A question I received and my response.
QUESTION-
"1) What is the relationship between faith and
knowledge? Which verses in the Bible show that this is the correct view
of the relationship between faith and knowledge? 2) How should we
interpret Proverbs 3:5-6? How do these verses relate to the answer to 1)
above? "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make
straight your paths." 3) How should we interpret Hebrews 11:1? How does
this verse relate to the answer to 1) above? "Now faith is the assurance
of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hope you can
help. God bless"
ANSWER-
It's
a great question! And it is a question that has been debated,
discussed, and analyzed for most of Christian history. Faith is by no means contrary to reason or knowledge. Martin Luther's description is a very helpful way of looking
at it. Martin Luther identified three elements of Christian faith to be
1) Understanding. This is to say that one must have a basic knowledge
and understanding of the propositions or realities that ultimately
become the object(s) of faith. 2) Assent. An intellectual assent or
agreement to the propositions, facts, etc regarding the object of faith
is necessary before one can have 3) Trust/confidence. One cannot trust
or have confidence in something or someone that is unknown. Nor can one
trust in something or someone without an intellectual agreement
regarding specific propositional truths about that someone or something.
So Luther would say that Christian faith (we could also refer to it as
saving faith) in Jesus involves understanding some basic level of
information about Jesus, such as that he lived, died, and rose again.
But Christian faith in Jesus would also need intellectual assent to that
information, meaning that one needs to agree that Jesus did in fact
live, die, and rise again - not only understand the informational claim
but also intellectually agree with its truth. But that's not enough. In
addition to understanding the information or claims about Jesus, and
agreeing that those things are true, authentic Christian faith must also
trust in those things about Jesus and in Jesus himself. The final
element of trust in Christian faith is built upon the first two elements
but moves beyond them to a state of trust, confidence, and dependence
upon and in the truths. If one understands the claim that Jesus actually
lived in history, died on the cross, rose from the grave, and agrees
those claims are true, and puts his or her trust in Jesus, his death and
resurrection, he or she has Christian faith! This is a biblically
aligned definition and description of Christian faith. And I believe it
describes the relationship between faith and knowledge. Christian faith
is not a blind leap or a nondescript sense of "believing" in something.
No, it is an agreement to and trust *in* objective propositions and
ultimately the person of Jesus Christ. So faith and knowledge work
hand-in-hand. Someone who says that Christians simply believe without
knowledge or evidence, or take a blind leap, is very misguided.
That
is not to say that faith in God or Jesus Christ specifically, requires
external evidence and argument. Philosophers (Dr. William Lane Craig and Alvin
Plantinga for example) talk about belief in God as a "properly basic
belief". What is meant by that, is that knowing and believing God exists
can occur without a mental process of examining evidence and arguments,
then arriving at the conclusion that God exists. Rather, a properly
basic belief is an assumed belief that someone has derived without the
need for such external evidence or argumentation. An example would be
the belief that the external world is objectively real and not just a
figment of one's imagination. People don't go through a logical process
of examining evidence and argumentation and then conclude the external
world is real! Rather, we assume the objective reality, and such properly basic beliefs are warranted. In a similar
fashion, a person can arrive at the conclusion God exists by simply
knowing, being convinced, that he exists. This is rationally appropriate
because if indeed God does exist, he is a person with the ability to
directly testify to someone of his existence. Similar to the way in
which a child knows his parents exist without the need to prove it or
gather evidence to conclude his parents exist, a person can know that
God exists. This is a properly basic belief. In such cases, it may or
may not lead to the element of trust, so may or may not be authentic
Christian/saving faith. But if not, it certainly is a legitimate belief
that is derived in a manner apart from external evidence and
argumentation. Such a faith is not irrational as it is not necessarily
opposed to knowledge or logic but simply derived in an immediate manner
through a personal encounter with the living God. In such cases, it is
highly likely, indeed probable, the person seeks to understand and even
verify the belief with external evidence and argumentation. As the great
theologian, Anselm stated it, fides quaerens intellectum
"Faith seeking understanding". For Anselm, this would apply to the one
who had authentic, "saving" Christian faith and seeks deeper knowledge
of God.
Now,
to the other part of your question. Is this understanding of the
relationship between faith and knowledge biblical and how does it align
(or not) with the passages you specifically mention? The biblical
support for a properly basic belief in God (whether "saving" faith or
not) seems to be rather obvious so I will refer to one passage but many
could be cited. The call of Abraham seems to be such an example in Gen
12:1-7. The narrative could certainly be said to pick up in mid-stream
in verse one without providing some set of previous events that could
indicate this encounter with God was more in line with a culmination of
external evidence and argumentation. We see such encounters with God of
course, such as the case of Moses where the burning bush and turning the
staff into a serpent function as external evidence and argumentation to
convince Moses. But here in Gen 12:1 the text simply says, "Now the
Lord had said..." (NKJV) or "Now the Lord said..." (ESV). Further, in
verse 7 we see that God appeared to Abraham and "said". There is no
indication in these texts of external signs and wonders as we see in
other places. Yet Abraham built an altar to the Lord and moved on as God
had commanded so clearly Abraham believed. And of course, we're told in
Rom 4:3 that Abraham believed God. Many more passages likewise seem to
indicate an immediate, personal experience with God that results in
belief.
But
does the Bible support the idea that faith relates to knowledge as
described above in regards to external knowledge and argumentation? Yes,
I believe it clearly does. Again, there are many passages that could be
cited but I will only cite a couple of key passages that illustrate the
point and then address Proverbs 3:5-6 and Heb 11:1. First to consider
is the passage describing Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush
in Exodus 3-4:17. This encounter is clearly an encounter with God in
which God appears externally rather than in a purely internal manner.
Moses obviously saw a bush burning but not being consumed, he heard an
audible voice, God reasoned with him and gave him signs to help assure
and convince him, and God even said the signs he promised would be used
to convince Israel so they would believe (4:4-9). God uses the external
testimony of reason by way of signs and argumentation to convince Moses
so he would ultimately have faith to carry out God's plan. And God told
Moses that he would give him powerful signs so Israel would believe that
the God of their fathers was real, had seen their suffering, and was
with Moses to deliver them.
Another
great example of the relationship between knowledge and faith is seen
in John 11, the narrative of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Here,
Jesus makes it very clear he wants to use this situation as an external
sign for people to see and believe. He tells his disciples this in verse
15. He then says it in prayer to the Father in verse 42, and then we
see John tell us in verse 45 that many believed because of the things
they saw Jesus do. Without a doubt, this is a great example of how
people often arrive at authentic Christian faith in a manner that aligns
with the human faculty of reason. People see the miracles performed by
Jesus, understand what they see, agree that, as he had claimed, he must
be more than just a mere man, and then trusted in him.
But
does Proverbs 3:5-6 mitigate against this understanding? Not at all. We
must see 3:5-6 in the context set by the passage in the first 4 verses.
The key is verse 1 - the writer is admonishing his son to *not* forsake
the commandments that he had passed on to him. That's the point of the
passage. It takes the faculty of reason to understand that instruction
and those commands! Then the writer is encouraging his son to trust the
Lord and be humble. The admonition to "lean not on your own
understanding" in this context is not meant to discourage thinking or
reasoning. Rather, it is meant as a warning the son to not allow his
reasoning to lead to a rejection of God and his commands. The admonition
is to not be arrogant and think that his understanding and wisdom is
greater than his father's and God's. So this passage seems to offer
nothing contrary at all to the concept of reason working hand-in-hand
with faith but instead functions as a warning against arrogance.
Arrogance is actually a dangerous state of mind that obscures one's
rational thinking!
But
what about Heb 11:1 and how are we to understand it in the light of
this question? To understand Heb 11:1 we need to examine also 11:6, 13,
and 19. By taking these 4 verses together from Heb 11 we see that the
writer is focusing primarily on that third element of faith, the element
of trust and confidence. In the case of Heb 11, the writer chooses to
provide numerous examples of historical figures who put their confidence
in God's promises to such a degree they were willing to sacrifice and
do great things based on that confidence. In verse one, that confidence
is so strong it is as if it's a tangible possession of the thing hoped
for. The one who has this kind of faith is so confident, trusts God so
completely, it is as if he has the promise when in fact he does not yet
have it. But the one with faith trusts God completely to deliver on his
promise. Such trust motivates one to act as if he or she already
possesses the promise but simply hasn't received it yet. That kind of
faith is what James talks about being accompanied by works because it
apprehends the thing hoped for, trusted in, and believed in, to such a
degree that it changes one's life to become oriented around the object
of faith. This is exactly what the writer of Hebrews is demonstrating
with the "faith hall of fame". These heroes of faith so believed God
that it changed how they lived. They lived not by sight because God had
not yet delivered on his promise. Rather, they lived by faith having
such confidence in God that he would deliver on his promise, it was as
if they had already received it or had solid, tangible evidence of it.
Verse
6 is fascinating in that it reveals two elements of faith explicitly
and implies the first element. The person of faith can please God
because he comes to God (this is the implied first element because
obviously such a person has understood certain things in order to come
at all) believing that God exists demonstrating the intellectual assent
that what he or she has heard is indeed true, that God exists! Then the
third element of faith is demonstrated when the person with God-pleasing
faith trusts that God is good and is a rewarder of those who diligently
or sincerely seek him as previously demonstrated by the heroes of
faith. This verse is a very nice explanation of the three elements of
Christian faith. Verse 13 demonstrates what the writer mentioned in
verse one. The people with faith saw as it were the fulfilled promises
of God from afar. They didn't have the promises of God in the here and
now but had such trust and confidence in God they lived as pilgrims
simply passing through this world on their way to receive the promises
of God. It changed their perspective and how they lived. They were
assured of receiving the promises, they had complete trust and
confidence. This is the key third element of saving faith.
Finally,
verse 19 is very instructive in showing the link between this kind of
trust and confidence to the human faculty of reasoning. Abraham
"concluded" that God could even raise Isaac from the dead if need be.
This indicates intellectual deliberation or reasoning. The Greek word
used here is "logizomai" coming from the root "logos" from which we get
the word logic. It is a verb in this verse indicating the act of
reasoning, thinking through, considering something. The writer of
Hebrews is telling us that Abraham thought about it, reasoning that
based on what he knew of God, his past experiences, God's promises, etc,
he could trust God's ability, willingness, goodness, and faithfulness,
to fulfill his promise even if it meant raising Isaac from the dead! Far
from blind, unreasoning faith, Abraham's faith was a rational faith. It
was a faith that was interrelated to Abraham's knowledge of God based
on experiences (evidence), and his rational processes of reasoning, but
also a faith that went beyond intellectual assent to a profound trust
and confidence in God. It was a trust and confidence growing out of his
knowledge of and experience with God, not in spite of it.
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