Is faith a reliable way to know truth?

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Jun 4, 2018
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#82
If evidence doesn't hold up to scrutiny, then how is anyone ever convicted of a crime?
I think you misunderstood me, I meant that faith does not hold up to scrutiny. Evidence should hold up to scrutiny, therefore faith is not evidence. Sorry, English is not my first language.
 

Stunnedbygrace

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2015
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#83
I think you misunderstood me, I meant that faith does not hold up to scrutiny. Evidence should hold up to scrutiny, therefore faith is not evidence. Sorry, English is not my first language.
But how can a blind man see the evidence in order to state that it does not hold up to scrutiny?
 
Mar 28, 2016
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#84
If, for example, a Hindu says "I have faith that Vishnu is my lord and saviour", does that make Vishnu true?
No, the faith must be reckoned as the exclusive faith that comes from hearing the God of the scriptures, called prophecy .There is no other source of faith by which we could known him who is not a man as us . This includes out of body experience or near death or any other as to what some call sign gifts as a way of them proving they are with God .Those who know him not are reckoned as having "no faith" .Not a little but none . The word faith as a work in the scripture refers to that of God alone. It is the free gift he gives to men as He works in them to both will and do his good pleasure .

Deuteronomy 32:20 King James Version (KJV) And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is "no faith".
 

maxwel

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2013
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#85
I have never claimed not to believe the truth, nor that I don't believe in the LORD.

While it is true that I do not claim to be a Christian, can you show me in the scriptures where a person must claim to be a Christian?

We all know you're not a Christian.

1. Christians don't clearly say in their profile they're NOT Christians.

2. Christians don't get upset when someone asks if they're Christians.

3. Christians don't do everything possible to keep from admitting they're Christians.

4. Christians don't hide their beliefs at any time, least of all right in the midst of their fellow Christians.

5. Christians don't spin vague statements, and fearfully hide behind them, to conceal their beliefs from all enquiry.

6. Finally.... Christians don't show up in threads that attack the Christian faith, and then JOIN in that attack on the Christian faith.



We all KNOW you're not a Christian: you admit you're not a Christian, and you even attack the Christian faith... so let's just dispense with all the double-talk you keep putting up like a smokescreen.


What DO you believe?
Are you an atheist?
Are you a deist?
Are you a Muslim?
Are you a Buddhist?
Are you in some weird cult that you're too ashamed to even mention?
What is it?


How about just act like a man, and tell everyone what you actually believe?


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Mar 28, 2016
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#88
But how can a blind man see the evidence in order to state that it does not hold up to scrutiny?
It has more to do with the spiritually blind, deaf and dumb .We walk or understand Him, as the faith of the unseen, faithful Creator .

Isaiah 29:18And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.


Its the whole crux of his ministry

John 9:39And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see "not" might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

Man looks upon the outside. God looks upon the heart .He alone can soften it.
 
Jun 4, 2018
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#89
It has more to do with the spiritually blind, deaf and dumb .We walk or understand Him, as the faith of the unseen, faithful Creator .

Isaiah 29:18And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.


Its the whole crux of his ministry

John 9:39And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see "not" might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

Man looks upon the outside. God looks upon the heart .He alone can soften it.
What do you mean by "We "walk" or understand him"?
Also why does Jesus say that "they which see might be made blind"?
 

Stunnedbygrace

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2015
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#90
IT is Ephesians 2:8 and I've copied it from the translation called NLT. Some don't like the translation but I can NOT understand KJV.

8God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

It is saying that God saved you by His kindness (grace) when you believed. And you can't take credit for this believing because it was a gift from God.

Another word some translations use in place of believing is faith, but that's not the part that I thought might help you so much. The part I thought might possibly help you is where it says that this believing is a gift from God.

So one verse says that faith is evidence and another says it is a gift from God.

So He has a gift He wants to give you, and it's also the evidence you seek.
 

Stunnedbygrace

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2015
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#92
So when someone says, we are saved by grace through faith, and that faith not of ourselves - they are saying God saves men because He is kind and the way He saves them is through faith and that faith is a gift He gives them- it doesn't come from themselves or their mind or their debating.
 

Stunnedbygrace

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2015
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#93
Also why does Jesus say that "they which see might be made blind"?
Ah that's a good one! :)
Other translations say it more like...that those who think they can see might be made blind.
Which ties into what we were talking about earlier. Men don't know they're blind. They think they can see. Since they think they can see, they certainly aren't going to ask a physician to heal them.
 

Stunnedbygrace

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2015
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#94
Ah that's a good one! :)
Other translations say it more like...that those who think they can see might be made blind.
Which ties into what we were talking about earlier. Men don't know they're blind. They think they can see. Since they think they can see, they certainly aren't going to ask a physician to heal them.
Similarly, it is only men who see they are destitute who will ask for help. Rich men (or men who think they're rich) certainly won't ask for help because they think they don't need help.
 
Mar 23, 2016
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#95
Whereas scientists say "We don't know how it happened." and stop there.
That is not entirely true. Our school books are filled with scientific theory and the theory is set forth as proven fact.
 

Stunnedbygrace

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2015
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#96
Similarly, it is only men who see they are destitute who will ask for help. Rich men (or men who think they're rich) certainly won't ask for help because they think they don't need help.
I retrieved another that might help.
Revelation 3:17
You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
 
Mar 23, 2016
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#97
How about John 5:39-40 search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life

It is possible to read Scripture and miss the whole point.
 
Jun 4, 2018
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#98
It's just that back when I believed in God, I did ask for faith, and I prayed for the holy spirit. I never got an answer.
 
Jun 4, 2018
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#99
That is not entirely true. Our school books are filled with scientific theory and the theory is set forth as proven fact.
Maybe in the US, but that is not my experience. At least not about things that haven't been proven beyond reasonable doubt.
 

Stunnedbygrace

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2015
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It reminds me of a tv show I watched once. I watched a few episodes because I was stunned by what I saw. It was all of these really wealthy housewives and each episode started with snips of each of them saying things like: I'm rich and everybody wishes they were me. Or, I have a perfect life and jets and cars and maids and my life is magical and wonderful.

Then the show would start and you saw how miserable they were and it was like a huge trainwreck and they literally couldn't see they were miserable and still insisted they were living the happy dream!
 
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