On faith

I had a friend ask me today, “Why do you believe what you believe?” It's a tricky question.

The way I see it, you might as well ask someone why he or she loves someone else. Obviously, there are some facts that go into that decision: common interests, shared opinions, physical chemistry and the like. But when it comes time to make the commitment to loving someone, there's no "reason" to it. It's a gut-level instinct that says, "This is right."

The same can be said of faith. There are a number of facts that inform someone's choice of religion. For Christians, there is the logical principle that you cannot have creation without a creator. And there are the historical documents, both biblical and secular, supporting the existence of Jesus. But when it comes to choosing a faith, it is made based on that same type of gut instinct.

Look at it this way ... if you are certain of something, there's no belief to it. It's knowledge.