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

Sam Harris | Author | Big Think - On Interpreting Scripture

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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 Christian and Muslim scriptures.








I have several problems with Sam Harris' approach. Second He makes no difference between the Bible and the Koran. You can't equate them. When you have two sources that conflict with one another you are left with one of three possibilities:

a. They are both false.
b. The Bible is true.
c. The Koran is true.

However the possibility that they are both true are off the table. Harris immediately concludes that they are both false but he gives no reason for coming to that conclusion.

Harris makes several assertions without proof. He makes it seem like the The Bible and the Koran are both from the Bronze Age. This is not true. It took over 40 authors writing over a 1500 year-period on three continents from various cultures in three different languages telling a single story which we call the Bible. If you disagree all you have to do is provide evidence that the Bible has conflicts and contradictions - which Harris does not do. As for the Koran it dates no earlier than 500 AD - a lot later than the Bronze Age.

I also must point out that his arguments against the Bible concerning it's content being outdated holds no weight. Most of his complaints center around things like the Mosaic laws requiring women to be virgins when they get married seems to be forgetting details. For example in a society where prostitution is prohibitted (as in the Laws of Moses) then everyone men and women would be virgins when they marry. On top of that how can anyone who has seen the devastation caused by adultery not understand why its death penalty offense? Also how can anyone doubt that our society would not be better if these laws were lived out. Thank God for grace. It is because of grace than many of these crimes no longer have a death penalty.

Another insult that shows little knowledge of the Bible and history is when Harris said that there is nothing of consequence in the Bible and no moral attitude or thought that a man could have come up with. It's one of Christopher Hitchens' favorite challenges. The thing is, I know of a moral command that no human would ever come up with - Jesus said:

43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. - Matthew 5:43-45

And the first century church was taught:

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. - Philippians 2:1-4

The one guilty of cherry-picking and taking scripture out of context are not just some Christians but atheists like Sam Harris. Don't take me at face value. Read the Bible for yourself and consider the culture and history and see how truly relevant they are today. I've just documented several errors that Harris makes, can you really afford to blindly accept everything he said? I can't. Can you?

Sam Harris | Author | Big Think

Response to Sam Harris on the Dangers of Religion

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Here is an article in my series on Responding to Sam Harris on the "dangers" of Religion.




In this video, Harris is talking about how much (if not most or all) of the violence in the world can be traced back to people's competing ideas about God. I can agree with that assessment. Any time you base you ideas and life on something that is not true then you have a problem. I also agree that people do not confront the issues head on and will not criticize and evaluate the truth claims of other people's religions let alone their own. Harris seems to suggest the best solution is just to get rid of religion. I strongly disagree.

Why throw the Baby out with the bath water? If there is a true worldview shouldn't we adopt it and abandon all others? Shouldn't each religion be evaluated and critiqued to see if any of them is true? I mean what if you reject all of them and missed the true one? Or what if you pick the wrong one? I think too many people just go through the motions and never really bother to think if what they believe is true. All of the examples that Harris cites have nothing to do with what I believe or with what the Bible says. I would suggest that the truth claims for each religion should be verified where it can be and if its not up to snuff, it should be rejected. I've done this, and it could be done over and over again in different levels of detail. And when you do this, you find that Biblical Christianity where the Bible is honestly, logically, and consistently interpreted in it's own context can pass this test. All it would take is one contradiction or falsehood for a religion to fail the test. For example if there had never been a nation called the Philistines, then we know the Bible is false, but we know that they did exist. that does not prove that Christianity is true, but it does mean more research is needed. Islam says that Jesus was not crucified and died, but the Bible says He was and did. They both can't be true. History however tells us that Jesus was crucified and he did die. Some scholars say that it the most well attested fact from the first century AD. Therefore under the rules I had set, I've got to reject Islam. and it goes on like this. God ahead and try it. You may find some of these other links useful.

What If I Am Wrong