Faith and Truth

A friend asked if a tree falling over in a distant wood made a noise because if no one heard it how could we know it was true. I would argue that this is a matter of faith but that the evidence strongly supports the belief that it truly would make a noise.

He suggested that in many ways it was hard to be certain and consequently there was no such thing as definitive truth, each person’s truth is likely to be different. This is quite probable even in simple matters but when it comes to belief (in Gods existence, the truth of what is written in the Bible, in miracles, that God hears our prayers and the resurrection of Jesus) it is not hard to understand that what people consider to be truth is so disparate. Let’s face it what we as Christians believe in faith seems completely incredible if not impossible. It is small wonder that we have doubts and so many others dismiss God as being a fabrication.

We must thank God that we have paused to reflect on what is true and ask questions. Personally, in my late teens and early twenties I considered several philosophies and religions and decided that I had to question the existence of God if I was not going to believe in Him. I did not belong to a religious family but through various sources worked to disprove Christianity in particular. It is written that if we seek we will find.

I do not believe for one minute that I have understood and found everything that is true, accepting that each person’s truth is likely to be different and that we will all be amazed on the day when all truth will be made known to us. We see things through a glass darkly. We can never PROVE God, we are only able to accept Him through faith. The finite mind trying to understand the infinite is pathetic but we can trust like little children and accept God’s love for us. We must learn to have faith enough to understand our hope, our relationship with our Father and must have the utmost confidence in our salvation through Jesus.

However, that salvation depends totally on one thing. We might historically know that Christ lived, was tortured and died on the cross but unless the improbable, the impossible, happened, unless Christ was resurrected our faith is all in vain.

I found Jesus while trying to disprove him, and another man came to the realisation that Christ was raised while setting out to write a book to deny it. “
Who Moved the Stone” a book by Frank Morrison has probably already been read by many but is in my opinion well worth reading. While we may not agree with everything he says (truth is not definitive) the evidence, (which must be considered if our faith is to be propped up,) is well presented and while it may not seem as strong as the sound of a distant falling tree is nevertheless compelling.

Ephesians 2v8 “By grace you are saved through faith”. Jesus said to Thomas as he says to us, the doubters of today “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed”. Remember and believe that through Jesus we can be forgiven, we can be helped in our disbelief. Through Jesus we can hold on to the seemingly unbelievable yet undeniable fact that whatever or wherever our heavenly Father is, the supreme, omnipotent life and law giver not only exists but also loves us.

PG
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