THE HEAVY WEIGHT BATTLE FOR FAITH:
BELIEF VERSUS TRUTH
We want to know what is true. We need to know what is really real. It is matter of survival and can make the difference between life and death.
There are certain aspects about the Universe which we cannot change as much as we would like to. Gravity is one of those aspects. I would like to be able to fly, but jumping off the Empire State Building with nothing more than a really strong belief that I can fly will only result in my death on the sidewalk below. However, knowledge about additional aspects of the universe will enable someone to construct a tool that allows us to fly up to 37000 feet off the ground and travel to New York in about three hours. Additional knowledge would allow someone else to build a similar but different tool that would be able to escape the pull of Earth’s gravity entirely and fly to some distant planet. So, consider the power of Truth versus Belief. Pixy dust and wishing on a star will get you killed, but well thought out science and sound engineering will get you safely to heights only previously dreamed about. Both methods represent an approach to testing a belief system. One is wishful thinking and the other is knowledge. Both are beliefs but which of these beliefs can be said to be true?
This isn’t a battle between science and religion. This is a discussion about Truth versus Belief. Is Faith in God something built on truth? Or is Faith in God something built on Belief?
Faith is something that needs to be built on truth. Truth is a rock to build a foundation upon. Faith built on belief is a faith built on the possibility of falsehoods and therefore it is built on a foundation of sand.
Does God care more about what you believe or does God care more about what is true?
When people talk about Faith, I hear them using the word in a context that often means Belief, not always, but often. There are plenty of scripture references that use the term Faith in a manner that means Belief. Sermons talk about the necessity of Believing in the face of opposition. High School graduation ceremonies are conducted with speeches about standing up for what you believe. Movies portray the hero and heroine overcoming trials by believing in themselves. There are philosophies that describe the power of positive thinking and bringing into reality the desires of your heart by the power of your belief. Our culture is enamored with this thing called Belief.
The idea that Belief is a virtue is a mistake and if you can give me a few minutes of your time, I’d like to explain why God does not care about your confidence in your beliefs, rather God cares more about your motivation and desire to understand Truth. Understanding the difference has a direct correlation to Faith.
First, as we try to unravel the knots of our cultural upbringing, some definitions of terms need to be clarified. One of the challenges in determining what is true is that the definitions people use are often different for different people. This is the case even if people share the same language. An agreement on definitions is going to get us a long way down the path to a common understanding. As you read this article, please keep in mind that when I use the following words, I am using them with these definitions (presented in non-alphabetical order):
TRUTH = The way things really are
BELIEF = That which we think is true, but not necessarily true
EVIDENCE = Information indicating whether a belief is valid
KNOWLEDGE = A belief proven to be true
DECEPTION = That which is not according to reality but seems to be real
LIE = A deception presented deliberately
WISDOM = Knowledge used in a practical manner for the benefit of the greater whole
UNIVERSE = All things in existence
GOD = The force or intelligence that created all things, has knowledge of all things and has power over all things
FAITH = The attitude or motivation to know God’s will and act accordingly
These are the definitions and these are the limits of the definitions. I recognize that there is a host of additions that have been attached to these words and we can argue for hours and hours about the actual meanings of these words. In a different context, those different definitions may have important nuances to increase our understanding about other topics. For today’s purposes, I am going to limit myself to these definitions and I hope that will make the distinction between belief and truth more apparent to anyone who may read this.
Another example, this time from my childhood. I used to watch more than my fair share of television. As a very young child I was impressed by a Snicker Candy Bar commercial that frequently played on TV. In the commercial, someone was enjoying eating their Snicker Bars and explaining how it gets them through the day. In the background a narrator extolled the virtues of this heavenly snack while a choir that sounded like angels sang “Snickers satisfies youuuu!” One of the sequences in the commercial showed a hand, holding peanuts. The hand closed over the peanuts and opened again revealing another Snickers bar ready for consumption.
This commercial made a strong impression on me. “What if?!!” What if I could conjure up a Snickers Bar? Determined to try, I looked for a handful of peanuts. The only source I had available at the time was a Salted Peanut Roll bar. Which was perfect because I really enjoyed eating those too. So I picked all the peanuts off the surface of the roll and ate the candy bar minus the nuts. Then armed with all the remaining peanuts and a strong belief in miracles, I hid myself in the basement and engaged in a battle of belief versus truth. I may have begun with a prayer, but I distinctly recall holding the peanuts in one hand and closing my eyes and willing them to transform into a Snickers Bar. The first attempt proved to be inconclusive when I opened my eyes and still held a handful of peanuts and no candy bar. Perhaps I didn’t have a strong enough desire or belief. Perhaps it was because I was working by a faulty premise. Maybe it was a mistake to employ the use of Salted Peanut Roll Peanuts in an attempt to create a genuine Snickers Bar. Maybe it was the wrong kind of nuts. I put all of the doubts aside and began again, giving more energy to the effort of imagining the Snickers Bar in my hand.
I will spare you a long story and just skip to the end. The peanuts did not transform into a Snickers bar that day. However, over the years I have discovered how to transform a dollar bill into a Snickers bar. If you would like to know how, send me a message in the comment section below and I’ll share with you how this is accomplished. For now, I just want to point out that choosing one methodology over another one does make a difference.
I suppose in retrospect, you really can’t blame a little kid for trying. Every week I went to Sunday School and learned about Jesus transforming water into wine, healing the blind and raising the dead. All by his spoken word. As it was explained to me, it is our belief in Jesus that brings the miracles into our lives. That is what faith is you see, “The assurance of things which are true, the evidence of which is not yet seen.” In other words, faith is belief supported by a really strong conviction. This is how most theologies use the words faith and belief. Unfortunately, this definition and application of the words has created an incredible error. Faith is really not the same thing as Belief. And Belief is really not the same thing as Truth. Errors in theology grow exponentially the more these words get confused.
Here’s why…
God created everything and therefore God set the laws by which the universe operates. So if it is a fact about the universe then it is an aspect of the universe set in motion by God. Which means if it is true about the world we live in, it is true because God made it so. This means that God not only has an invested interest in Truth, actually God is Truth itself. God is that which generates Truth. If we have any hope or desire to connect with God, we ourselves must have a complete desire for truth. We must seek out truth and never ignore it. We must not cling to falsehoods. As soon as a falsehood within us is revealed, we must quickly discard it and replace it with truth.
Belief on the other hand, is that which we think is true from our perspective. Nevertheless, a Belief is not necessarily true. A different perspective often expands our view and opens our understanding to reveal that what was previously a convincing belief is not actually what it once appeared to be. Therefore, any belief must always be held in humility. That is to say, we must have the humility to recognize that our beliefs might be in error.
And so what is Faith? Faith is having a desire to transition from a mere belief in God to having an actual and true knowledge of God. Faith is acting upon the knowledge of things which we currently know to be true. When you act upon that which you know to be true, that is pleasing to God. God is truth after all, so aligning yourself with truth only means that you are aligning yourself with God. Faith is an internal motivation to know and do the will of God.
Faith is not belief because belief can be mistaken. You cannot please God standing up for your beliefs because such an act is an act of pride. In the “standing up for your beliefs”, you are demonstrating that you think you have perfect understanding and have no more need to be taught nor to repent. Therefore it demonstrates a lack of faith because it lacks a willingness to learn truth.
However, being quick to listen to opposing views and ability to consider and reconsider one’s own system of beliefs is a sign of humility. This demonstrates the willingness and capacity to learn new truths as these may present themselves. Embracing new truths is the heart of repentance. That’s why faith is not belief. Faith is acting upon that which we know to be God’s will. Faith is living life according to facts. In short, Faith is accepting God’s Will. If God’s will happens to include the miraculous gifts that we requested in prayer, then Halleluiah! But what if God’s will does not include that requested blessing? Be it according to thy will Oh Lord, for thy wisdom exceedeth all. Accepting the Will of God in good times and in bad is Faith.
Facts are verifiable truths describing the world and the universe. These are made known by the evidences we find in the framework which God established. Human beings observe and experience the world around them and draw conclusions in attempt to understand the universal laws of God. Facts are those things which are established by God. Facts are a description of the universe according to how God designed it. So too are universal laws. These laws of God are unchangeable and these are laws which man could not break even if he tried. Universal laws are the universe as God has made it to be. Searching for facts increases a man's awareness of the world as God created it. Knowing and living in harmony with universal laws gives man an increased capacity to act with wisdom.
Once again, Gravity is the example. The law of gravity cannot be broken. Airplanes do not break the law of gravity. Airplanes make use of other laws like the laws of fluid dynamics, the laws of opposing forces, and the laws of heat energy exchange in conjunction with the law of gravity to produce an effect that appears to break the law of gravity but actually works with the law of gravity. Knowing the laws of God gives man an increased capacity to act in the universe. Ignorance of those laws only results in breaking yourself against the facts. Why risk the perpetuation of ignorance by insisting that your belief is the causal factor of God’s pleasure when it is abundantly evident in the natural world around you that God is a factual God, a God of truth and the universal laws of nature don’t care if you believe or not? Your capacity to survive life and your capacity to please God are only conditional on your willingness to accept truth. The laws of the universe honor the individual who lives by those laws by allowing the individual to continue on in life.
Faith is not and cannot be a measurement of Belief. As we have discussed, your belief means nothing ultimately if it is not a belief in that which is true. Truth means everything. So faith is only a measurement of your willingness to accept truth as it is presented to you.
Defining Faith as believing in something without evidence is one of the most deceived positions you can accept. Believing without evidence is the essence of saying you have no valid information to back up your postulation. It is declaring that you have no reasonable way to demonstrate the accuracy of your assertions. It is the open declaration that you are willing to accept deception at all costs in order to maintain that which you believe. Remember that it is written "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). This does not exclude all evidence, but merely the evidence of sight. An "assurance" implies that evidence of some type has indeed been given, even if it is the evidence of a still small voice or the evidence of a heart filled with light. These may provide the beginning of the search for sure knowledge and though it may be small in degree compared to a visible confirmation, it is still an evidence. Nevertheless, acting on that assurance is still different than acting on a belief.
This is difficult to recognize in one’s own self, but abundantly easy to see in others. For example, imagine you have a friend who is participating in a religion you are absolutely certain is a false cult that will ultimately lead to their ruin. You want to save this friend. How do you approach them and how would you expect them to respond? You would approach them by respectfully and kindly laying out the facts, both the good and bad of the situation. And they would respond by carefully considering everything that you told them. They would study it out. They would pray about it. They would do some follow up investigation and they would be doing this while recognizing all along that the things they are studying and considering are in complete and total opposition to the teachings of the cult. When they perceived the reality of what you had warned them about, they would begin to make changes. They would repent. It might take some time, but they would make every effort to weed out the falsehoods and embrace the good truths that you shared with them.
Now imagine you are that friend in the cult? If you happened to be trapped in such a situation, how would you ever get yourself out of it if you were so confident in your beliefs that it wouldn’t allow you to even question the system of beliefs itself? You couldn’t escape the faulty religion because doubting the belief system is portrayed as the sin itself! If you can’t give yourself the freedom to reconsider what you think you know then you can never allow a message of repentance to take hold within your heart. That is why Belief is NOT the basis of Faith!
Are you going to let others create a list of rules for you to live by, what you can eat, what you can read, who you can associate with all based on a myth? The thought is unthinkable, which means you should have a compelling love for truth and you should have a high motivation for increasing your capacity to discern what is real. You should be able to explain why you believe what you believe and give plausible reasons for it. And you should be able to leave the door of belief unlocked and allow new evidence in at any time to allow yourself the freedom to change whenever new information is received.
Keep in mind that none of this discounts the marvelous gifts of God. None of this excludes the spiritual insights or promptings that religious people seek for and attempt to follow. There are experiences which many people have had which they can only attribute to a power outside the natural world. When these accounts are related to us in a first hand, eye witness setting, we have an opportunity to consider one of the most compelling evidences of an all knowing, all powerful intelligence that just might have a desire and motivation to interact with human beings.
The most compelling form of evidence that may validate the idea that the force that created all things, has knowledge of all things and has power over all things has taken on the express form of a being that we can relate to on a human level is the eye witness accounts. There are miraculous experiences that people of all religions report about. A google search using the words, “God healed me” will provide dozens of video testimony accounts of people who prayed to God and received sudden relief from physical pain. Notice their religious affiliations are multiple and various. They are Catholic, they are Protestant, they are Baptist, they are Seventh Day Adventist, they are Jehovah’s Witness, they are Mormon, they are Jewish, they are Islamic, they are Hindu, and they are Buddhist, and so on. God answered their prayers. They have submitted their witness statements to the world. So we have an abundance of evidence in the form of witness statements that God answers prayers irrespective of religious affiliation.
Well that challenges some claims doesn’t it? There are those who claim to be the only authority of God on earth and yet here is God going about the world impudently healing people without getting permission from those men who sit in their red seats of authority. Maybe God answers prayers not because of their religions but despite their religions.
And try google searching “I saw God” and you will find additional witness statements of people who have had some kind of experience with the divine. Granted some are not so credible. Nevertheless, some are reasonable enough accounts for us to stop and consider just how accessible is that force which governs all things? Once again, is that universal force or intelligence accessible by our beliefs? Or is it accessible by our willingness to accept truth?
Well that is the conclusion of this essay. God is accessible by our willingness to accept truth.
Please note, I did not spend any amount of time in discussing how to recognize truth nor how to deal with the challenge of confronting contradictory evidences and so on. Though I had intended to do exactly that, I am discovering the complexity of the topic will take more effort than a short essay such as this. I hope to be able to provide a presentation on how to determine what is true at a later date. For now, this essay is laying the foundation for such a discussion. Also, I avoided selecting examples that are at the forefront of our religious debates. We can pick those subjects up at a different time. But I did not want the main point to get sidetracked on hot button issues. I am well aware of the many scriptures that directly link faith and belief. You may quote them anew and I will reconsider my position anew if it appears to be warranted. At this time, in my mind, such scriptures do not contradict what I have laid out here. I find the case for a God of Truth much more compelling than the case for a God of Belief. In fact, as I read many of those scripture references, I see a context that is much more supportive for such a God. Which is exactly why I have written this essay. Nevertheless, if you have a more compelling case to make and you can change my mind, I would consider myself indebted to you for increasing my understanding.
For now, my only hope is that if you were able to make it to the end of this essay, that the conclusions you will walk away with are the following:
God is a God of truth.
We please God by our acceptance of truth.
Belief is not necessarily truth.
Faith is not belief.
Faith is our desire to do the will of God.
Faith is exercised by actually doing what we know we should be doing right now.
The result is that we ought to be slow to declare that we KNOW anything and we ought to be willing to listen openly to differing viewpoints, ever ready to accept new understanding from any source that may teach us a little something more about truth.
