My Faith is not Blind!

This post was inspired by a recent conversation in the comments of one of my YouTube videos with a non-Christian who insisted I had blind faith in God. I believe “blind faith” is completely unbiblical and utterly foolish. It is easy to accept that non-believers have a mistaken understanding of the nature of faith. However, I am constantly surprised at the number of people in the church who seem to think that believing without having a reason is somehow a virtue or even a requirement of being a Christian. It is not.

I believe the confusion stems from a problem of vocabulary. One of the definitions of the English word “faith” is believing something without proof. For many people, this is the first definition that comes to mind when discussing faith. There are some who do not even realize that there even are other definitions. Unfortunately, this is not what the Bible is referring to when it discusses faith.

The Greek word in the Bible that is translated “faith” is “pistis.” It means being convinced that something is true. It has the implication of being persuaded of the truth of something. The word also incorporates the idea of trust. “Believing without reason” is simply not one of the meanings of this Greek word. To take the “absence of proof” aspect of the English word “faith,” and insert it into Scripture where the Greek word “pistis” is used is reading something into Scripture that is simply not there. It is committing the logical fallacy of equivocation.

Nowhere does the Bible tell us to simply turn off out minds and believe. Instead, we are encouraged to love God with our minds (Mark 12:30). Instead of instructing us to believe without reasons, the Bible insists not only that we must have reasons, but must be ready to defend them (1 Peter 3:15). In Romans 1:20 and 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul declares that it is the unbeliever who is ignoring the evidence, not the believer. The biblical mandate of having faith does not mean to ignore reason. Instead, it requires us to put our trust in God who has proved himself trustworthy over and over again. And that is perfectly reasonable!