Faith Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==== Christian apologetic views ==== In contrast to [[Richard Dawkins]]' view of faith as "blind trust, in the absence of evidence, even in the teeth of evidence",<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Dawkins|title=The Selfish Gene|edition=2nd|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1989|page=198}}</ref> [[Alister McGrath]] quotes the Oxford Anglican theologian [[William Griffith Thomas|W. H. Griffith Thomas]] (1861β1924), who states that faith is "not blind, but intelligent" and that it "commences with the conviction of the mind based on adequate evidence...", which McGrath sees as "a good and reliable definition, synthesizing the core elements of the characteristic Christian understanding of faith".<ref>{{cite book |last= McGrath |first= Alister E. | title= The Order of Things: Explorations in Scientific Theology | year= 2008 | publisher= John Wiley & Sons | isbn= 978-1-4051-2556-7 | page= 33 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WrRZBOxJzDcC}}</ref> American biblical scholar [[Archibald Thomas Robertson]] (1863β1934) stated that the Greek word {{transliteration|grc|pistis}} used for "faith" in the New Testament (over two hundred forty times), and rendered "assurance" in {{bibleverse|Acts|17:31|kjv}}, is "an old verb meaning 'to furnish', used regularly by [[Demosthenes]] for bringing forward evidence."<ref>{{cite book | last= Robertson | first= Archibald Thomas | title= Word Pictures in the New Testament | at= Chapter 17 | url= http://www.ccel.org/ccel/robertson_at/wp_acts.xviii.html | access-date= 2014-01-26 | archive-date= 2015-01-08 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150108000717/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/robertson_at/wp_acts.xviii.html | url-status= live }}</ref> Tom Price (Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics) affirms that when the New Testament talks about faith positively it only uses words derived from the Greek root [{{transliteration|grc|pistis}}] which means "to be persuaded".<ref>{{cite web | last= Price | first= Thomas | title= Faith is about 'just trusting' God isn't It? | date= 9 November 2007 | url= https://www.bethinking.org/truth/faith-is-about-just-trusting-god-isnt-it | access-date= 23 January 2014 | archive-date= 21 February 2014 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140221173701/http://www.bethinking.org/bible-jesus/introductory/faith-is-about-just-trusting-god-isnt-it.htm | url-status= live }}</ref> British Christian apologist [[John Lennox]] argues that "faith conceived as a belief that lacks warrant is very different from faith conceived as a belief that has warrant". He states that "the use of the adjective 'blind' to describe 'faith' indicates that faith is not necessarily, or always, or indeed normally, blind". "The validity, or warrant, of faith or belief depends on the strength of the evidence on which the belief is based." "We all know how to distinguish between blind faith and evidence-based faith. We are well aware that faith is only justified if there is evidence to back it up." "Evidence-based faith is the normal concept on which we base our everyday lives."<ref>{{cite book | last= Lennox | first= John | title= Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists Are Missing the Target |year= 2011 |publisher= Lion |location= United Kingdom | isbn= 978-0-7459-5322-9 | page= 55 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=kxBRhMYsadwC&q=faith+defined+as+warranted+based+on+evidence}}</ref> Peter S. Williams holds that "the classic Christian tradition has always valued rationality and does not hold that faith involves the complete abandonment of reason while believing in the teeth of evidence".<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Peter S. |date=2013 |title=A Faithful Guide to Philosophy: A Christian Introduction to the Love of Wisdom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DCEVL-8d-J4C |publisher=Authentic Media Inc |chapter=Β§1.4 |isbn=978-1-78078-310-9 |access-date=2023-05-29 |archive-date=2023-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529202228/https://books.google.com/books?id=DCEVL-8d-J4C&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> Quoting [[J. P. Moreland|Moreland]], faith is defined as "a trust in and commitment to what we have reason to believe is true". Regarding [[doubting Thomas]] in {{bibleverse|John|20:24β31}}, Williams points out that "Thomas wasn't asked to believe without evidence". He was asked to believe based on the other disciples' testimony. Thomas initially lacked the first-hand experience of the evidence that had convinced them... Moreover, the reason John gives for recounting these events is that what he saw is evidence... Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples... But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name. {{bibleverse|John|20:30β31}}."<ref>{{cite book | last= Williams | first= Peter S. | title= A Faithful Guide to Philosophy: A Christian Introduction to the Love of Wisdom | year= 2013 | publisher= Authentic Media | isbn= 978-1-84227-811-6 | pages= Chapter 1.4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DCEVL-8d-J4C}}</ref> Concerning doubting Thomas, Michael R. Allen wrote: "Thomas's definition of faith implies adherence to conceptual propositions for the sake of personal knowledge, knowledge of and about a person ''qua'' person".<ref>{{cite book |last1= Allen |first1= Michael |title= The Christ's Faith: A Dogmatic Account |date= 2009 |publisher= T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology |location= London |isbn= 978-0-567-03399-4 |page= 80}}<!--|access-date= 26 January 2016--></ref> Kenneth Boa and Robert M. Bowman Jr. describe a classic understanding of faith that is referred to as ''[[evidentialism]]'', and which is part of a larger [[Epistemology|epistemological]] tradition called ''classical [[foundationalism]]'', which is accompanied by ''[[deontologism]]'', which holds that humans must regulate their beliefs following evidentialist structures. They show how this can go too far,{{how|date=July 2023}}<ref>{{cite book | last1= Boa | first1= Kenneth | first2= Robert M.|last2=Bowman | title= Faith Has Its Reasons: Integrative Approaches to Defending the Christian Faith | date= March 1, 2006 | publisher= IVP Books | location= USA | isbn= 978-0-8308-5648-0 | page= 253 }}</ref> and [[Alvin Plantinga]] {{clarify|text=deals with it.|date=July 2023}} While Plantinga upholds that faith may be the result of evidence testifying to the reliability of the source (of the truth claims), yet he sees having faith as being the result of hearing the truth of the gospel with the internal persuasion by the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] moving and enabling him to believe. "Christian belief is produced in the believer by the internal instigation of the Holy Spirit, endorsing the teachings of Scripture, which is itself divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. The result of the work of the Holy Spirit is faith."<ref>{{cite book | last= Plantinga | first= Alvin | title= Warranted Christian Belief | url= https://archive.org/details/warrantedchristi0000plan | url-access= registration | year= 2000 | publisher= Oxford University Press |location= USA |isbn= 0-19-513192-4 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/warrantedchristi0000plan/page/250 250], 291}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page