Faith or faithfulness is not a simple subject. In the Old Testament references to faith or faithfulness often refer to the faithfulness, the khesed or steadfast love, exhibited by God to his Creation and to his people. Later references in the Scriptures refer to our faith, our faith in that selfsame God as most fully revealed in the person of Jesus, whom we honor as the Christ.
The unknown author of the book of Hebrews says that “…faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Or, as the novelist Madeleine L’Engle put it, “Some things have to be believed to be seen.”
That is completely out of step with modernity. We believe what we see, hear, taste, touch, smell … we need physical confirmation to believe. A prime example of that attitude is Marxist Socialism, where all is material … history is determined entirely by material forces … there is no Christian or Jewish God or indeed, there are no gods whatsoever. Faith is immaterial and therefore does not exist. In my view it is impossible for someone who espouses the Marxist ideology of materialism and atheism to be a faithful follower of our God. Read more…