Sunday, February 24, 2013

On Faith

The point of this post is to answer why I choose my faith, not a statement of whether or not I am a proper christian.
This does not address whether science brings us further than religion.

When we are young, we readily believe most anything we are told. As we get older, we learn to rationalize, and decide whether or not to believe in things based on what we already know, who the person is that is presenting, and how the information is communicated to us.
Faith is to believe in something imperceptible. The first question is to answer whether or not there is a god.
Here's a list of arguments that are sufficient to convince me of the existence of one or more divine beings:

  • there must have been a starting point for everything (stack error argument)
  • intelligent design (creation rather than chance)
  • natural conscience/morals
  • human intelligence above animals
The next question is which "truth" is the real truth. Some of these have gods for things that express power or glory (e.g. sun, moon, war), or human desires (e.g. love, lust, food, wealth). Others argue that one's merit determines where they go after death. Christianity is based on forgiveness from a divine being, not merit or power. This point is crucial in my choice of faith in Christianity.

Forgiveness is something that has no personal gain. Apart from requiring humility, it is purely for the benefit of the one with the fault to know that even though they have done something they should not have, they are no longer held accountable (although there may still be consequences). So, when a divine being masterminds a plan in order to forgive his creations for their sins, I must believe this god as God.


azriel