The Nature of Belief

By Chris Park

Those who believe in God, and those who don't, have access to the same 'evidence', but they view it, weigh it and interpret it differently. This book explores the nature of belief in general, and in science and God in particular. What factors shape our beliefs? How fixed or adaptable are our beliefs? How do we know anything, and how do we know that we know it? How do we judge between different interpretations of the same thing, i.e. different truth claims? What do we understand by the terms 'belief' and 'faith', and to what extent is even science - generally taken to be fully objective and rational - influenced by how we believe things. In turn, what do we mean by 'faith in God', and how are faith and reason inter-related? Finally, how useful is it to think of religious faith as a journey rather than something fixed and unchangeable?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Park
• Release date: Mar 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311119308

Chris Park

I am a retired academic with more than 30 years experience in university teaching, research and senior management in the UK. These days I enjoy spending time reading, writing, walking and travelling, but not all at the same time!

Book preview

THE NATURE OF BELIEF

Copyright 2016 Chris Park

Smashwords Edition

Thank you for downloading this ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied or distributed for commercial or non-commercial reasons. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy, and please consider downloading the other books in the series GOD MATTERS, both free from Smashwords.com. Thank you for your support.

This ebook contains material drawn from my book God: Real or Imagined? which was first published in print format by Zaccmedia in 2013. It is part of the GOD MATTERS series, the other ebooks of which are listed in ‘Other books by this author’.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Knowledge

3. Truth claims

4. Belief

5. Faith in science

6. Faith in God

7. Faith and reason

8. Religious faith as journey

References

About the author

Other books by this author

1. Introduction

"Any attempt to prove the existence of God by means of reasoned argument has failed, and will always fail. God cannot be argued into existence, if he wishes his creatures to approach him in faith rather than in the certainty of knowledge." Hugh Montefiore (1985)

There is much scope for disagreement over the nature, strength and validity of the evidence used to defend the idea and existence of God. Most non-believers struggle to see as credible the arguments usually put forward by believers, and believers generally struggle to accept and sometimes even to understand the arguments that non-believers put forward against God.

Believers and non-believers have access to the same evidence, but they view it, weigh it and interpret it differently. So the position one takes in any discussion about God depends partly on one’s vantage point. In this case Richard Dawkins and his fellow New Atheists, along with many scientists and other atheists, are outsiders looking in, whilst others (including Alister McGrath, Marcus Borg and me) are insiders looking out.

In the light of this it is clearly important to look at the nature of belief, what it means and what it involves. In this chapter we explore the nature of and interrelationships between three key things - knowledge, belief and faith.

Reality

We need to start by considering ‘What is reality?’ What do we mean by the term?

Dictionaries define ‘reality’ along the lines of the quality or state of being actual or true … something that is real. This naturally raises the question of what we mean by ‘actual’, ‘true’ or ‘real’. Defining ‘reality’ as the state of things as they are or appear to be, rather than as one might wish them to be, helps clarify an important quality of reality.

Philosophers define reality in terms of something that actually exists, independent of human awareness. In other words, reality exists whether or not we are aware of it. This of course raises the question of who the ‘we’ are - does that mean everyone everywhere, or a particular sub-set of people? The latter notion of ‘we’ raises the prospect of different people having quite legitimate grounds for seeing their take on reality as the ‘true’ or ‘real one’, and for dismissing other people’s takes as not ‘true’ or ‘real. From this perspective it is quite possible for supernatural reality to exist - at least in principle - even if not everyone recognises it.

Philosophers and scientists argue that reality is not a thing in itself, a physical object of some form, but rather the way we interpret and understand the world around us. We rely on our five senses (sight, sound, touch, smell and taste) for most of the ‘hard’ information we receive about that world, but of course our senses can deceive us. Illusionists and magicians rely on such deception, as do people working in such fields as virtual reality and computer-generated imagery. So, is there a reality independent of mind?

Brain scientist Andrew Newberg (2001) points out that our modern understanding of the brain’s perceptual powers … [shows that] nothing enters consciousness whole. There is no direct, objective experience of reality. All the things the mind perceives – all thoughts, feelings, hunches, memories, insights, desires, and revelations – have been assembled piece by piece by the processing powers of the brain from the swirl of neural blips, sensory perceptions, and scattered cognitions dwelling in its structures and neural pathways.

World-views

Although believers and non-believers have the same senses and brain mechanisms, they often view and interpret the world very differently, reflecting