Faith and Presumption by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 19, 1883

Faith and Presumption.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

A RELIGIOUS journal thinks that the following by a Sunday-school boy is the best definition of faith that it ever saw:—

"As near as I can make out, it is feeling perfectly sure of a thing when you have nothing to back it up."

But that is not a definition of faith at all. It is more nearly a definition of presumption; in fact, it is an exact definition of presumption. We have known persons to whom the truth on the Sabbath question had been presented, and who had tried in vain to find even an excuse in the Bible for Sunday-keeping, to settle down complacently into their old habits, expressing their firm faith that God would not punish them, because they had so much love for him. Now their condition is exactly expressed by the above definition; they felt perfectly sure of a thing when they had nothing to back it up. They were positive that Sunday is the Sabbath, although they could not bring a scrap of evidence to support their belief. They had strong faith that God would not punish them for violating his law, although he has plainly declared to the contrary. They had no faith at all; they were simply presumptuous.

No doubt the man whose case is recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Numbers felt "fully assured" that he was all right. He did not believe that God was going to punish a man for so small a thing as picking up a few sticks on the Sabbath-day. He had too much faith in God and his goodness to think he would do such a thing. And yet his case is left on record as a typical case of presumption.

But "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." That is the inspired definition of faith. It cannot be that our contemporary ever read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. There can be no faith without evidence. The Christian religion requires the exercise of less credulity than any other system of religion known. There are no men on earth who are so "perfectly sure" of a thing, when they have "nothing to back it up" as modern infidels. They are always positive in their opinions, while at the same time they have literally "nothing" upon which to base them. According to the definition given, infidels would be men of the greatest faith; but they are simply terribly presumptuous.

We repeat, there can be no faith without evidence. The Christian may have the "full assurance of faith," and he has no lack of matter with which to "back up" his belief. We believe that there is a God; all nature declares the fact. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork." The "invisible 'things" of God, i. e., "his eternal power and Godhead," are clearly seen from the things that he has made.

We believe the Bible to be the true word of God, because the prophecies bear, beyond all cavil, the marks of inspiration, and their fulfillment cannot be denied. But the Bible is so harmonious, and all its parts are so closely interwoven that it all stands or falls together. Nothing within the range of human reason is so easily demonstrated, as that the Bible is what it purports to be,—the inspired word of God.

We can then rely on the testimony of the Bible as on first principles. So when it assures us that the Lord will come the second time, and that his coming is near, we know it; and we can point to the evidence. And when we are told that in order to enter into life we must keep the commandments, we dare not presume upon God's mercy by walking in a way which he has declared leads to death. We must confess to having so little faith that we cannot feel perfectly sure of a thing when there is nothing to back it up.

It is true that the Christian often seems, to the outside observer, to be walking blindly; to be accepting things as true, without having any evidence. But this is only seeming. It seems so because the skeptic looks at things from a different stand-point. A picture will often present a vastly different appearance when viewed in one position, from what it does to a person standing somewhere else. So there are things connected with God and his truth which worldlings can never understand. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Many things that appear perfectly reasonable to the Christian, and for which a perfectly logical reason can be given, are foolishness to the skeptic. It is as true now as ever, that "if any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine." There is no guess-work about the religion of the Bible. E. J. W.