Einstein First, then Faith

Well, I think I differ on Einstein, though nothing I would be dogmatic about. I said that Einstein believed there were important questions that science did not answer. Here are some quotes (just googled) that seem to support my view:

"All our knowledge is but the knowledge of schoolchildren. Possibly we shall know a little more than we do now. but the real nature of things, that we shall never know, never."

"To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness."

I'm not attempting to prove Einstein was religious, or monotheistic, or even deistic. All I'm saying is that I think he believed there were questions, important questions, that science does not answer.

Anyway, on to your question about faith.

I think faith actually does play a big part in the everyday life of the typical Christian, although I don't think it's primarily exercised in relation to the question of God's existence.

Frankly, I don't think most Christians walk around pondering God's existence. To the extent they think about it at all, I suspect they're not obsessed with finding what you'd call "empirical" proof. But I do think you are correct. Most Christians believe they have proof. That proof, they believe, is revealed in Nature and the natural order of things. The Bible specifically addresses this in Romans 1:20-25:

"[S]ince the creation of the world God's invisible attributes — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles."

Now, I understand you don't believe the Bible and I've generally tried to avoid using it in our discussions. I quote it here simply to point out what, I think, most Christians believe, even if they're not familiar with this particular quotation. I think they look at the world around them, and feel that no matter how much knowledge man possesses, there will always be questions they believe cannot be answered.

What's more, I think the way in which people live their everyday lives is pervaded by a certain kind of faith or assumption. Let me give you one example.

I have five children. Now, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that my wife is the mother of our five children, since I was present for the delivery.

But wait. Can I really say that? How do I know they didn't switch the babies in the nursery room when I wasn't looking? Now that I really think about it, I don't really have any good evidence.

Or what of this questions: how can I be certain I'm really the father of those five children? After all, if one believes the latest polls on adultery, about 50% of married people in the U.S. run around on their spouse. And yet, inexplicably perhaps, I firmly believe they are my children. I don't have have any real "proof," and yet I live my life in a way that simply accepts it as a fact. True, I could get a DNA test that would give me the kind of evidential proof a legal court might accept, but I would then have to accept that the individual in charge of doing the test wasn't having an affair with my wife, or that she hasn't paid them in order to hide her affair with someone else.

And hey, how do I know those folks I call "Mom and Dad" are really my biological parents? I'd be hard-pressed to justify this belief, since I have no real proof of this. But despite a lack of evidence, I somehow don't feel compelled to demand they submit themselves to a paternity/maternity test to prove it to me. I just accept it as truth. Strange as it may sound, I've lived my entire life without ever once wondering whether those people who claim to be my parents are actually biologically related to me. I just accept it as truth, though I have nothing you would call "real" proof. Being able to do this, I think, is very helpful to the getting on with one's life.

So yea, I think Christians believe they have faith about God's existence. But I don't think they really spend much time thinking about it that way.

(As a side issue, I can't help but wonder what my wife's reaction would be if I demanded my children be subjected to a paternity test. Or what my parents' reaction would be if I ask them to prove they were actually related to me. Good questions to consider, perhaps, when we get around to discussing "blind faith.")