Only Believe

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  (He. 11:1)

For we walk by faith, not by sight.  (2Co. 5:7)

An idea that has given me pause of late is the idea that science can prove the truth of the Bible.  I am not a scientist, so I can’t say for sure.  A Google search of “creation science” led me to numerous organizations that believe in the idea that the biblical account of the creation of the universe is accurate and that evolution is a false science designed to lead us all to hell.  I also found numerous websites stating the exact opposite.  I will let wiser heads than my own battle this out. 

I just have one thing to say.  Scientific proof of the truth of the Bible would spell disaster for Christians.  Salvation comes by faith in something we can’t prove but hope for.  If the proof is ever provided, faith has no part in the Christian belief system.  The scripture would have to be changed to, “For we walk by sight, not by faith.”

When faith is taken out of the equation, then there can be no salvation.  Put another way, God rewards people who believe in Him without evidence.  If the evidence is provided, then there would be no reward.

Abraham believed that God told him to sacrifice Isaac.  He had no proof that he was hearing from God, but he went ahead with it, anyway.  At the last second, God called it off and rewarded Abraham for his faith.  If Abraham had some evidence that God was really telling him to do the sacrifice—an angelic visit, an email—then faith would have had nothing to do with it, and Abraham would not have received the great reward that God gave him.

Salvation happens when people make the choice to believe what they can not prove.  Why, then do Bible-believing people insist on contradicting the biblical definition of faith?  I think it’s because they’re neurotic.

Fundamentalist Christians believe that there is only one way, one truth, one life; and any variation from that leads to perdition.  There is no salvation outside of the narrow boundaries set by the local pastor’s interpretation of the Bible.  So every other religion is a cult, every denomination is apostate, every other congregation is heretical.  And every other individual Christian is scrutinized for the tell-tale signs of sin, whatever they may be.

This is the narrow Fundamentalist world.  And these are the people who think they have the sole authority to govern America.  I’ll talk about this in my next post.