“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1
Faith by biblical definition is a battle between what we know and what we feel. Being sure and certain – knowledge; of something and/or someone we do not see – invokes emotion. This is not a new concept. Please take a minute and read the following and see how C.S. Lewis wrestled with the concept of Faith. It seems consistent with this idea that the life of the believer will at some level be unresolved.
The word Faith seems to be used by Christians in two senses. … In the first sense it means simply Belief – accepting or regarding as true the doctrines of Christianity. That is fairly simple. But what does puzzle people – at least it used to puzzle me – is the fact that Christians regard faith in this sense as a virtue. I used to ask how on earth it can be a virtue – what is there moral or immoral about believing or not believing a set of statements? Obviously, I used to say, a sane man accepts or rejects any statement, not because he wants to or does not want to, but because the evidence seems to him good or bad. …
Well, I think I still take that view. But what I did not see then – and a good many people do not see still – was this. I was assuming that if the human mind once accepts a thing as true it will automatically go on regarding it as true, until some real reason for reconsidering it turns up. In fact, I was assuming that the human mind is completely ruled by reason. But that is not so. For example, my reason is perfectly convinced by good evidence that anesthetics do not smother me and that properly trained surgeons do not start operating until I am unconscious. But that does not alter the fact that when they have me down on the table and clap their horrible mask over my face, a mere childish panic begins inside me. I start thinking I am going to choke, and I am afraid they will start cutting me up before I am properly under. In other words, I lose my faith in anesthetics. It is not reason that is taking away my faith: on the contrary, my faith is based on reason. It is my imagination and emotions. The battle is between faith and reason on one side and emotion and imagination on the other.
C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity
I love this honest insight from Lewis. He has more to say to us on this subject which is where the next post will pick up.
