Walking By Faith Part 1 Series

I want to begin this morning by reading you a quote from a man some believe to be one of the most brilliant scientific minds of our day. You may have heard of him, his name is Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist whose greatest ambition in life seems to be to prove that God does not exist, and that Christians who have faith in God are emotionally weak and intellectually naïve.

This quote is from his book, Is Science a Religion?

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence…. Faith, being belief that isn’t based on evidence, is the principal vice of any religion.”

As I read these words, I couldn’t help but to think that Mr. Dawkins, whether he would admit it or not, actually has more faith than most professed Christians;—and I say that because he bases his worldview on what he calls science and yet it can never be proven by the very science he professes to follow …and for that reason, I would say yes, his science is in fact a faith-based religion; obviously his faith is not in God, but rather in his own intellectual prowess and is spawned by and anchored in self-pride.

He actually believes that in his brief time on this earth, studying the work of other scientists, and doing his own research, that he has somehow discovered enough “scientific evidence” to prove that God doesn’t exist; which means by default, that this entire universe, including Richard Dawkins, wasn’t created by an intelligent designer but that it created itself—from nothing. Talk about faith!

But just for the sake of argument, let’s pretend he’s right in his God-denying theory; can you imagine a world without God? Think about it. Imagine a world without people who have faith in God.. What I’m asking you is, to imagine where this world would be without the influence and work of Christians......

It’s impossible to overstate just how much our world has benefited from people whose worldview, lifestyle and morality was shaped by their faith in God.

Consider for a moment all of the hospitals, schools and universities, humanitarian organizations, vital community services, and the very laws of most countries that help safeguard and encourage morality, wellbeing and peace in humanity; most of them are taken from and based on the moral principles in the Word of God. Personally, I’m convinced that, were it not for the millions of Christians—people of faith, that God used to restrain the tide of evil, were it not for their work and influence throughout the history of humanity , we would have destroyed ourselves thousands of years ago.

Again, Mr. Dawkins says, “Faith, being belief that isn’t based on evidence, is the principal vice of any religion.” (he’s calling faith a “weakness” or fracture in religion that causes it to collapse in upon itself.. I would suggest to you that genuine Christian faith is far from weakness; it is without a doubt our greatest strength.

Hebrews 11:1,2 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By 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.

Dawkins says we have no evidence for our faith... Really?? I would argue that we have two of the greatest books ever written that comprise the bedrock of our faith: the Bible—the written word of God, miraculously composed and preserved, gives us a rich and honest history of our world. It also contains an abundance of prophecies—all of which have been fulfilled, which is a testament to its divine origin.

And then we have the book of nature, with its incredible beauty, complexity, diversity and interdependence that virtually screams to humanity that there most definitely is an intelligent Designer and Creator behind it; and if we exercise that measure of faith we’re all given, and if we really listen, we can hear this same creation singing its Creator’s praises everywhere we look.

Romans 1:18-25

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.