The Mystery of faith Billy J zorinthara
Faith could be described as strong or unshaken able belief in something, especially without proof or evidence
CS.Lewis.
The preceding quotation exhibits faith being independently unrelying of evidence or proof .l am sure that modern skeptics would strongly condemn such notion as irrational or erroneous. I personally agree with the author in his concept, and it is one of the very purposes of me writing this small article to share my insights in this regard. The question often posed by many skeptics. "How can we believe without evidence?"This compels me to name this article "The mystery of faith." St Augustine once wrote, "It is the heart and not the reason which experiences God. This is what it meant by Faith." The paradox here is that such notion appeared too abstract, but ironically, it is not to say that faith is bereft of reason or antithetic to it. But to state that, faith is neither the corollary of transcendental of human’s intellect.
One of the paradigmatic scriptural references in the New Testament is John 20:23b "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believe". In the immediate context, Thomas Didymus seems very much skeptical in his approach; he demanded to see the stigmata so that he can believe in the resurrected Messiah. Such approach cognate with the secular notion, which says, "seeing is believing", or to put in a nutshell-empirical approach. Jesus was not an empiricist; He harshly rebuked the scribes and the Pharisees for demanding signs, "An evil and adulterous generation asks for sign but no sign will be given except the sign of Prophet Jonah" (Matt 12:35b). We need to understand that, producing cogent empirical evidence alone will not lead a heathen to penitence. Senses experience is sterile, futile and impotent in such case. The perils of espousing such approach will only lead a person in an eternal quest for answers or may end up "intellectually converted" which I call "pseudo-conversion". Please understand that I am not invalidating the apologetically methodology which I deeply respect and find it crucial in evangelism. But as the sphere of the discussion is centered on faith, I have to be honest with myself. Now, the crux of the problem is "Can we convert a pagan through our own efforts?" I doubt, is it through rhetorical presentation of a gospel, or is it through the elocution of a silver tongue oratorical preaching? Well the answer is unequivocal, ultimately it is God Himself who draw sinners to him not human charisma or methods. As we see from Johannine's Gospel(Jn 3:3) and Pauline's epistle( Rom 10:17), that conversion is from above, as faith is imparted by the Holy Spirit to a yielding heart through the spoken word (Rhema) of God.
So, it is this imparted living faith that saved a man from eternal perdition. It is this faith that brings radical metamorphosis of a sinner into saint just as a cocoon into a butterfly. It is this faith that enabled a wretched sinner to believe in the work of Christ atoning crucifixion. Though one may not witness the melancholic moment and the excruciating pain experienced by Christ on the cross. Yet the assurance of being eternally remitted from one owns sin can be felt deep down in the heart. As the Apostle Paul wrote "We walk by faith not by sight". So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
(CopyRight2007www.billyjasonz.co.cc)
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