Sam Harris | Author | Big Think - What Is Faith?

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Here is the next part of my series on responding to video comments from atheist Sam Harris. In this particular video he gives his view on what "faith" is.





Samuel Harris describes "faith" as believing something that you have no evidence for. I disagree. Harris admits that people have different definitions of "faith".  So why don't we go and see what the Bible definition for faith is. Hebrews 11 defines what faith is. Here are the first 10 verses:

¹Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. ²This is what the ancients were commended for.
 ³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. ⁴By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
 ⁵By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
 ⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
 ⁸By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 

Just because you hope for something or can't see something that does not mean there is no evidence. There are plenty of things that are real that no one has seen but we know exists. For example, you can't see gravity but you know it exists. You can't see magnetic fields, but you know it exists. You can't see these things but like God, you can see their effects affecting you and other physical objects.

Regardless of if you reject the Bible or not, you cannot deny that it and Harris are talking about two different things that Harris is erroneously calling "faith".


Sam Harris | Author | Big Think