> I absolutely agree. You can not come to Christ through intellectual assent
> entirely. But as a famous friend of mine has often said, "The heart can not
> rejoice in what the mind believes is false".
Yes. But the heart can surely rejoice in what the mind does not understand.
The issue is often humility of mind. We can often be presumptious in our
judgments about what we believe to be true or false, deceiving ourselves,
and denying us hope. Yet:
hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured
out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
We should *not* put more confidence in our minds than in our hearts. Our
hearts have been illumined from the get-go. Our minds only as time passes.
> If you talk to a number of people who now reside on Talk.Origins, you might
> see this differently. A whole lot of them left the faith because they could
> not find any way to harmonize things. Of course one can say that they were
> never believers in the first place, but I am not quite so comfortable with
> that approach.
Either they never really believed in their hearts or they lost their
faith along the way. The latter is surely possible because so many
have taught Christianity as an intellectual proposition rather than
as an encounter with the living God.
Even apart from issues of science, many lose their faith through
experiences of life that fail their expectations (e.g. an unhappy
marriage, observation of suffering, not being rich).
The solution to such loss of faith is not to provide an intellectual
framework for Christianity anymore than it is to provide marriage
counseling or end poverty and disease or promoting mammon.
The answer is rather to cultivate in each other a devotion to the
person of Jesus Christ. Too many of us are Marthas worrying about
non-essentials rather than Marys who just want to sit at His feet.
For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you
to one husband, that to Christ I might present you {as} a pure virgin.
But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness,
your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity {of
devotion} to Christ. [2 Cor 11:2-3]
Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil,
unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage
one another day after day, as long as it is {still} called "Today,"
lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we
have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our
assurance firm until the end; [Heb 3:12-14]
Even when we find our mind rebelling, we must hold fast. The test will
pass and we will again find our hearts assured. But as we help each
other through such times, let us do it by pointing to faith in Christ
not by trying to propositionally prop up Christianity.
As an illustration, suppose that OJ was innocent of the murders. Many
of those who know him personally seem convinced that he was, whereas
many of us who don't cannot get past all the evidence that points
to his guilt. What if it ultimately turns out that he *is*
innocent, the seemingly overwhelming evidence melts away, and the
real killers revealed? Say this to some people and they will swear
it will never happen, yet stranger things *have* happened.
I don't know whether or not OJ is a murderer, but I *know* Him in whom I
have believed, and I *know* that no matter what may *seem* true in
the short-run, He will be ultimately vindicated. Between here and
there my faith may be tested, but I intend to hold fast until the end.
I don't want to stand before Him one day and say that I had to stop
believing in Him because of all this `evidence' that I thought might
be true at the time. Afterall, He has warned us in advance:
Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess
him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me
before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
[Matt 10:32-33]
It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also
live with Him; If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; If we deny
Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful;
for He cannot deny Himself. [2 Tim 2:11-13]
I want to instead be like John, a man who was absolutely in *love* with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let *all* our good works flow out of such love.
Christianity is *not* propositional. It is relational. I believe that
it will also turn out to be propositionally true, but that is not
essential at the present time. Such a requirement presumes too much
on the value of human knowledge and intellect.
My intellect is only satisfied if I have started from the firm foundation
of believing in Him:
And without faith it is impossible to please {Him}, for he who comes
to God must believe that He is, and {that} He is a rewarder of those
who seek Him. [Heb 11:6]
--Dave