The Characters Around the First Christmas

Rev. Sudhakar Mondithoka

Asst. Pastor, English Congregation at Centenary Baptist Church, Secunderabad and A Visiting Faculty/Professor at SAIACS and SABC, Bangalore

Introduction: It would be a very instructive exercise for us to study the Characters around the first Christmas of the 1st century, because people are the same even today and we can learn many lessons for our lives in the 21st century. When we survey the Gospels, we can find many people around the Christmas story, like the shepherds, the wise men, King Herod, John the Baptist, the Innkeeper, the religious leaders, Joseph and Mary, and so on. On the basis of my observation and analysis of how they responded to the news and the fact of Christmas, I have divided them into three categories and we will consider each one of them briefly and draw out some lessons for us during this Christmas season.
I. The People that Made Christmas Possible: Joseph and Mary are the people that made Christmas possible (see Matt. 1: 18-24; Luke 1: 26-38). In a sense, whole of God’s plan of salvation for humanity that was being worked out progressively over centuries depended on the response of two teenagers for its final fulfillment. Man is God’s method – God in His sovereignty chose to use humans in His plan of redemption to redeem humankind. Imagine what would have happened if Joseph and Mary had responded negatively. The coming of the Savior of the world depended on Mary saying ‘Yes’ to God and accepting the Savior on His terms. We do not find any words of Joseph being recorded in the gospels. We only find his actions. His actions of obedience to God speak for him (see Matt. 1: 24-25).
Commenting on God’s plan of Salvation and how it depended on Mary, C. S. Lewis said, “The whole thing narrows and narrows, until at last it comes down to a little point, small as the point of a spear – a Jewish girl at her prayers.” Yancey, thinking on the same matter, says, “Today as I read the accounts of Jesus’ birth, I tremble to think of the fate of the world resting on the responses of two rural teenagers.”[1] Both Mary and Joseph counted the cost and accepted the Savior at a very high personal cost – shame, disgrace, ridicule, and so on. There was much more at stake for Mary than for Joseph. She was a virgin, a teenager, and was just betrothed (pledged to be married) to Joseph. She did not have any marital (sexual) relationship with Joseph yet. She was perhaps dreaming about her life with Joseph, as she was waiting for the final step of marriage. At such a time, if she became pregnant, any one can imagine what would have happened to her dreams and life. So when the Angel from God told her that she was going to be pregnant, she was quite naturally troubled, she wondered, and said, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1: 29 and 34). She knew enough to understand that virgins do not become pregnant just like that and that the consequences of such a happening would be disastrous for her and for Joseph. Joseph, being a righteous man, did not want to expose Mary to public disgrace, and determined to quietly divorce her (Matt. 1: 18-19). If something like this were to be suggested to a virgin like Mary in our time, the Savior would not be allowed to be born. Malcolm Muggeridge, a great journalist considered Mary’s response from a modern or contemporary perspective and observed that in our days, with family- planning clinics offering convenient ways to correct “mistakes” that might disgrace a family name, “It is, in point of fact, extremely improbable, under existing conditions, that Jesus would have been permitted to be born at all. Mary’s pregnancy, in poor circumstances, and with the father unknown, would have been an obvious case for an abortion; and her talk of having conceived as a result of the intervention of the Holy Ghost (or Spirit) would have pointed to the need for psychiatric treatment, and made the case for terminating her pregnancy even stronger.” Thus our generation, needing a Savior more, perhaps, than any that has ever existed, would be too humane to allow one to be born.[2] However, the Virgin Mary, though her pregnancy and parenthood was unplanned (by her), had a different response. She heard the Angel out, pondered over the repercussions, and replied, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1: 38). Commenting on Mary’s response, Philip Yancey, says, “Often a work of God comes with two edges, great joy and great pain, and in that matter-of fact response Mary embraced both. She was the first person to accept Jesus on his own terms, regardless of the personal cost.”[3]
The obedient response of Mary and Joseph to God and His will at great personal cost made the coming of the Savior of the World (at first Christmas) possible. Thus, they were blessed and became great channels of God’s greatest blessing to the whole world. Today, in our time and in our generation, if we are true followers of Jesus Christ, we have to obey our master in order to be truly blessed and to be channels of God’s blessing into the lives of others – family members, friends, classmates, colleagues, and neighbors. If we obey our master’s command to be His witnesses and choose to give the Christmas message, which is ‘good news of great joy to all the people (or whole humanity) and not just for Christians (Luke 2: 10-11), then we will make the birth of Jesus the Savior in their hearts and lives possible. Christmas is about love, that is, giving and giving sacrificially. God the Father gave His Son (John 3: 16) that humankind might not perish but have eternal life. God the Son, Jesus Christ gave or sacrificed himself on the Cross that humans might not die and go to hell but have abundant life and everlasting life. Mary and Joseph paid a heavy price and submitted themselves to the will of God and gave the Savior to the World (in a sense) and made the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation possible. Christmas is about self-less self-giving for the sake of the others (the agape love of God) and the giving of the greatest gift, the Savior. Self-centeredness and Christmas do not go together. What about you and me? How are we celebrating Christmas? The most Christian way of celebrating Christmas would be to give priority to giving the Christmas good news to others rather than being pre-occupied with ourselves and our enjoyment. Should we not obey the great commission and give the good news to at least a few people this Christmas season and make the Christmas joy, peace, light, and life possible for them also? If not you (and I) who will give the gospel to those among whom we are placed and if not now, when?
II. The People that Missed Christmas: The innkeeper (Luke 2: 7), Herod (Matt. 2: 1-8) and the Religious leaders (Matt. 2: 4-6) are examples of those that missed the first Christmas. The innkeeper in the 1st century hung the shameful words, “no room” outside his inn. There was “no room” for them (Mary and Joseph) and of course for Jesus who was to come into the world that historic day in Bethlehem in the innkeeper’s premises. The creator of heavens and earth, the creator of all humanity, the owner of the whole universe, the earth and all that is in it, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, was coming into the world to be the Savior of the Word and there was “no room” for Him. The innkeeper was business-minded, industrious, preoccupied, and was ignorant of what was happening when he said, “No room.” These words describe aptly most of the people in the 21st century world who are so busy with Christmas celebrations (parties, cakes, cards, candles, stars, trees, clothes, shopping, gifts, carols, events, etc.) that they miss the Christ of the Christmas. They make no room for Jesus. Without even realizing it, most people still miss Christmas just like most of the people in and around Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born.
The innkeeper missed the opportunity to be a part of the most important and significant birth in all history. It was census time (Luke 2: 1-6) and the city was bulging with people descending on it from different directions. Bethlehem was crowded. The innkeeper was not hostile or even un-sympathetic. He was just busy with his own things like many people today that are busy with all kinds of things and activities that compete for attention. And in the middle of all this, many preoccupied people miss the Son of God. There are many so called Christians who are busy with Christmas related things and miss Christmas, because they have “no room” for Christ in their hearts or lives. There are millions of innkeepers in the world today. What about you? Do you have room for Jesus in your heart? Do you have Christ in your life? Have you ever invited him into your life? If not, why not now, during this Christmas season, the reason for which is Jesus the Christ? Christ-less Christmas celebrations will only prove to be a curse.
Herod was a king who missed Christmas, because he was insecure and was troubled by the news of the coming of the King. He was too full of himself. He pretended he wanted to worship Jesus, the King, but he was fearful of the one who was called the King of the Jews. He did not want to be ruled over by another king, the real King, because he wanted to be his own boss and ruler. There are many Herods today in our Churches that do not want to let Jesus have His rightful throne in their hearts and in the Churches where they are leaders. These 21st century Herods (especially leaders in our Churches!) do not want Jesus interfering with their life style, power, plans, prestige or positions. What about you? Have you invited Jesus as the King and Lord of your life? King Jesus said, “What does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Herods ultimately lose in this world and in the world to come as well. It is my prayer that you should not be such an ultimate loser.
The religious leaders (chief priests and teachers of the law, like the pastors, theologians and teachers of our time) missed Christmas, because they were indifferent and self-righteous. They believed in their own religion, traditions, and customs, and their positions in it but not in right relationship with God. They knew that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2: 4-6; Micah 5: 1-2). They were there when the Messiah was born on the first Christmas day. Yet they missed Christmas. How sad! They were proud and perfect in their own minds. There are many ordinary people and religious leaders like this in our world now – people that are satisfied with their religion and self-righteousness. Such people miss Christmas and the Savior who was born, because they don’t understand their need of salvation. They don’t openly oppose Him. They just do not receive Him. They do not care about God’s solution or remedy to human misery, because they do not realize their problem or disease, which is sin, the root cause of all the problems. Such people miss Christmas. Like Nicodemus, a religious leader who realized his need and received the Savior we all needs to repent, confess our sins, and receive the Savior through the experience of being born-again (see John 3: 1-18 and 19: 38-42). Unless we are born-again, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Are you born-again?
III. The People that Met (or Received) the Savior: The wise men that went from the east (Matt. 2: 1-12) and the Shepherds (Luke 2: 8-18) are examples of those that met and received the Savior, and made Him known to others. The wise men followed the star that guided them, went a long way from their country to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem and found the real star of Christ, Jesus. They bowed down and worshipped Him. They gave their gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh, and returned to their country. I believe they would have surely spread the good and exciting news about Jesus, because I see in the Bible that all true worshippers are witnesses also (like the Samaritan woman who witnessed to the Samaritans, as we can see in John 4). Wise men and women still follow the star (the hints that God gives to guide people to the Savior), seek, and find the Savior and not miss the Christmas.
The shepherd that were given the Christmas news of the Savior that was born in Bethlehem, went, verified, and confirmed that what they were told was true (Luke 2: 20). They met or found Jesus. Then they “spread the word” concerning what had been told them (that Christ was the Lord and Savior of all the people) concerning Jesus (Luke 2: 17-18). The implication is that they accepted the truth and received the Savior; otherwise they would not have had the spontaneity with which they “spread the word.” There are at least two lessons that we can learn. One, we need not believe blindly. We can investigate, search, and research and confirm the truth for ourselves. After His resurrection, Jesus gave many “convincing proofs” to His disciples that He was alive again or that He came back to life (see Acts 1: 1-11). It was after that that He gave them His command afresh that they should be His witnesses. Christianity is truth. The gospel is truth. Christ is historical. So we can search for the truth and find it with solid evidences, and be confident about what we believe. For example, our belief in the virginal conception is more believable now than ever before in human history. We have the phenomena like parthenocarpy and parthenogenesis (reproduction without fertilization or the male and female coming together) in nature. Now the cloning techniques enable us to produce young ones without fertilization and just from somatic (non-reproductive) cells. If we humans with limited knowledge and powers are able to do this, then can’t God who is all-knowing and all-powerful do what the Bible says He did (in bringing the Savior into the world through the womb of the Virgin Mary)? Two, whatever we might be doing to make our living, if we know the truth, then we will proclaim and make it known to others like the shepherds. Are we (you and I) witnessing or “spreading the word” or making the truth about the Savior known to others? The Christmas season is a good opportunity for us to “spread the word” about Christ to some of our friends and family members.
Conclusion: Our study has given us much to ponder over. In conclusion, I would just like to say that we should be like Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds and the Wise men and not like the innkeeper, Herod, and the religious leaders. May this Christmas be a Christ-centered Christmas for YOU and your family. May the Lord bless our nation, India with the joy, peace, light, and life of Christmas and use you and me as His instruments or channels of blessing.

[1] See Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 31 and 32
[2] Ibid, 32.
[3] Ibid.

Faith Beyond Reason: A Balanced Biblical View of Faith[1]

Introduction: Faith is some times defined as “unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence” and reason is defined as “the ability to think, form judgments, draw conclusions, etc.”[2] The idea is that faith and reason do not fit together or that they are opposed to each other. This is the impression that many people have in their minds about the relationship between faith and reason. Many religious faiths or belief systems are anti-intellectual and discourage knowledge and reason. For example, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (perhaps the most popular Hindu guru now) explains his view of faith as follows: “Whatever you have faith in, do not make it an object of knowing. You do not need to know that in which you have faith. If you have faith in God, do not try to know God. God and Self are not objects of knowing. And you cannot have faith in that which you have made into an object of knowing. You cannot make love an object of knowing. If you try to do so, the love will disappear.”[3] Is faith from the Christian perspective any different? Is Christianity any different from other faiths?

Faith – A Secular and Skeptical Perspective: Many (including some Christians that are fideistic) think that faith is personal and private and it need not and cannot have any rational foundation. For example, Richard Dawkins, Oxford University biologist and one of the most vocal atheists of our time thinks that faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. He thinks faith is belief in spite of and because of the lack of evidence. Bertrand Russell thought faith to be the firm belief in something for which there is no evidence. What is sad is that many Christians, quite ignorantly take the fideistic approach to faith, which says that it is faith alone and nothing else (no evidence and reasons). Fideism is ‘faith-alone ism’. They think mistakenly that it is a biblical view of faith.  

Faith – A Balanced Biblical Perspective: However, what do we learn from the Bible? What is the biblical view of faith? We have to turn to the faith of Abraham, the father of the faithful and friend of God to understand the nature of biblical faith (see Heb 11: 8-12, 17-19; Rom. 4: 18-21; Gen 12-18 and 22; Josh 24: 2-4). Abraham is the paradigm for the ‘faith family/community’ (Rom 4: 16). Christian view of faith is such that it cannot exist without knowledge. Biblical FAITH is not against reason (not antirational) or evidence or knowledge. It goes beyond reason and evidence, but is based on evidence or knowledge and reason or experience and certainly not against them. Faith is FOCUSED on God, His Character (characteristics or attributes) or on who God is and what He does in history. Hebrews 11: 11 says “. . . he considered him Faithful who had made the promise.” And v. 19 says, “. . . he reasoned that God could raise the dead, . . . ” (see Rom. 4: 21 also). The work of God that reveals who God is has to be seen in personal as well as corporate (community, national, and global) history. So, truly biblical or Christian FAITH is FOCUSED on GOD, the object of faith and not just on man, the subject of faith – who God is and what He did and continues to do in the world and in our lives. It is REASONED Faith, not an illogical, or a blind faith. This is what we find in Heb. 11: 17-19. Verse19 says, “Abraham reasoned (Gk. logisamenos) that God could raise the dead, . . . ”  (see Rom. 4: 18-21 also). What was the reasoning that had gone on in Abraham’s mind? Romans 4: 18-21 (as a result of this reasoning, he was fully persuaded or convinced or assured) gives us some insight into Abraham’s reasoning.

 Biblical faith then is confidence, reliance, or trust in the reliable or trustworthy. In the biblical sense, to have faith means ‘trusting someone (or something) that one has reasons and factual evidences to believe and entrusting oneself to that someone or something’. This understanding gets confirmed when we look at the Greek dictionary for the meaning of ‘pistis’, which is translated as ‘faith’. This is a very important term in the NT – it occurs 307 times. Pistis has two aspects to it: 1) Trust or Reliance or Confidence or Acceptance, and 2) Intellectual Content or knowledge that is reflected in the life of the believer. C. S. Lewis says that faith is “. . . assent to a proposition which we think so overwhelmingly probable that there is a psychological exclusion of doubt though not a logical exclusion of dispute.”[4] One of the great expositors of the Scriptures in our age, Stott defines faith as “. . . a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God.”[5] Josh McDowell also defines faith in a similar fashion, but using different terminology, as “the assurance of the heart [mind, the center of our consciousness] in the adequacy of the evidence.”[6] This way of understanding faith actually reflects the significance of Hebrews 11: 1, which says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (KJV). ‘Evidence’ is the translation of the Greek word, which literally means, “proof, or proving.” It is not ‘believing what you know isn’t so’ as Mark Twain opined.       

Faith Beyond Reason – A Biblical Illustration: When Abraham and Sarah finally believed that they would become parents, it was certainly belief/faith beyond reason. Humanly/biologically speaking, it was impossible for them to have a son, because they were reproductively dead – Sarah was past the menopause and Abraham was too old (Rom 4: 16-25). Abraham’s body was as good ad dead (he was about 100 years old) and Sarah’s womb was also dead. They went beyond this reasoning and believed what God promised, not blindly or irrationally, but being fully persuaded that God who promised had the power to do what he had promised (vv. 18-21). Abraham considered Him faithful who had made the promise (Heb. 11: 11-12). Humanly speaking, it was hopeless and yet Abraham had hope and believed (had faith), because He brought God into the equation. Thus, his reasoning went beyond the merely human and limited level of reasoning. Later on, this experiential knowledge enabled Abraham to reach a higher level of reasoning, not merely natural but spiritual reasoning that is based on who God is and what He does in history (Heb. 11: 17-19). So we conclude that Abraham’s faith is ‘reasoning faith’ that goes beyond the ‘reasoning that is limited to the natural and the merely human’ and includes God.          

Conclusion: We have to follow the example of Abraham. In the middle of our humanly speaking hopeless situations – infertility, financial crisis, health problems, uncertainty in career, unemployment, rebellious children, unbelieving spouse, delayed marriage, etc., we have to learn to live lives of hope that springs from a ‘reasoning faith’ that brings God into the equation. It is God that makes all the difference. If we leave God out, then hopelessness, pessimism, depression, dejection, low self-esteem, grumbling, carnal comparison, and complaining, would be the natural result. On the contrary, if we keep God in the equation (in our daily lives), then we will live lives of hope (in spite of all natural hopelessness), peace, joy, confidence, and obedience for the glory of God and thus be God’s witnesses in this world. This kind of life alone could be truly called a ‘life of faith’. Are we limited to and by what we see or are we able to transcend this and look beyond with the ‘eyes of faith’ and see what merely the natural eyes cannot see? If we live ‘God-conscious lives’ and have the eyes of faith, then we can or should say, like the prophet of the old, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights” (Habakkuk 3: 17-19).

It will be a good and meaningful exercise to put these verses down in our own words using our contemporary categories (Though the share market does not bounce back adequately and there is hardly any balance left in my bank account, though our efforts to own a house fail and the rents keep going up, etc.) to drive home the truth to ourselves in our times.

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[1] This is written for the UESI-AP Hyderabad Quarterly News Letter City Link, November 2008.

[2] See Webster’s New World Dictionary.

[3] Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, “What Faith Means,” under Inner Space: Discourses in Religion and Philosophy, The Times of India, Bangalore, Wednesday, September 21, 2005, p. 4.

[4] C. S. Lewis, “On Obstinacy in Belief,” in The World’s Last Night and Other Essays (New York: Brace Jovanovich, 1955), p. 16.

[5] John R. W. Stott, Your Mind Matters: The Place of Mind in the Christian Life (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1972), p. 36.

[6] Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1972), p. 4.

Do I have the right kind of Faith?

Do I have the right kind of Faith?
Is my faith truly biblical or Christian?[1]
- Rev. Sudhakar Mondithoka

Introduction: We have to, rather each one of us has to take this question seriously and think about it, for one reason. There are all kinds of ‘faiths’ around us in the world (or society) and often the critics of Religion or Religious Faith(s) keep Christianity along with all others and say this is also as good or as bad as all the others. For example, if you look at Kushwant Singh’s articles in the news papers and magazines and Rajmohan Gandhi’s article on the problem of evil and suffering in the Hindu,[2] you will find this to be true.

It is true that there are religions or faith systems that have many superstitious beliefs. For example, if we look at the Religion(s) of our Hindu Friends, there are all kinds of Superstitious Beliefs (unlike our beliefs!?). For example, look at the following three examples. a) If a black cat crosses your path, and you go ahead, then you are in for trouble, because there is a curse that will come upon you. b) If a widow comes in the opposite direction (towards you) when u are going out on an important work, this is ominous and you will encounter failure. c) If someone sneezes when you are going out on some important work, then you are in for trouble. No one has ever established the causal connections in these cases and many others like this. These are baseless beliefs that are passed on from generation to generation, and people just believe them or take them for granted without examining them at all. And those who critique or attack religion in general or Christianity in particular, treat Christianity as being no different from others. What do you think? Is YOUR or OUR faith or our beliefs different from the beliefs of others? If the answer is YES, then in what way does our faith differ or do our beliefs differ from those of others?

I believe that our beliefs are different from the superstitious beliefs that we find in other religions (of course, not all their beliefs belong to this category). Beliefs are integral to all ‘faiths’ (religious or philosophical systems). Let us get a little bit more clear understanding about belief(s) by looking at what a belief is and the different kinds of beliefs that are held by different people.

What is a belief? To believe means to accept a statement (or a statement of a person) as true. If some one tells me something and I accept it as true, then it means that I believe that person’s statement or claim. Without beliefs, we cannot live and all humans have beliefs. However, not all beliefs belong to the same category. Let us look at the different kinds of belief that exist.

Different types of beliefs: First, there are SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS
and NON-SUPERSTITIOUS or justified BELIEFS. A superstitious belief does not have real or proper justification (basis or support) in terms of reasons, evidences, and verification. There might be some imagined or improper justification (what is supposed to be the basis but is proven to be no basis on examination), but no proper justification. Non-superstitious beliefs or Proper Beliefs are of two types: 1. True Beliefs – A belief is true when the content (what is believed) of the belief corresponds to or matches with the reality. 2. False Beliefs – A belief is false when what is believed and the reality or real state of affairs do not match or correspond. Lot of people, very intelligent ones and religious gurus also believe that all that matters as far as beliefs is concerned is the sincerity with which we believe and nothing else. But the problem is, we can be very sincere and still be wrong or have false beliefs (maybe, sincerely wrong), because sincerity is about our internal state (subjective) and belief is about external state (objective) of affairs. Let us now consider some examples or illustrations of this point:

1. Suppose I believe, and do so very sincerely that right now I have ten crore rupees in my bank account, will my sincerity make my belief true?????

2. The pilot who saw some series of lights (in Ahmedabad) and sincerely believed that they were the lights on the runway, but when he landed the plane, to his shock and everyone’s shock, it turned out that they were the lights on an industrial plant and a number of people died in the tragic accident.

3. Suppose we all believe, and do so very sincerely that the earth is flat (as it was believed by the majority of people, including the scientists of the day, believed some time ago) will our sincerity and strength (number) make our belief true?

4. The belief of some that they and all humans are by nature divine (based on authority) – is it true or false?

What is the Nature of Biblical or Christian Faith? Many times, we ourselves are not sure about our faith (maybe, certain aspects of our faith) and doubts and questions plague us and our young people in the Church. This happens because we are exposed to different kinds of issues, questions, and objections to our faith in the market place of ideas and because of the things we encounter in our personal or corporate lives. This happens because we are not clear about the nature of our faith and what ‘faith’ is according to the Bible. What is Faith really? What does the Bible say about Faith? How do we understand ‘faith’?

There are all kinds of very interesting definitions of faith both in the secular and spiritual world in our time. Once I was waiting in a Bus Station. I saw a young man reading a book. I was drawn to it, because the chapter was on ‘faith’. I was surprised when I realized that it was a business management book and became curious to find out what the author had to say about faith. This is how the author defined FAITH: “FAITH is a state of mind that is produced by autosuggestion wherein you believe that you can do whatever you want to or achieve whatever you set as a target and you will achieve it or do it.” This is a totally subject (man) centered faith. There is no reference to the object of faith (God) in this definition. It sounds somewhat like the ‘power of positive thinking’ that has become very popular among secular as well as Christian people. Keeping this as the backdrop, let us now turn our attention to the biblical understanding of faith.
What biblical or Christian ‘faith’ is not: It is not a leap in the dark nor a mystical experience, nor an ineffable or indescribable encounter with someone totally indefinable and indescribable. It is not faith in faith itself, but faith in the facts of the Scripture, History, Science, Archaeology, etc., and facts of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. It is not related to my believing hard enough - closing my eyes and grinding my teeth and bringing myself to a place psychologically where I say, “Well, I don’t know how, but Christ has indeed risen and I can now believe.” “Faith isn’t a question of shutting our eyes, gritting our teeth and believing impossible things. It is motivated belief, motivated basically by our encounter with Christ” (Dr. John Polkinghorne, Cambridge University). Biblical FAITH is not against reason (not antirational) or against evidence. However, it goes or might go beyond reason and evidence, but is based on evidence and reason or experience and never against them. Now let us contrast this with some other religious perspective on what faith is.

Do you know who the most popular and powerful Hindu Guru is right now in India and around the World? It is none else but Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. This is how he explains his view of faith:

Whatever you have faith in, do not make it an object of knowing. You do not need to know that in which you have faith. If you have faith in God, do not try to know God. God and Self are not objects of knowing. And you cannot have faith in that which you have made into an object of knowing. You cannot make love an object of knowing. If you try to do so, the love will disappear.[3]

This view of faith is exactly the opposite of the Christian view of faith in that it has nothing to do with knowledge, whereas the Christian view of faith is such that it cannot exist without knowledge. Biblical FAITH is not against reason (not antirational) nor
against evidence (unlike the Hindu faith) or knowledge. It goes beyond reason and evidence, but is based on evidence or knowledge and reason or experience and certainly not against them. To have a more comprehensive understanding of what biblical faith is, we will now turn to what the Bible has to say about the ‘faith of the Father of the Faithful and Friend of God, Abraham’.

The Faith of the Father of the Faithful and Friend of God, Abraham: If we examine the FAITH of the Father of the Faithful and Friend of God, Abraham, we will know the nature of true biblical/Christian faith (See Hebrews 11: 8-12, 17-19; Rom. 4: 18-21; Genesis 12-18 and 22; Joshua 24: 2-4). Our FAITH should be like Abraham’s faith, because we are “those who are of the faith of Abraham” (Rom. 4: 16) and he is the ‘Father of all the Faithful’, not just his physical descendents (the Israelites or Jews or Hebrews). Abraham’s faith can be characterized under the following main points:

i) It is based on the Word (spoken) of the Living Lord. His idolatrous
background (Gen. 12: 1-4; Josh. 24: 2-4) will give us an idea of how the spoken word of the only true God would have led him o start off on his journey of a living faith in the living Lord who spoke to him or called him. The spoken word of the living God was enough for Abraham to take the fist step of faith. My guess is that he would have instinctively or intuitively known that this God was different from all the gods and goddesses he was worshiping. For us also, it is the Word (spoken and written – see Rom. 10: 8-17) that is the FOUNDATION of our faith. So, a truly biblical or Christian FAITH is FOUNDED upon God’s Word (both spoken and written), as Abraham’s Faith was, because our God is both a Speaking and a Writing God (see Exo. 20: 1; 24: 12; 31: 18; 32: 15-16). Even Moses, who first heard what the Lord had spoken to him, later on had written it down (Exo. 24: 1-7). Hence, we should be hearing-reading-speaking-writing people.

ii) It is FOCUSED on God, His Character (characteristics or attributes) or on who God is and what He does in history. Hebrews 11: 11 says “. . . he considered him Faithful who had made the promise.” And v. 19 says, “. . . he reasoned that God could raise the dead, . . . ” (see Rom. 4: 21 also). The work of God that reveals who God is has to be seen in personal as well as corporate (community, national, and global) history. So, truly biblical or Christian FAITH is FOCUSED on GOD, the object of faith and not on man, the subject of faith – who God is and what He did and continues to do in the world and in our lives.

iii) It is a TRIED, TESTED, and finally APPROVED Faith. Abraham’s ‘new faith’ in the true God did not remain as ‘nursery or baby faith’, but developed into a ‘robust faith’ (see Rom. 4: 18-25; Heb. 11: 11-12, 17-19; Gen. 22: 1-19) that was approved by God. We see Abraham beginning his ‘journey of faith’ in Genesis 12 with a specific call and promise from God (vv. 1-10). God said, “Leave (your country, people, and father’s household) and go (to the land I will show you) and then gave him the promise (vv. 2-3) and Abraham left, as the Lord had told him (v. 4). This happened when Abraham was 75 years old. Right after this, the narrative has a number of Tests or Challenges that Abraham faced on this ‘journey of faith’:

1) First Challenge or Test (Gen. 12:10-13) – Looking to God in faith (or waiting upon God and seeking His will) or following the worldly wisdom was the issue and Abraham failed the test.

2) Second Challenge or Test (Gen. 13: 1-18) – Going by faith in God or going by sight on the greener pastures and following the worldly patterns was the issue and Abraham passed the test.

3) Third Challenge or Test (Gen. 14: 13-24) – This was firstly, a test of Abraham’s response to some one (his nephew Lot) who did not act fairly or acted selfishly. Abraham passed this test, because he did not respond in a human or carnal way, when he came to know that Lot was in trouble. Abraham fought and brought back Lot, all his possessions, and people. Right after this victory of faith, Abraham faces another test when the king of Sodom (who was among those that Abraham rescued) said to Abraham, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself” (v. 21). Abraham’s response reveals that he did not yield to the temptation of taking advantage of the situation and claiming greatness for oneself. It is temptation to the fame of the world. Abraham gives glory to the Lord and says to the king of Sodom that he would not accept anything belonging to him, so that he would never be able to say that he had made Abraham rich (vv. 22-23). Thus, Abraham overcame the temptations and passed the tests of his faith.

4) Fourth Challenge or Test (Gen. 16: 1-16) – By now Abraham was about 85 years old (ten years had gone by since he began his journey of faith) and interestingly, this comes right after God reaffirms His promise and covenant with Abraham in the narrative. This is a test of patience or perseverance in waiting for God’s time of fulfilling His promise. Once again, Abraham fails the test and this failure engenders a serious problem for humanity – the conflict between the Jews and Muslims.

5) Fifth Test (17: 1-27) – It is a test of Abraham’s faith or trust and obedience and he responds in doubt (cf. Gen. 18: 9-12, here we read about Sarah’s doubt) as well as obedience. He probably overcame the initial doubt and finally took a step of faith (obedience).

6) The Final and Toughest Test (Gen. 22: 1-19) – This again is a test of trust and obedience and Abraham passes the test, rather came through in flying colors and his faith becomes approved by God (see vv. 12 and 17-18). So, a truly biblical or Christian FAITH is Tested, Tried, and Approved Faith, which does have Ups and Downs (not a totally
doubtless faith), but keeps growing gradually (one of the ways it grows is by learning lessons from the failures) and finally becomes a ‘Robust Faith’. What kinds of tests and trials of our faith can we think of? Disease or Uncertainty about Future or Struggling Business or Financial Struggles or Rebellious Children or Infertility (childlessness) or a Spouse who does not show any signs of change? Or is it the issue of getting married? Are we growing in our FAITH? When it is Tested and Tried, are we responding well? Is Our Faith becoming a more ‘Robust Faith’ gradually or are we allowing it to remain as ‘nursery or baby faith’?

iv) It is REASONED Faith and not an Illogical or a blind faith. This is what we find in Heb. 11: 17-19. Verse19 says, “Abraham reasoned (Gk. logisamenos) that God could raise the dead, . . . ” (see Rom. 4: 18-21 also). What was the reasoning that had gone on in Abraham’s mind? Romans 4: 18-21 (as a result of this reasoning, he was fully persuaded or convinced or assured) gives us some insight into Abraham’s reasoning. The following would be the form that Abraham’s reasoning might have taken, if I may put it down in the form a syllogism:

P1 - God promised that we would become parents, when we were reproductively dead,
P2 - God demonstrated that He has power to fulfill His promise by bringing life (Isaac) from our dead bodies, so now
C - Eve if I obey Him and slay/sacrifice my son, He can or will bring him back to life and fulfill His promise and hence I will obey Him

For us also it is the same – when we face such testing or trying situations, we have
to reason (on the basis of biblical, historical, personal, and corporate experiences and facts that bear witness to God’s power, grace, love, and intervention in human affairs) in our minds and thus receive the motivation to trust God (even when we do this, the Holy Spirit God comes alongside and enables us). Therefore, a truly biblical or Christian FAITH is REASONED faith, but not antirational, irrational, blind, or anti-intellectual FAITH. This faith takes into consideration past experiences and biblical, scientific, and historical facts that reveal God’s nature and power.

The God of the Bible never wants His people to believe anything blindly. For example, we notice that Jesus gave many convincing proofs (Gk. tekmeriois) or sure signs to his disciples after He rose again from the dead so that they might have a strong basis for their belief in and witness for His resurrection (see Acts 1: 1-4 and John 20: 24-28). In fact, he appeared to them on 11 or 12 different occasions at different times and places over a period of 40 days and this is one of the reasons for the striking transformation that we see in the lives of the disciples after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Following the example of his master, Jesus Christ, Paul always gave reasons, evidences, and proofs to his audiences (Acts 17: 1-4; 18: 1-4 and 18-19; 19: 8-10) when he invited them to put their faith in Jesus Christ. Even Apollos did the same thing (18: 27-28). It will not be an exaggeration to say that we do not find “blind faith” anywhere in the New Testament. Now, I think, having looked at the faith of Abraham (in some detail), the father of the faithful and a paradigm for all true believers, we are ready to arrive at some conclusion about what faith is biblically speaking, before we could consider one other important truth about Christian faith.

What biblical or Christian ‘faith’ is: We will now try to put down in positive terms what biblical or Christ faith is. Faith is confidence, reliance, or trust. In the biblical sense, to have faith means ‘trusting someone (or something) that one has reasons and factual evidences to believe and entrusting oneself to that someone or something’. This understanding gets confirmed when we look at the Greek dictionary for the meaning of ‘pistis’, which is translated as ‘faith’ in English. This is a very important term in the New Testament – it occurs 307 times. Pistis has two aspects to it: 1) Trust or Reliance or Confidence or Acceptance, and 2) Intellectual Content or knowledge that is reflected in the life of the believer. C. S. Lewis says that faith is “. . . assent to a proposition which we think so overwhelmingly probable that there is a psychological exclusion of doubt though not a logical exclusion of dispute.”[4] One of the great expositors of the Scriptures in our age, John Stott defines faith as “. . . a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God.”[5] Josh McDowell also defines faith in a similar fashion, but using different terminology, as “the assurance of the heart [mind, the center of our consciousness] in the adequacy of the evidence.”[6] This way of understanding faith actually reflects the significance of Hebrews 11: 1, which says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (KJV). ‘Evidence’ is the translation of the Greek word, which literally means, “proof, or proving.”

In the light of the foregone analysis, we can say that it is unfortunate that some Christians think that their faith is something mystical and extra-mental, which can be and should be separated from reason and knowledge. Many Christians seem to be defining faith as “an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable,” as some one said. There is an interesting story that confirms this kind of a tendency that prevails among Christians. A Sunday school teacher asked the class, “What is faith?” A young boy quickly answered, “Believing something you know isn’t true.” Then another student corrected the boy saying, “Faith is believing that something exists when it does not actually exist.” All these betray the thinking that faith is something baseless and blind. However, this kind of thinking is not at all in line with sound biblical teaching and thinking. In the OT, one of the most serious charges God leveled against His people was that they did not know and understand (Isa. 1: 2-3) and He goes on to invite them to come and reason together with Him (v. 18). Jeremiah also says something similar in 8: 4-7. God says that the ox, the donkey, the stork, the dove, the swift, and the thrush know better than His people and hence are all better than His people. In Jeremiah 3: 14-15, God says to the Israelites that if they return to Him, then He would give them shepherds after His own heart, who will lead them with knowledge and understanding. Paul talks about Israel in Romans 10: 1-4 saying that their zeal was not based on knowledge.

God commands His people in the NT to reason with their non-Christian critics and questioners. 1 Pet. 3: 15b says, “Always be prepared to give an answer or defense (Gk. apologia) to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. Apologia, from which the English word ‘apologetics’ is derived, literally means, “a reasoned verbal response given in defense of” the hope. This means that our hope has reasons and evidences and that it is defensible. In other words, our faith is an intelligent and reasonable faith. Otherwise, God could not have commanded us to defend it. This perhaps is why Schaeffer says that Christian faith is acceptance based on intellectual content. He says, “To say, as a Christian should, that only the faith which believes God on the basis of knowledge is true faith is to say something which causes an explosion in the twentieth-century world.”[7] All this should help us to understand that it is impossible to separate biblical faith from reason and knowledge. When Christians do so, all that they accomplish is to compromise the faith and destroy any possible basis for communicating with the friends of other religious and philosophical persuasions. Therefore, it is dangerous to try to separate Christian faith from reason and evidence or knowledge.

In sum, biblical or Christian faith is all about ‘trusting someone (with a good basis) and entrusting ourselves to that some one’. The old story of the world’s greatest ropewalker at Niagara Falls illustrates this truth quite well for us. This tight ropewalker crossed from one end to the other of the Niagara Falls. Everybody applauded. When he asked if all of them believed in his ability to walk from one and to the other, they all answered in the affirmative. Then he took a heavy log of wood and came back carrying it in his arms. There was a much more overgenerous applause this time. He asked the audience if they all believed that he could take one of them with him and cross to the other side again. They all answered in the affirmative. But when he asked for a volunteer who would want to go with him, there was hush silence. No one was willing to trust him and entrust himself or herself to this great ropewalker. What is missing here on the part of the spectators? The proof is in place. The intellectual assent is there. What is missing is ‘faith’ that leads to action involving risk (of course calculated risk and not reckless or foolish courage) is missing. This should help us to understand what faith is and this leads to the final point about the nature of Christian faith.

Biblical Faith and Action or Obedience are Inseparably linked: This is what we find when we examine Abraham’s faith closely (see Gen. 12: 1, 4 - the Lord said to Abraham, “Leave . . . go . . . ” and “Abraham left . . . set out/went . . . ”). See Gen. 22: 2, 3, 9, and 16 also. God said, “Take your son Isaac, go, and sacrifice . . . ” and “Early the next morning Abraham got ready, set out for the place, bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, . . . ” and thus, in principle, Abraham sacrificed Isaac and figuratively speaking, he got his son back from death (see Heb. 11: 17-19). We cannot imagine a more severe or difficult test of faith and obedience and Abraham came through demonstrating his faith in obedience. True or biblical faith always leads to obedience. Theologically speaking, faith and obedience cannot be separated.

Charles Spurgeon is said to have commented on this faith-obedience link like this: “The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any action that does not flow from faith.” In the NT, we notice that the words faith/belief and obedience are used as synonyms (see John 3: 16-18 and 36). This becomes very clear if we refer to New Century Version or New American Standard Bible or even the Telugu version of the Bible. So truly biblical or Christian faith is demonstrated in action or obedience and is not limited to just good feelings, thoughts, or intentions.

This is what exactly James says in his epistle (see James 2: 14-16). He talks about a faith that is living (seen in action) and a faith that is dead (does not produce any action). Is your or my faith a true and a lively or living faith or is it a dead faith? James says that faith without corresponding deeds is dead. True and lively or living faith is always seen. It shows itself in the practice of life or character. The fruit of a living faith is a holy or godly life marked by obedience to God. Such a faith sanctifies, works by love, overcomes the world, and purifies the heart. On the contrary, ‘dead faith’, which is not true faith, goes no further than the profession of lips. It is limited to ‘lip-service’ (words) and is not seen in ‘life-service’ (works). It is said that ‘if you don’t practice it, you don’t believe it’. Similarly, we can say that ‘if you don’t practice the Christian faith, you don’t have the Christian faith’. While talking about these two kinds of faith, James talks about the faith of the demons (dead faith), which is nothing more than an intellectual assent or theoretical knowledge that does not lead to practice (obedience). Is our faith any different from the faith of the demons? Some one said that “demons are the original ‘faith only’ Protestants.” Satan or Demons also know a much about God (James 2: 19; Mk. 1: 24; Matt. 8: 29; Lk. 4: 33-34). If our knowledge of God, His will, and His ways does not lead us to obedience to Him, then our knowledge of God is not different from Satan’s or demons’ knowledge of God and our faith is dead. How is your faith? Is it being demonstrated in your obedience to God or the Word of God in your daily life? Or is it a dead faith like the faith of the demons? I think it is very important for all of us to examine our lives honestly (from time to time) and see where we stand and to ensure that our faith is living and vibrant. This exercise has to be carried out earnestly by all Christians, because Christians with dead faith or Christians who are not Christ-like are the biggest barrier for people that are considering Christ. Such Christians discredit the Christian faith.

Conclusion: In conclusion, I would just like to say that the faith of Abraham, the Father of the Faithful and Friend of God, is the paradigm for us. We notice that a great man of faith in the NT, Paul followed the example of Abraham. Paul’s faith was seen in the twists and turns, ups and downs, ebbs and flows, and the glad and sad times of his life and ministry. We can learn from Paul that when we feel alone, desolate, and threatened, we need not despair, for “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8: 35-39). True faith is ‘overcoming or conquering faith’. How is our faith? Is it an overcoming and conquering faith or is it a perennially weak and loosing faith? Can our faith, like Paul’s faith, say, “None of us lives to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14: 7-9)?

What is our faith like? Is it biblical or Christian? Is it like the faith of Abraham – based on the Word of God, focused on God, tested, tried, and approved, reasoned, and reflected in a life of obedience to God in all areas of life? Are we growing in our faith or are we building ourselves up in our most holy faith (Jude 20)? Are we growing in our understanding of God and His ways (the strength or quality of our faith is directly proportional to this) and thus growing in our faith (trust in the Lord who is trustworthy)? Are people around us able to see that our faith in the Lord, the only true God is making a difference in the way we live our lives in the middle of all the problems, uncertainties, complexities, struggles, diseases, and so on? Are people around us challenged by our faith-life and forced to consider the object of our faith, the Lord of all, more seriously? May our faith be demonstrated (in the way we live our lives) to be different from other faiths. May the Lord help us (you and me) and may we do our part to be real men and women of real faith in the real God, for His glory, for the blessing of others, and for our own good.

There might still be some questions in your minds about two very important questions related to our topic (that we have dealt with in passing or alluded to in this article): 1. How do we understand the ‘faith-doubt interplay’ in a believer’s life? And 2. How do we understand the ‘faith-fear relationship’ in the life of a believer in Christ? These questions cannot be ignored and cannot be covered here given the space limitation. However, we will be focusing on these two issues in two separate articles that will be published in the future. Until then, may we encouraged you to do your own study and reflection on these two important issues.

Note: You are most welcome to share your questions with the author, so that he might be able to make his future articles more comprehensive.
[1] This essay is based on a series of messages that I have been preaching in our church with the same title.
[2] The Hindu, Magazine, Sunday, August 4, 2002.
[3] Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, “What Faith Means,” under Inner Space: Discourses in Religion and Philosophy, The Times of India, Bangalore, Wednesday, September 21, 2005, p. 4.
[4] C. S. Lewis, “On Obstinacy in Belief,” in The World’s Last Night and Other Essays (New York: Brace Jovanovich, 1955), p. 16.
[5] John R. W. Stott, Your Mind Matters: The Place of Mind in the Christian Life (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1972), p. 36.
[6] Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1972), p. 4.
[7] Francis A. Schaeffer, The God Who is There (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1968), p. 142.