Is faith real or just made up?

Is faith real or just made up?

That’s a good question for the following simple reasons. It will either stop you from trying to find an answer or encourage you to look at this question in an open and honest way. It will also help you realize that you already have a faith-based few of reality, human dignity is one example. Here then is the question you have to answer, will you follow what others tell you or follow the evidence wherever it will lead you? Honest philosophers, historians, scientists would do exactly that.

That’s a  fair question. Fair, because there are so many other faiths around. People of all kind of backgrounds and countries have their own faith. Culture, country, ethnicity, religious background influence the faith you have. We all have faith. Even an atheist has faith, she cannot prove her atheism scientifically, does she? Since we all have a certain level of faith in what we hold as true it is not strange by itself to have faith. The question then is not if faith is real but which faith explains reality in a better way. Because that’s what faith is supposed to do, help us understand reality and make sense out of it.

But why do people reject faith?

Some people reject faith because they have intellectual objections to the idea of a personal God. They may say that faith and reason are incompatible. Faith, in their thinking, is unreasonable. Others may reject faith because they had negative experiences with religion. Sometimes our own culture may discourage us to consider the question of faith in God. We are living in a scientific and technological advancing age, faith is something for the less informed and uneducated. Science will finally explain everything some people would say. There are also reasons that go deeper, reasons that are related to making a commitment to a certain faith. People may reject faith because they do not want to change their lifestyle. This is a more personal and subjective reason to reject faith, but it is certainly a real one.

Why do you reject faith?

You may reject faith because of the above-mentioned reasons. Or you may have other reasons that are holding you back.  You may simply not have enough time. Or you may not see the need for faith in God at this stage in your life. Or you may not know from where to start searching for an answer to these questions. Here are some thoughts that might help you in your faith journey.

First, find out why you reject faith in God. You could write these objections down. Be honest with yourself and try to find out how people have responded to the objections you mentioned. Here are two links that could help you find reasonable answers, every student and bethinking. Second, leave a comment and I will be happy to respond.

Notes

– There are different reasons why people reject faith. Four of them mentioned in this post are taken from a talk given by Alister McGrath. Reasons of the mind, of memory, of the culture, of the heart.