Let's discuss reality...Part I: Defining Faith.

What is real and what is not? If I can see it, touch it, smell it, hear it, taste it, then it must be real? Philosophers will argue for something far more abstract, but for the rest of us ordinary thinkers, let's keep it at ground level.

If any of my five senses can perceive an object, it must have some substance or basis in reality, even if it cannot be detected by all of my senses. But, for discussion's sake, let's assume I have only one sense available to me - the sense of hearing. I cannot see, taste, touch or smell. My whole world is constructed from my sense of hearing, and indeed it is a very limited world. For if you try to explain to me the smell of roses, or their vibrant red color, or their soft petals, you will find that I probably will not believe you. I have plenty of reasons to doubt you, based on what I know the world to be.

If I do however believe you, that is faith. I may not know how roses smell, look or feel, but because I trust you, I believe that roses exist. And because I believe you, roses are red, smell wonderful and have soft petals. This is the essence of faith - that when something that is essentially unknowable to me is revealed to me by the ONLY means I can know the world by, I believe in that which is revealed to me. In this case, it is the existence of a thing called roses.

When somebody asks me about God and why I believe in an Almighty Creator God, who is a loving Father, I point to Jesus Christ, whom I liken to the person who came to explain to me (with only a sense of hearing) patiently and kindly about roses. He came, embodied the Creator God, spoke of a higher reality - a spiritual realm - and most importantly, demonstrated love that completely contradicts the "survival of the fittest" mentality I was conditioned since young to have.

Therefore, to quote C.S. Lewis, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Postscript: This explanation is not unfamiliar to those who have read sufficiently widely and deeply, but for both our sakes, I pray you recognize the intent of this blog, that is to educate those who do not yet know better.