We are still sitting with, and pondering, the first two verses of Daniel chapter one.
In the last reflection, I noted that Daniel directly asserts that God is actively involved in human history.
1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand…
In the last reflection I asserted that to be people of the Bible, means we are people who believe God is actively involved in our history.
I stated, “The question then becomes—and it is the question for the next post—is whether or not we should believe that history has meaning—is there evidence for such a belief?”
The last reflection was meant for us to understand that Daniel held the point of view that God was actively involved in history—and from Daniel’s perspective, God’s involvement therefore gives history meaning.
In this reflection I want to examine if you and I have any evidence for such a belief?
To make this examination, I want to consider three points:
1. The idea of “evidence” and “faith”.
2. The principle of how any system is given meaning.
3. The evidence that God is involved in our system.
First; evidence and faith. Let’s from the start be clear. A person of faith is not a person of “blind faith”.
One of the most vocal opponents of faith is Richard Dawkins. “I think a case can be made that faith is one of the world’s great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus, but harder to eradicate. Faith, being belief that isn’t based on evidence, is the principle vice of any religion.” (Lennox, p.10, emphasis mine)
Yet Christianity is rooted in factual events. John the Apostle, in his gospel notes, “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ…” (John 20:31).
I underlined “these” to note that “these” refers to all the events that took place. You might choose to argue if the events took place as John described them. That would be a fine argument. However you cannot make the argument that people of faith are people who are blind. Quite the contrary.
Second; systems and meaning. This is a fairly philosophical point. How does something or someone, develop meaning? The short answer is that meaning can only come from “outside” of the thing or person. You might say, by the creator.
You might have to think about that for a bit. Today it is in vogue for humans to think that we determine our ultimate meaning. While that may sound nice, we cannot create our own purpose.
Third: God is involved. Certainly, the narrative of the Bible is one which presents God as more than involved, but as the Creator and Sustainer of all life—and His involvement therefore gives history, including our history, real meaning.
But the question is, can we outside of the Bible, see evidence for God, and God’s involvement.
There certainly are many books that offer evidence for God. Here are three. God the Evidence, The Creator and the Cosmos, and God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God.
This reflection has several goals.
First to reinforce Daniel’s Biblical view that God is involved in history.
Second to identify that it is the creator or designer of a system or building that gives it meaning. The Bible therefore, when it asserts that God is the Creator of the universe and all that fills it, implicitly is telling us the God gives us, and our history meaning.
Third, that people of faith are, contrary to popular belief, not people of blind faith. That indeed, we are following the evidence you might say.
You might be thinking, but unlike science, the evidence for faith never really “puts it over the goal line”.
Hold that thought for the next reflection. My hope is that before we launch into Daniel you will: 1. Understand Daniel’s Biblical worldview. 2. Recognize that this view is a remarkably robust credible view. 3. Live your life with a Biblical worldview.
In the next reflection we will press a bit more towards the goal line, and I pray you will see that faith in God remarkably parallels the faith people put in science.
For now, I am wondering, as a person of faith, do you believe your faith is blind, or is there more to it?