A Few Words About "Blind Faith"

"If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit" –– Mt. 15:14

The next episode of The Humble Skeptic podcast will be released sometime before the end of October and will explore the issue of “blind faith.” Over the summer I recorded close to a hundred man-on-the-street interviews at various Christian gatherings, such as megachurches, concerts, and conventions. So this small informal poll represents Christian believers from a wide variety of faith backgrounds and denominational affiliations.

In response to the question, “What is faith?”, the overwhelming majority of respondents I interviewed answered by saying something along these lines: “It’s a blind leap in the dark”…It’s something that you can’t see with your eyes, but you can feel”…“It’s a gut thing.” In other words, in their view, faith is an entirely personal and subjective thing, rooted not in external realities or publicly revealed truths, but in a person’s inner feelings and experiences.

I recently played some of these clips during an interview with Dr. Dennis Johnson (this episode will air next month) and I asked him if he could ever recall a scene from the book of Acts in which one of the apostles spoke about Jesus, saying in effect, “Take the leap — believe in Jesus! You’ll know it’s true in your gut!” Dr. Johnson, who is the author of The Message of Acts in the History of Redemption, and Let’s Study Acts, simply said, “No. No, I can’t remember a message like that in any of the sermons we find throughout the book of Acts.”

We should also point out that Jesus himself doesn’t appear to encourage blind faith. Consider, for example, his comments in Mt. 15:14 in which he referred to some of the Pharisees as “blind guides.” “If the blind lead the blind,” he said, “both will fall into a pit.” Jesus’ warning seems to be relatively straightforward. Blindly following religious authorities should be avoided at all costs, since the results can actually be catastrophic. Therefore, each of us should carefully examine and evaluate the claims made by those in authority — religious or otherwise!

This seems to be the approach taken by Luke at the opening of his Gospel. In fact, he specifically says in verses 3 and 4 that he’s writing to Theophilus in order to give him “certainty” concerning the things he’s been taught. So then, how does he end up doing that? Does he say, “Dear Theophilus, the words I’m writing are inspired by God, and this is why you can have certainty!” No. Did he say, “Dear Theophilus, as you read these words, pray that God would confirm them to you by giving you a “burning in the bosom.” No, he didn’t say that either. What he did end up saying was that he had carefully investigated all the claims about Jesus by consulting the key witnesses and by writing an orderly account. In other words, he attempted to provide Theophilus with certainty, not by appealing to subjective experience, but to a host of objective facts that could be collected, verified and corroborated.

To be continued…