What is Faith?

Faith is not "belief in spite of proof." Faith is "belief in the absence of proof."

This is an important distinction to me. It amazes me how many "Christians" I meet who try their best to deny, and even disprove, Evolution. Yet curiously, the same people are not vigorously trying to disprove the theory of gravity, or general relativity, or quantum mechanics.

I recently read an article which gave a wonderful definition of "fact". As it stands, nothing can truly be none as 100% factual. After all, you could always question the very nature of existence itself (perhaps we are all just dreaming). So scientifically, fact is generally accepted to mean that the probability is so great that there is no meaningful reason not to support that idea. The fact that the sun will rise tomorrow morning is only factual in so far as - there is no meaningful reason to consider that it wouldn't.

Now based on that definition, evolution is a fact. There has been no legitimate scientific discourse in the last 100 years that has attempted to suggest otherwise. What is currently unknown is the mechanisms which cause Evolution. But it is a fact, that all life on Earth has evolved from simpler organisms and will continue to evolve.

But back to the matter at hand... So many absolutely refuse to accept this "fact" based on the false pretense of "faith". I call it false, because they believe they are being faithful - by continuing to believe in the Bible, rather than all rational evidence at hand. This is not faith. Faith is not the blind acceptance of spiritual ideas that contradict all natural evidence. If you want to know how the natural world was formed and continues to form, you need only understand the natural facts. If you want to have faith in spiritual possibilities, you must have faith in the absence of all proof - because the natural, physical world will never provide you with any proof of the spiritual world.

Faith is not belief in spite of proof. Faith is belief in the absence of proof.

Then again, I could be completely wrong...