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Re: Rationalism and Philosophy

Posted by Dr. Bob on October 17, 2002, at 14:29:24

In reply to Re: Rationalism and Philosophy » Dr. Bob, posted by Dinah on October 17, 2002, at 3:23:33

> Okay, Bob, I said I wasn't going to add anything to the PB Faith board but I'd like to point out something about the definition of faith.

Hey, great to see you here, after all! :-)

> Faith as defined by a dictionary is different than the way the Bible defines faith at Hebrews 11:1. There is says that "faith is ... the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld (the evidence of things not seen - KJ version).
>
> This meaning is different than a dictionary's definition as it doesn't imply blind faith at all, but suggests reasoning or rational thought - looking for evidence of the said unseen things. For faith to be worthwhile, it should be based on demonstrative evidence of the unseen. Maybe there's not hard proof but there should be sense & logic backing up a person's faith. There should be tangible evidence that can be shown to back up one's beliefs - much like black holes are unseen but there's strong evidence to back up a belief in them. That's the sort of faith that's meant in the Bible.
>
> IsoM

> I think IsoM explained it much better than I could. Absolute proof? No, I suppose not. How about the preponderance of the evidence as a standard?
>
> Dinah

I see what you're saying, and like the black holes analogy, and don't mean to imply that faith is totally irrational or illogical, or necessarily "blind", but it does seem to me that if evidence enters into it, so does interpretation of that evidence. Maybe what's being "demonstrated" is something else?

Hmm, "preponderance" is to some extent subjective, what's convincing to one person isn't always to another. Maybe a better way to see this is as objective beliefs vs. subjective ones? Rather than as beliefs with evidence vs. those without?

And what about blind faith, anyway? Is that necessarily a lesser kind of faith? Wouldn't belief despite a lack of evidence be a *stronger* belief? Leaping farther?

Bob


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poster:Dr. Bob thread:1086
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20021001/msgs/1119.html