Is Christian Faith a Blind Faith?

Does the Bible ask us to blindly believe?

From famous atheists like Richard Dawkins to the internet comment army—many have often criticized and labeled the Christian faith as ‘Blind Faith"‘. What do they mean by blind faith? Simply put, blind faith is when a person believes anything without looking for evidence. Then, they quote a few of the Bible verses like Hebrews 11:1, which reads, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” So, the question remains, Is Christian faith a blind faith?

It’s easy to cherry-pick a few verses and criticize someone. However, let’s dive deeper and look at what the Old Testament and the New Testament have to say.

Old Testament

In the book of Exodus, God performs many wonders. He sends many plagues on the Egyptians. However, there was a purpose behind that. It was for both the Israelites and the Egyptians to know that the Lord is God.

Exodus 7:4-5, “…Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

Exodus 7:17, “This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.”

Exodus 8:10, “…Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God.”

Exodus 8:22, “‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land.”

These are just some of the verses that tell us why the Lord sent judgment on the Egyptians. It was because the Israelites would believe. At the same time, it was for some of the Egyptians to know who the Lord is! Read these verses:

Exodus 8:19: “Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’ But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.”

Exodus 9:20: “Those among Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord made their slaves and livestock flee to shelters.”

Exodus 14:25: “He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, ‘Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’”

What am I implying here? It is evident through these verses that God did not ask anyone to believe in Him blindly. On the contrary, through the signs and wonders, He provided them with evidence, and then people believed. This is not blind faith.

Another instance is in Psalm 34:8: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” God tells us to first taste His goodness and then trust Him.

Hence, the Old Testament does not endorse blind faith.

New Testament

In the New Testament, the Greek word used for faith is pistis. This word does not mean the definition that atheists and others give. It does not mean ‘belief without any evidence’. In fact, it means trust, faithfulness. Hence, the New Testament never encourages us to blindly believe.

One of the best instances to support this is Matthew 11. Just to give a brief context, John the Baptist is in prison at this point. And he doubted whether Jesus was the Messiah. Matthew 11:2-3 reads, “When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

This is the same John the Baptist who testified of Jesus (Matthew 3:11-12), and who baptized Jesus (Matthew 3:13-15). This same John the Baptist had a doubt and wanted to clarify if Jesus was the Messiah or if he should expect someone else. If Christian faith is a blind faith, Jesus would have replied, “Don’t doubt; just believe in me.” However, Jesus did not reply like that. Here’s what He said in Matthew 11:4-6:

“Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

What we observe is that Jesus does not mind if someone asks for evidence. In fact, God first presents evidence to us and then tells us to believe. This is not blind faith. It is rather a reasonable faith.

Another instance is in 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” We are not to blindly believe everything; rather, we are to test every spirit and then believe.

Again, the New Testament, too, does not endorse blind faith; on the contrary, it condones it.

Conclusion

Both the Old and the New Testaments talk about faith or belief in light of the evidence. The label, therefore, that ‘Christian faith is a blind faith’ is a label that is blindly put on the Christians. God only asks us to trust Him with our future because He has already shown us how faithful He is in the past.

Sean McDowell has put it beautifully: “Faith is not belief in spite of the evidence, but belief in light of the evidence.”

May the Lord who has been faithful unto us help us to trust his faithfulness throughout our lives!