Some people use “faith” to mean believing something without evidence, or even against it. If that were what Christianity asked for, suspicion would be fair.
Faith as trust
In the Bible, faith is closer to trust. You trust a friend, a doctor or a bridge because of what you know about them. That trust goes further than you can prove, but it is not blind. Christian faith is meant to work the same way: trust in God that grows out of what can be known about Jesus.
Belief in God is not something a laboratory can prove or disprove, the way it tests a chemical reaction. But the historical claims about Jesus, the philosophical arguments and the questions about meaning can all be examined critically.
Use your mind
Asked for the greatest commandment, Jesus included the mind:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Matthew 22:37
Luke, one of the Gospel writers, explains that he investigated carefully before writing, so that his reader could be sure of the facts:
…it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.
Luke 1:3–4
Many of the pioneers of modern science, including Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday, believed they were studying an orderly world made by God. Many scientists today say the same about their own work.
Questions are welcome
None of this guarantees certainty, and not every Christian argument is convincing. The New Testament expects people to ask, and tells Christians to be ready to explain their hope, gently and respectfully:
Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear.
1 Peter 3:15
So bring your questions, and ask what the evidence supports and where questions remain open. If you would like to think some of this through with a person, you can start a conversation.
