proven. Now we will move to the next point the next best way to prove something is by showing it has the best probability of being true. There are three opinions when it come to faith one who says he does believe one who says he doesnt believe and the last one who says he doesnt know. Well the last one also really is saying he doesnt believe and here is an analogy to prove my point. Suppose there was a rumor that the water in newyork is poison. Now the person that believes it does not drink it and the person that doesnt believe it does drink it now what does the person who says I dont know do? Usually they drink it and say since I dont have proof for the truth of the matter then I will drink it. Does that make sense? No because any logical person would at least do something to stay away from the water and although he says he doesnt know the way he acts proves his real point. So what about the person who doesnt believe? Lets use the same analogy. If there was a rumor which many people believed that the water was in fact poisoned and he goes and says I dont care I dont believe it so I will drink from the faucet is he acting reponsibly?? No he is not and so although there are many more points to be made I will conclude like this: There have been amny verifications of the things that were described in the old testament and so it would be kind of irresponsible to ignore it all and say it is non-sense. It is like ignoring the rumor and taking your chance with poison. Now faith should be from within and I truly bvelieve that but wehat I jus wrote is how logically it can be proven. Hope it helps and if you have any follow up questions feel free to contact me directly I would like some feed back to see what you think about this logic. (by the way this is based on the logic works of classic Jewish ideologies and the points that were made are very much a summary of a very long, detalied, and truly fascinating subject)

Answer 2

Read what Jesus said. Then ask yourself "Is He logical?, Is He reasonable?"
Jesus answered His critics with such logic and reason so as to render them speechless and frustrated.
The evidence demands a verdict. Jesus is either a liar, or He is a lunatic, or, He is Lord.
If you're into logic, you'll enjoy reading articles by Ravi Zacharias. He can articulate how faith can be logically tested, even outlining the criterion for logic. a great study in the principles of logic as well as faith.
Enjoy!

Answer 3

Yes, however, you need to believe the evidence as given.

God has provided the proof through prophecy. No other "holy book" can provide prophecy beside the Bible, and it is the Bible that declares a Creator God. Prophecy traces the origin of the Bible to being outside of our physical time domain. It reads in Isaiah 41:22-23,

"Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together."

So, let's look at this mathematically. Dr. Peter Stoner (in an analysis that was carefully reviewed and pronounced to be sound by the American Scientific Affiliation) states that the probability of just eight prophecies being fulfilled in just one person is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. However, Jesus fuflilled 300 specific prophecies. A few of which I have documented here...
http://www.schneblin.com/studies/pdfs/in_the_volume_of_the_book.pdf

This is not even including the incredibly detailed prophecy regarding the regathering of Israel, the rise of Alexander the Great and later Ptolemy in the book of Daniel, and much, much more.

So, mathematically, the odds are in overwhelming favor of the Creator God.

Answer 4

Yes of course, faith is based on accurate knowledge(Hebrews11:1)What knowledge did ZEnoch have?(Romans10:14,17; 1Timothy2:4) Undoubtedly, he knew about the events in Eden. Probably, he also heard what life had been like in the garden of Eden.(Genesis2:23)And he knew God's purpose that Adam's offspring would fill the Earth and make the whole planet like that original Paradise.(Genesis1:28)In adition, Enoch surely cherished Jehovah's promise to produce a seed that would crush Satan's head and undo the ill effects of Satan's deception.(Genesis3:15)Indeed, Enoch's own inspired prophecy, preserved in the book of Jude, has to do with the destruction of Satan' seed.Hence while Enoch did not posess all the knowledge that is available to us. With such faith, he kept his integrity in turbulent times.

Answer 5

Yes. Adolf Hitler tested the faith of the faithful. Their choice was to deny God's existence or be put into the concentration camps (not referring to Jews). Rather than deny God, many chose the camps in which they were severely punished on a regular basis. Faith empowered them to chose Hitler's concentration camps over freedom. The Germans were very systematic and logical with their options of torture.

Answer 6

i think it could. even though faith is a personal thing, you might be able to take examples of faith through the tests, of logic, right? yea, logically think if that faith makes sense. to some, it won't, but if you have similar faith, then it will be logic. it all depends on the setting and who is there.

Answer 7

Are you asking if a person's individual faith can be tested logically? Or are you asking if the concept of God can be tested logically? Please clarify your question.

Answer 8

you will find some good logic here.

www.godisimaginary.com

Answer 9

Theist: No, God is above logic.
Atheist: Yes.