Faith and Reason

You wrote:

I think we agreed a while ago that faith can be separate from reason. Like the division of church and state. One day I will get you to "If A then not necessarily A" as a real-world concept :-)

Several points:

• That's not to say that faith is without reason, or that reason is entirely divorced from faith. There are good, logical reasons to believe that the elements of our faith have valid basis. My point is that contemporary evangelical attempts to treat Christianity as some irrefutable claim is folly. By design, I believe. The Bible is too full of exhortations to believe without full proof for it to be true that one should believe only when full proof is given.
• The best analogy to this I've heard was from my present pastor, Dr. Joe Bettridge -- paraphrased: "Imagine a frozen lake. You look out across the ice and wonder if the ice is strong enough to support your weight. You see others out on the ice, so you have good reason to believe that it is strong enough. But you can't be entirely certain until you actually step out on the ice. So you tentatively step on the edge of the ice and test the strength at that point. As you gain confidence that the ice is indeed strong enough, you venture further still. That is the nature of faith."
• I will never concede on the "If A, then A" supposition. If for no other reason than to prove that I can be more stubborn than you, my friend.

I am preparing to depart for Canada this week to teach there, then up to my cottage with my friend from Michigan to open the cottage for the summer. I will smoke a few cigars, but have no vodka. Moderate beer and wine. I will send you some pictures upon my return.

I will have access to this Blog and e-mail up through Thursday of this week. Then I'll "go dark" for four or five days. :-)

Other posts coming ...