When it comes to our belief in God, Jesus, and the Bible, must we “take it on faith”? Not only is this a common accusation made by critics of the Christian faith, but too often many Christians accept this as an answer to critical questions. For example, when asked, Why do you believe the Bible is God’s word? someone might respond, “Well, I just take it on faith.” To be honest, my response would be, “What on earth does that mean?” What does it mean to “take something on faith”? Do you really mean that you believe something is true despite not having (or knowing) any evidence to support your belief? If so, your belief is – by your own admission – not credible. The God of the universe who wants us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19) has not left us a gospel with no credibility.
God gives us just enough evidence so that those who want Him can have Him.
-Peter Kreeft
The Bible does not present faith as blind. In Chapter Two of John’s Gospel we find a couple of examples of evidence-based faith in Jesus’ disciples.
“Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.” -John 2:11
“While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing.” -John 2:23
As you see, the disciples didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah because he said so, or because they “took it on faith”. They believed Jesus was the Messiah because he performed signs and made predictions about His death and resurrection. Was there room for doubt? Absolutely, there always is. However, after examining the evidence, the disciples found it reasonable to believe Jesus was the Messiah and therefore placed their trust in Him. They were so convinced of His resurrection that they laid down their lives for the truth. The point I’m trying to make is that they didn’t “take it on faith” in the sense that faith means belief even though there is a lack of evidence. They believed because of the evidence.
Like the disciples, we too can believe in God, Jesus, and the Bible because of the evidence. There is reason to believe God exists. There is reason to believe Jesus rose from the dead. There is reason to believe the Bible is the reliable word of God. We do not have to “take it on faith”. I encourage you to examine the evidence and make a decision.
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God Never Requires Us to Believe Without Evidence – Dr. Travis Dickinson
Haden Clark 
I prefer to hope in God and the authentic teaching of Jesus, which was based on a Jewish understanding of what Christians call the Old Testament and what Jews call the Tanach. There was no New Testament in Jesus’ time on Earth and, had someone written any of it when he was here, he would have rejected it. God gave us the gift of a brain capable of intelligent thinking and the ability to gather facts so that we can make informed decisions. Anyone who exercises that gift and does the fact finding knows that Christianity today is nothing like what the original followers of Jesus who new him both before and after the crucifixion. Most of what the average Christian knows today is based on an erroneous oral tradition that has been tweaked and finally tuned by the church, even to the extent of adding to and rephrasing the extant biblical manuscripts of their times. After doing years of reading the Bible and studying the scholarly work related to it, I left Christianity to follow Jesus and his authentic teaching. It is my considered opinion that the Christianity of today is the greatest blasphemy and heresy against God and Jesus. Jesus was a Jew. He never claimed to be God and he never would have accepted any worship aimed at him. Jesus would be appalled at what Christianity became, beginning approximately two decades after his crucifixion.
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Thanks for your thoughts! I look forward to writing about the subjects you raised here!
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I’m all about abondaoning what ”Christianity” has come to look like in this nation of America, I’m not sure what the Church looks like in other parts of the world. However, you said you left Christianity to follow the teachings of Jesus. How have you done this if not learning about Him and spending time with Him? And if it’s His teachings you’re after, where have you found them to be other than the Bible?
“He never claimed to be God and he never would have accepted any worship aimed at him.” This is a false statement in accordance with the very words that Jesus Himself spoke. See the account of Mary anointing Him (Mark 14), if this was not worship of Him, what would have been? And could you not take your pick of Gospel book Scripture where Jesus was not addressing the Pharisees for these very statements. “I and my Father are one.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The New and Old Testament is filled with the truth that Jesus is God and fully accepts worship of Him.
It seems you accept the Old Tesatement teachings but reject the New Testament? How can this be? As a true student of God and His Word, then you would know the Old Testament points to Jesus as the Messiah. Therefore, you would have to accept the words of Jesus Himself. And His words, God’s Word, is also the New Testament. The Gospel books are accounts of the Lord’s words and teachings.
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Dear bishopdavidbeaman you say”left Christianity to follow Jesus and his authentic teaching.” but real Christians do believe the Jewish rabbi and follow his teaching and as such do not make him into their god. In Christendom we see that the majority follow the false human doctrines of the trinity but in Christianity we find lots of denominations who do not believe in the trinity but keep to the Biblical doctrines and as such worship only One True God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Jesus and his disciples.
It is lovely that you have come to see and understudy what the Bible tells about Jeshua or Jesus. As you say Jesus never claimed to be God and he never would have accepted any worship aimed at him. Jesus would be appalled not at what Christianity is but at what became Christendom,. We do not know what denomination you now belong to but we do hope you find either a Christian church which worships only the One True God and not a Trinity or you joined non-trinitarian Messianics or a Jeshuaist group. (We are curious, so would appreciate it when you would let us know to whom you connected.)
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Grace instilled in me an longing and I tried to appease it with the world and was left starved. I find faith to be like a muscle that needs training to gain strength. The more I trust, the closer I get to a whole belief in the entire Word not merely what is written
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This is an interesting post, and I thank you for the way you explained the fact that there is plenty of evidence. The word says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Our faith can increase as we study God’s word and see the evidence of who He is, and who Jesus is. But faith is also “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of thing not seen (Heb 11:1). Faith gives substance to those things that I don’t see yet, like healing when I am sick, or my loved ones coming to the Lord. It is never blind faith t me – it is faith that is placed in a God who can do anything, and there is plenty of evidence to support that claim both in is word and in the testimony of those who have seen these things come to pass.
Be blessed
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Great response, thank you!
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Thank you for this post. Really got me thinking of my own defense of my faith. Beyond the evidence you’ve outlined and discussed, I believe the Bible was written and blessed in a way that, when read properly and prayed over, gives us an inner feeling of truth and love. When we experience those inner feelings, we know the stories that present them to us reflect the omnipotence and omniscience of God. For this reason, the Bible is the surviving text of the only proof we’ll ever have that God sent His only Son, in the form of Jesus, to enlighten our path and redeem us from our sins. Those who may not believe this faith call us to beef up our faith, so that we may live as the light of Christ for all to see, and one day similarly believe.
Thanks again for your writing. I look forward to seeing more.
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Thank you, also!
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Yes theedisonprojectblog Jesus is the sent one from God and to many Christians do not want to believe he is the sent one and the authorised one from God as well as the mediator between God and man. It is a real shame that most Christians have made Jesus into their god instead of believing his own words and those of his heavenly Father. Let us hope and pray that more people shall come to see that Jesus is the way to God and the way to life.
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Faith, I like Heb 11 I call it the Leap of Faith chapter
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In the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 24 – 29. Jesus confronts Thomas about his disbelief, and because you have seen me you believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Faith comes by hearing and hearing scripture, (hearing can be either a physical hearing or a spiritual hearing of scripture as it is read). faith can come by seeing, as demonstrated in the verses. Lets not forget it takes a measure of faith to first believe, from then on I know that the Bible is the word of God, infallible, inerrant, and true and the Holy Spirit then adds to my faith as I test all things by the word of God. The word of God is the evidence and the source of my faith. So in my studied opinion faith is both blind and faith is sourced through evidence of scripture.
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Thank you!
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thanks for the love Haden. please let me know if you would like me to blog about anything specific. I like how you challenge Christians to exercise their faith by taking on critics of what we believe and presenting a solid argument for believing in the one who is the foundation and source of all our hope and strength 🙂
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Thank you!
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Simple but profound words of truth. Jesus himself said, to Doubting Thomas when he saw the risen Saviour Lord, and was presented with the proof he sought: ‘You believe because you see, but blessed are those who believe without seeing’. Some would argue that Christianity is a second hand faith, as few living today have ‘seen’ miracles and none have seen Jesus. I am indeed one of the latter group. Thank you Haden for your thoughtful and encouraging words, in this and other posts.
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Amen!!!! God bless you! 😇
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I don’t have any trouble saying to an unbeliever that I take the Bible by faith. because faith in Jesus gives me the eyes to see. For I was blind, but now I see.
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This is a great question, Haden. I liked when you said, “… we too can believe in God, Jesus, and the Bible because of the evidence. There is reason to believe God exists. Their is reason to believe Jesus rose from the dead. There is reason to believe the Bible is the reliable word of God. We do not have to “take it on faith”.
There is a lot of times where we simply “take it on faith” without an explanation as to why we believe what we believe. Like the Apostles, we too can believe God’s Word because in the Bible, it says in 2 Timothy that
“16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
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I went to an apologetics conference and Dr. Habermas was one of the speakers. Although he obviously had notes and a Bible he laid them on the podium and kept my attention firmly fixed as he laid out the reasons we can believe, and therefore, have faith in Him. I use the Doctors logic frequently. I was pleased to see his book referenced.
By the way, I enjoy. Your writing style.
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Thank you, God bless!
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Haden Clark, I am surprised you have chosen to follow my blog, given my atheism, but it is always satisfying to gain readers who are thoughtful. So, I hope you enjoy my blog. Because of your Christian religious activism, which I can see from your blog, I thought you might be most interested in the following of my blog postings (linked below). What I have come to learn is: people believe what they want to believe. In his book “The Rebel” (L’homme revolté) Albert Camus makes a useful distinction between “irrational” belief, which is that of the religious, and “rational” belief, which is that of “non-believers,” agnostics and atheists. For religious people facts don’t matter, their belief (in the supernatural) is irrational, it is supra-factual. For non-religious people facts do matter and their disbelief in the supernatural is based on logic applied to concrete facts. I make no judgment here: believe what you want. My only concern is how people act, both individually and as part of society. On that I certainly do make very definite judgments.
https://manuelgarciajr.com/2017/02/15/god-and-country/
https://manuelgarciajr.com/2017/12/12/christianity-from-socialist-to-imperialist/
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One of the most important proofs to me is the promises of a changed life. When I became a Christian, I started changing, but didn’t understand it. Then I read 1 John and my jaw dropped open. All of the changes promised had been happening. I could give a hearty amen to 1 Jn 5:13 Thes Things I have written that you may know you are saved. As a scientist. no blind faith here, but a faith anchored in a God that delivers as He promised in the Bible.
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Amen, personal experience is definitely evidence!
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Evidence… Interesting…
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This is so true. Another line I have heard from the Christian circles when trying to avoid explaining some things is ” there are things we will not understand until we go to heaven” I find this is just an excuse we Christians have to not put in effort to study the word and learn from God. How can we expect to spread the gospel and win souls if we can’t even explain simple biblical principles! Thank you for the wake up call. Indeed our faith is not blind. Moreover, it is in Christ that we learn to see! Faith is sight.
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Some people think that faith and logic contradict each other. Truth is, they both rely on each other.
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