On Faith

What is faith? It seems like such a simple question. However, the answer is more tricky than one might first think. And, the answer has some very profound implications. Is faith merely a belief of any sort? Is, “Step on a crack; break your mother’s back,” what the prophets and sages of the Bible had in mind when they spoke of faith? I don’t think so.

The religious faithful are regularly criticized by skeptics as being superstitious simpletons. And, there are times when the skeptics are correct about the beliefs of contemporary Theists. Is God an old man with a long white beard sitting on a throne up in the sky somewhere? Did he create the universe in just six days with the first couple of days taking place before day and night had even been created? Then, exhausted from 6 days of uttering words that made all things magically appear from nothing, the poor old fellow was so tired He had to lay down and rest on the seventh day. And, because he didn’t want to look like the only cosmic “slacker,” he commanded the rest of us to take a break on the same day. It is almost comical to think that these ideas are known as Intelligent Design! Are these notions examples of faith? Skeptics call these kind of beliefs superstitions. Is there a difference between faith and superstition? The natural response is that faith is something very different from superstition.

Faith and superstition are both opinions, and neither of them are something that would be considered an empirically demonstrable fact. We don’t say that we have faith in 1 + 1 = 2. This is an example of a fact (a piece of knowledge) and not an example of faith or superstition. This basic mathematical sum is objectively demonstrable and is, therefore, considered a fact. We don’t have faith that it is true; we know it is true. If we jump out of an airplane from 10,000 feet without a parachute we will probably die when we hit the ground. This is considered an objective fact. I don’t know anyone who would volunteer as a test subject to empirically demonstrate this, but it is safe to say it is a fact--not a belief.

We can now move closer to an understanding of what faith is by further establishing what it is not. Namely, faith is not a superstition.

Superstitions are simple to find; they abound in everyday life. Break a mirror and have seven years bad luck. Don’t walk under a ladder. Don’t let a black cat cross your trail. The ghostly hitchhiker of lake (fill in the blank with your local lake). What exactly distinguishes these ideas as superstitions? It is simple. Superstitions are beliefs that are not rational. Superstitions are beliefs that do not stand up to intellectual scrutiny. Any empirical test developed to independently prove that all persons who break mirrors will have seven years bad luck will only demonstrate that there is no logical reason for believing this. So, a superstition can be defined as a belief that is not consistent with what we know to be true; a superstition is an irrational belief.

So, by a process of elimination, we can now state a definition of faith. Faith is not a known fact, and it is not an irrational belief. Faith is any belief that holds up to intellectual scrutiny and is consistent with what we know to be true. In other words, faith is a belief that is rational and sensible based on our current body of objective knowledge; Faith is a rational belief; faith is a belief that describes what is probable but not proven.

It seems so simple doesn’t it? It seems so rational and right. But, there are some profound implications in this understanding of faith. This understanding requires that any worldview based on a Faith in God and man’s spiritual relationship with God must be intelligent and rational, or it must be rejected as a useless superstition. If one’s spiritual beliefs do not hold up to intellectual and rational scrutiny, then by definition it is not a valid faith but rather a silly useless superstition.

This has implications for the Theist that believes in the inerrancy of the Bible. If the story of Intelligent Design as described in Genesis does not hold up to skeptical scrutiny, then it must be abandoned as a superstition as well as any other myth or fable.

But, this is a double edged sword that cuts both ways. Any worldview that is based on the belief that there is no God, and that there can be no spiritual relationship with such a non-entity, must also hold up to intellectual scrutiny, or it too must be rejected as a useless and silly superstition.

As will be shown in subsequent essays, Atheistic Naturalism is a belief based worldview with many of its beliefs being mere superstitions. It will be demonstrated that Atheistic Naturalism is a post-modern religion that arose from the narcissistic tendency to substitute a Faith in God with a Faith in Ego (ego in the Freudian sense).

I believe it was William James that said something to the effect, God is that in which one places their faith (unable to find source). In other words, if money is what you believe and trust in, then money is your god. Likewise, if your belief and trust are in your own gratuitous perceptions and opinions about God and nature (these assertions being the products of Ego), then you are your own god; you, and your opinions, are what you place your faith in; This results in the birth of a demiurge. Atheistic Naturalism is a post-modern religion that holds the perceptions and opinions of a demiurge or a pantheon of demiurges as the focal point of belief and trust.

The good news is that faith (rational beliefs) is nothing for the Theist, Atheist or Agnostic to fear. An honest and careful study of what we know, through the study of science, will reveal a process that will help those who intuitively sense the Spiritual aspects of the human experience. And, it will help them develop a more mature and immediate understanding of God and God’s relationship to man, and provide the Theist with a far more powerful relationship with God than the relationship that comes from “the little old man on a throne in the sky” kinds of beliefs. Reason will provide the Theist with a way to overcome the fears that prevent them from developing intellectually and spiritually, and give them a way to grow out of a superstitious belief system. A belief system that is little more than self-serving “divine ass-kissing” designed to keep God happy with you for the purpose of getting goodies in life from Him; and, keeping you out of hell; and, insuring that when you die, you will hit the Eternal Lotto by getting a big mansion on a street paved with gold where you will sit around on clouds playing harps while you groom your perfect white angel wings.

Furthermore, reason will provide the Atheist with an intelligent and rational basis to pursue a far more dynamic and personally fulfilling belief system than the shallow and neurotic life of Ego worship. And, reason will allow the atheist to investigate his spiritual nature without compromising his intellectual standards.

Finally, Reason will give the Agnostic the means to finally make a decision about God. It will give you the means to finally come down off the fence. It has been said that walking both sides of the fence can bruise your crotch. Unless we are talking about a very short fence, no one knows this better than an Agnostic.

In short, reason can help everyone develop a faith and worldview that is meaningful, fulfilling and promotes personal growth and evolution. It can unify people in a worldview that facilitates our spiritual needs without offending our intellectual sensibilities. Living a life of faith (actively pursuing rational beliefs and rejecting superstitions) can lead one to a new worldview that is more appropriate for the 21st century--a worldview I call Theistic Naturalism.

Love,
Socrates