Shield Of Faith: Faith Is The Opposite Of Knowledge Series

THE ARMOR OF GOD AND THE LIES OF THE ENEMY

Shield of Faith: Faith is the Opposite of Knowledge

Ephesians 6:10-18

#armorofGod

INTRODUCTION… Francis Shaeffer Quote, youngadults.ccphilly.org/is-faith-the-opposite-of-knowledge/

Francis Shaeffer (1912-1984) was an American theologian and philosopher and Presbyterian minister. He also lived much of his life in Switzerland. In his book, ‘He is There and He is Not Silent’ (1972), Francis Shaeffer speaks to faith with an interesting description [adapted]:

One must analyze the word faith and see that it can mean two completely opposite things. Suppose we are climbing in the Alps and are very high on the bare rock, and suddenly the fog shuts the hike down. The guide turns to everyone and says that the ice is forming and that there is no hope; before morning all will freeze to death on the shoulder of the mountain. Simply to keep warm the guide keeps everyone into the dense fog until no one has any idea of their location. After an hour or so, someone says to the guide, “Suppose I dropped down from the edge and hit a ledge ten feet down in the fog. What would happen then?” The guide would say that you might make it until the morning and thus live. So, with absolutely no knowledge or any reason to support his action, one of the group hangs from the mountain and drops into the fog. This would be one kind of faith.

Suppose, however, after moving into the fog and in the midst of the fog and the growing ice on the rock, all the hikers stopped and heard a voice: “You cannot see me, but I know exactly where you are from your voices. I am on another ridge. I have lived in these mountains for over sixty years and I know every foot of them. I assure you that ten feet below you there is a ledge. If you hang and drop, you can make it through the night and I will get you in the morning.”

I would not hang and drop at once, but would ask questions to try to ascertain if the man knew what he was talking about and if he was not my enemy. In the Alps, for example, I would ask him his name. If the name he gave me was the name of a family from that part of the mountains, it would count a great deal to me. In the Swiss Alps there are certain family names that indicate mountain families of that area. In my desperate situation, even though time would be running out, I would ask him what to me would be the adequate and sufficient questions, and when I became convinced by his answers, then I would hang and drop.

This is faith, but obviously it has no relationship to the other use of the word. As a matter of fact, if one of these is called faith, the other should not be designated by the same word.

ILLUSTRATION… Guy Richard Quote, ligonier.org/learn/teachers/guy-richard

Guy Richard is the President and Associate Professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta. In his book ‘What is Faith?’ (2012) he says [adapted]:

Consider the following illustration [about faith]. Imagine three people are dropped without food or water into the middle of a very large field full of land mines. Suppose that one of the individuals blindly chooses a pathway through the field and then heads off in that direction without another thought. This is not an example of faith but something else that we might call silly. Genuine faith is not blind, but is based upon knowledge.

Suppose that a helicopter appears above the remaining two men and, from the helicopter, an interested party announces the way through the minefield. One of the men takes this interested party at his word and sets off at once through the field. Even this is not an example of faith. Yes, the man's actions are based on knowledge and they believe the guide is truthful, but it is not faith. There is a huge hole in what is going on… there is not personal trust in the one speaking.

Suppose, however, that the remaining two men ask the interested party certain questions in order to discern how he or she came to know the way through the field, why they want to help, and how positive they are to be a safe guide. In doing this, the two remaining men are gathering enough knowledge to decide whether they can trust the individual in the helicopter. This trust is built upon both knowledge and assent to that knowledge is what genuine faith is all about. Such faith is not at all "silly" but wholly reasonable.

ILLUSTRATION… blog.truthforlife.org/what-is-faith-and-what-its-not

Another good illustration about faith comes from Alistair Begg, pastor of Parkside Church near Cleveland Ohio: