Christians are supposedly concerned with the truth. Often, they even capitalize the word, as in those bumper stickers that ask, “Have you heard the Truth?” Moreover, John 8:32 proudly declares that “the truth shall make you free.” Now, I'm sure many – and perhaps most – Christians are sincere in that they believe they actually are in touch with reality. The problem is that they may at some point have to make a choice between their beliefs and the facts – and then what are they supposed to do?
In Woody Allen's excellent film Crimes and Misdemeanors, there is a character who states unequivocally, “I will always choose God over truth!” It isn't everyday that you come across someone who actually says things like that. But it does happen, and more often than you might think. Recently, Joel Osteen, the well-known promulgator of the bland version of the faith that some call “Christianity lite,” posted the following tweet:
“The facts may tell you one thing. But, God is not limited by the facts. Choose faith in spite of the facts.”
Meanwhile, creationist Eric Hovind put it this way:
"We don't look at the evidence and say 'Oh, well, maybe the Bible's wrong', we start with 'God's word is true, God is right', now how does the evidence fit with it?"
(I think it may have also been Hovind who said that if the Bible stated that 1+1=3, he would believe it and then try to understand it – but I haven't been able to track down the online video where I originally saw this.)
And it's not just new-agey types like Olsteen or ignorant extremists like Hovind that say things like this. William Lane Craig, a philosopher who is often regarded as the foremost contemporary defender of the faith, once reportedly admitted that, were he to go back in a time machine and observe that Jesus never came out of his tomb, he would still believe in the resurrection.
If your beliefs are based on faith – which means that they have no rational basis – then you may end up choosing falsehoods over things that you know are true. And that's the sad truth.
In Woody Allen's excellent film Crimes and Misdemeanors, there is a character who states unequivocally, “I will always choose God over truth!” It isn't everyday that you come across someone who actually says things like that. But it does happen, and more often than you might think. Recently, Joel Osteen, the well-known promulgator of the bland version of the faith that some call “Christianity lite,” posted the following tweet:
“The facts may tell you one thing. But, God is not limited by the facts. Choose faith in spite of the facts.”
Meanwhile, creationist Eric Hovind put it this way:
"We don't look at the evidence and say 'Oh, well, maybe the Bible's wrong', we start with 'God's word is true, God is right', now how does the evidence fit with it?"
(I think it may have also been Hovind who said that if the Bible stated that 1+1=3, he would believe it and then try to understand it – but I haven't been able to track down the online video where I originally saw this.)
And it's not just new-agey types like Olsteen or ignorant extremists like Hovind that say things like this. William Lane Craig, a philosopher who is often regarded as the foremost contemporary defender of the faith, once reportedly admitted that, were he to go back in a time machine and observe that Jesus never came out of his tomb, he would still believe in the resurrection.
If your beliefs are based on faith – which means that they have no rational basis – then you may end up choosing falsehoods over things that you know are true. And that's the sad truth.
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