Faith defined

Everyone operates in faith.

Faith takes what we know and helps us traverses what we don't know so that we can act on what we believe.

The other day I was having a conversation with a millennial. In the coarse of our conversation my faith in Jesus came up. He wanted to make it clear to me that he believed in science. As if my faith in Jesus excluded me form believing in science. I informed him I believed in science and I put my faith in science also as he does. He then asserted that science has nothing to do with faith and his acceptance of science does not involve faith. Here's were I challenged him in his understanding of faith.

I stated I love science also. But it has its limits. It can only reveal things to us about our physical universe and only what it can observe and verify through the scientific process. He responded, Like carbon14 dating. I ask him do you believe what the scientist tell you about carbon 14 dating? He said yes. I told him that his belief was born out of faith. I asked him what was carbon14? He said they were the atoms that where in all living matter and they decay at a certain rate. I asked him how carbon14 is created. He didn't know.  His belief in the carbon14 dating process wasn't based on his understanding of the facts but on what others told him. He arrived at his belief by faith in what other told him. He had some knowledge and what he didn't know he use faith to help him traverse this unknown to arrive at his belief in the carbon14 dating process.

It's the same thing that happens when we drive our vehicles. It's by faith we enter them and drive them from point A to point B. Because we don't know if the vehicle will even start or not break down in process or someone else on the road stop our progress.

Belief in origins as the secular scientific community proposes is an act of faith. Belief in the history of certain events and people in the first century Roman Empire, to the point of getting a PH.D., is based on faith. Believing in Jesus and the gospel message is based on faith. We take what we know and use faith to help us traverse what we don't know so we can act on what we believe.