If you're going to critique something
basic to Christianity,
don't be blind to what you're critiquing.
I'm Tim Barnett, and today we're applying
some red pen
logic to a tweet from Atheist Quote Bot
quoting well-known atheist, Peter
Boghossian.
Class is in session.
This is Red Pen Logic with Mr. B, where we
help you assess bad thinking by using
good thinking. Plus, we have some fun in
the process.
In today's example, Atheist Quote Bot
offers a definition of faith from
atheist, Peter Boghossian. The tweet simply reads,
Definition of Faith: Pretending to know
things you don't know."
This is a quote from Boghossian's book, "A
Manual for Creating Atheists." It should
have been called, "A Manual for Creating
Atheists Who Create Straw Men."
All right, it's time for Mr. B to pull out the red
pen and respond to Dr. B.
See what I did there? First, Boghossian's
definition isn't biblical.
It may be his definition, but it's not
the Bible's definition.
If you want to critique another's view,
you have to critique their view
and not your own distortion of their
view. Otherwise, you'll just be jousting
with a straw man. Boghossian is welcome
to make up his own definition of faith—
have at it—but he isn't welcome to make
up what the Bible means when it uses the
word.
Boghossian's definition of faith is not
our definition of faith.
Ours is actually just the opposite.
Biblically informed Christians define
faith as trusting in what you have good
reason to believe is true.
And where would they get such a crazy
idea? I'm glad you
asked. Consider John chapter 20, "Now
Jesus did many other signs
(those would be miracles) in the presence
of His disciples, which are not written
in this book; but these are written (why,
John?) so that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in His name."
Note John clearly states that belief is
based on evidence.
The whole reason John wrote his Gospel
was to provide trustworthy
eyewitness evidence to base belief on.
Does that sound like John wants us to
believe without evidence?
Or how about these statements from
the Bible: "To these He also presented
Himself alive after His suffering, by
many convincing proofs, appearing to them
over the period of 40 days
and speaking of the things concerning
the kingdom of God."
And: "Even though you do not believe Me,
believe the works (that is, the miracles), that you may know
and understand the Father is in Me, and I
am in the Father." Now, someone could say
the evidence is inadequate—
fair enough—but that doesn't mean
there's no appeal to evidence. So,
Boghossian
gets faith wrong. Sorry. But there's a
second problem. Boghossian says Christians
think faith is a way of knowing,
pretending to know things you don't know.
Christian faith is trust
based on knowledge grounded in evidence.
Each part of that sentence
is important. Faith, or trust, rests on
knowledge, which in turn
rests on reliable evidence. So, we put our
trust in something we know
because of the evidence. Boghossian says
faith is a bad way of knowing. He's right.
But biblical faith is not a way of
knowing,
it's a way of trusting. First, we know
something based on reliable evidence.
Then, we
act on our knowledge by putting our
faith in it. So, faith and knowledge are
connected, but they're in different
categories. Faith is not a way of knowing
(or epistemology for you philosophy nerds—
you know who you are). Rather, it's a way
of trusting in what you have reason to
believe is true.
It's an act of the will. So, what have we
learned? First, Boghossian misrepresents
faith by defining it as "pretending to
know what you don't know." This definition
of faith may serve his own purpose, but
it doesn't accurately reflect the
teachings of biblical Christianity.
Boghossian doesn't critique what
biblically informed Christians
actually believe, which is trusting in
what you have reason to believe is true.
Second, Boghossian treats faith as a way of
knowing, but faith doesn't belong in the
knowledge category.
Rather, faith is in the act of will
category. It's your response to what
you've come to know
through other means. Sadly, many, like
Atheist Quote Bot, will blindly believe
Boghossian without looking into what
Christianity actually teaches.
Ironically, he just asserts his
definition of faith without any evidence.
That's right, Boghossian, who attacks blind
faith, expects
you to accept his definition of faith on
blind faith.
Don't take bait. Class dismissed.
