Is faith in God an insult to the intellect (Jesus, grace)

[roli]

Mere child like faith in the God of the bible as a means to be justified in and for your sins, placing the sinner in right standing with God has always been a difficult thing to acknowledge and accept by those outside and many skeptics,at least in Jesus' day

The pharisees, sadducees,the jew(religious) and the greek(scholar,philosopher) in Jesus day found mere faith to be almost an insult to the intellect.
.
Paul voiced a very controversial verse Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:
That caused much dispute among those who practiced the law as a means of justification

And so many of us who have been through some kind of education and especially some kind of scientific education get the idea that to have faith you have to in some way close up your mind, or in some way put your intellect to sleep, or in some way ignore the conclusions of science and conclusions of research.
That's absolutely ridiculous. Faith is not that kind of an irrational thing at all. Faith, in fact, is something that you and I exercise every day in our lives. And we've exercised it from the very moment we were born

Is faith alone enough to be saved ?
Is it an insult to the intellect?
What did Jesus say regarding faith?

[Victor]

It can be if you remain in that type of faith. Otherwise I see faith building upon reason.

[Random]

Originally Posted by Victor

It can be if you remain in that type of faith. Otherwise I see faith building upon reason.

I agree: faith without reason would be an insult to the intellect. But no-one, believer or not, supports that.

[Victor]

Originally Posted by Godlike

But no-one, believer or not, supports that.

Can you expound on this please.

[Ozzie]

Originally Posted by Victor

Can you expound on this please.

Not wanting to answer for Godlike, but I agree with your original point. It certainly could be seen as limiting on the intellect to have rigid faith.

But I see faith as actually expanding the intellect in most cases. Not only if faith is tested by intellectual enquiry (good exercise), but also because considering material facts from a Godlike (sic) perspective opens the mind IMO. It allows some third person consideration of the material. In looking at material evidence closely it might be a case otherwise of not being able to see the forest for the trees.

Oz

[Random]

Originally Posted by Victor

Can you expound on this please.

A believer would not likely doubt their faith rests upon some degree of Reason, whilst a non-believer by definition cannot have faith @ all without some reason or justification for it.

[Victor]

Originally Posted by Godlike

A believer would not likely doubt their faith rests upon some degree of Reason, whilst a non-believer by definition cannot have faith @ all without some reason or justification for it.

I see. So a person who willfully chooses to put his/her brakes on the emperical plane in a sense limits him/herself, you think? *ducks for tomatoes throws*

[Random]

Originally Posted by Victor

I see. So a person who willfully chooses to put his/her brakes on the emperical plane in a sense limits him/herself, you think? *ducks for tomatoes throws*

Absolutely, of course. Non-believing people are essentially Self-limiting entities, willfully so.

*Throws tomatoes back @ them*

[Scott1]

Originally Posted by roli

Is faith alone enough to be saved ?

I don't know what is "enough" to be saved.

Is it an insult to the intellect?

Faith is a grace of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him.... I would not take that as an insult.

What did Jesus say regarding faith?

Lots and lots.

[adilrockstar]

Originally Posted by roli

What did Jesus say regarding faith?

You are saved by FAITH.