Faith is a tricky thing. For many people, perhaps for most of us, there are areas of life in which we simply choose to believe. Evidence is ignored for various reasons, or for no reason at all and a faith stance is chosen.
Let me give you a few examples. There are people who truly believe that the moon landing was a hoax. There were, and perhaps still are, people who truly believed in a flat earth. Some people simply do not believe that dinosaurs existed. You may laugh because there is ample evidence to consider. But some people have what you might call a ‘Thomas Complex.’ Thomas was the apostle who rejected the eye-witness testimony of the other apostles and boasted that he would not believe that Jesus was raised from the dead unless he could see and touch the scars on the living body of Jesus.
Today, there are no resurrection eye-witnesses. Yet we would be foolish to ignore the evidence.
Science:
Some scientists are guilty of ignore-ance, that is, a conscious choice to ignore existing evidence. Pick up a high school science textbook and you will find that modern science is based on the ‘Thomas Complex’: Only those things that can be examined with the human senses yield truth. So, things like God and angels and the biblical creation account are intentionally ignored. (How can you examine someone that exists outside the boundaries of the physical universe???) So, things that are not subject to scientific inquiry are dismissed by many scientists.
Of course, without God there is no Creator and no divine revelation. By extension, there is no divine standard of morality. There is no hope. Love becomes an arbitrary concept. Mankind is reduced to nothing more than a highly developed animal that defines morality himself. Religion becomes a system for weak-minded people who need something greater than man.
Biblical Scholarship:
Some biblical scholars are also guilty of ignore-ance by consciously choosing to ignore the internal evidence in the Bible. They assume that the Bible was a product of humans and therefore treat it with no greater regard than other ancient religious writings, ancient mythologies or cave scribblings.
Their willful ignorance generally results in their denial of miracles, denial of the fulfillment of prophecy, denial of the existence of non-physical entities and the afterlife. In their examination of the Scriptures they are quick to correct the inspired writers by suggesting words that should have been used, and by tossing aside questionable verses and debated passages. Some even pride themselves in being able to correct the thinking of the biblical writers.
To these, the Bible is little different than a book that might lay next to it on a coffee table. Yet...
All Scripture is inspired by God….—2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB95)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.—Romans 1:18–19 (NASB95)
Whenever you are overwhelmed by the truth of God’s word or you hear yourself think, “How can a person not believe?” remember, some people choose ignore-ance. We, on the other hand, embrace divine revelation, something more absolute than human research.
October 24, 2021
