I read a bit of the thread of comments here and great discussion! I agree with Dr. Swamidass about the reason for Christian faith is not an experience of some feeling but rests upon the TRUTH of the resurrection of Christ. Therefore, the issue of the Christian faith is indeed one deeply tied to the issue of science as it clashes with history! I will explain.
I was talking with a person in college who was part of a deeply troubling cult that is so beyond far fetched and historically irrational in every respect. It was a faith fully engaging the sinful flesh and human pride to entice folks towards it and had no real substantive arguments to bolster it being true, yet this person was deeply embedded in it nonetheless. When I shared the gospel with this person which was contrary to her views, she said something like, “All I can say is that when I walked into a service one day( in the building housing this cult) I felt such a burning sensation in my chest and such love and I will NEVER abandon it!” I thought to myself, only thing to do is to put her on a prayer list. She placed faith in feelings and abandoned faith upon God ordained reason, logic, history, archeology as recorded in His Word.
So feelings are not the substance of the Christian faith. Facts are! And these facts, in a serious way, come into a face to face confrontation with science and declare it “inept” for determining the truth of the facts! Dead people wrapped in 20 lbs of grave cloth for 3 days don’t come back alive. When the heart stops for a few days, it does not ever re-start! Scientific fact-but the history as seen by many over 2,000 years ago says something very different. And the actions of those who witnessed this historical truth of Christ’s resurrection also reflected they were serious about what they saw!
I see some have entered into some 1Cor chapters in this thread and if you continue towards chapter 15 Paul says this:
1Co 15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
1Co 15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
1Co 15:6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep
1Co 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
1Co 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
So Paul’s arguments for the Christian faith are not feelings. They are having faith based on historically reasonable facts. If Christ was not raised, then all of the apostles would be considered fools for being willing to even die for a faith in an un-risen Christ. Not only is there history bolstering the claim here, but Old Testament prophecy to boot…The apostles would use the OT prophecy to point to the legitimacy of Christ as well. Research this.
The Gospel is having faith and hope in Someone who history tells us did indeed defy science and reappeared to many alive and well after they saw him die and get wrapped in tomb cloth head to toe. If this be true, then everything He said about life and Himself and the Law as found in the OT must also be true. And if this is the case then those He engaged to carry this message of hope must also be listened to.
With that said, when I hear a Christian go out of their way to suggest that we can be sure about certain aspects of creation via evolution from simple cells billions of years ago etc WHEN THEY WERE NOT THERE to witness any of it, then where I will not question their faith in Christ because that is a category for God alone, I will question why that Christian is so quick to adhere to a faith about how we arrived on this planet based on ideas only seemingly scientifically practical to the human mind but not anywhere supported by eye witness account or by Biblical prophecy. Since the faith in Christ I have is founded upon prophets and apostles who wrote truths based on personal historical experiences, when I hear them say “God created kinds” I will revere those words and not get myself engaged in a process of cognitive gymnastics towards trying to prove the presupposition that we evolved from ameobas necessitating billions of years as bolstered in the secular science classroom!
) By itself it makes it sound like we leave some aspect of ourselves behind when we step into Jesus’ presence. And I don’t think you mean it that way. When Jesus saved me, he saved me warts and all. Yes some stuff does need to get left behind (my sin). But the core of who we are in Christ I think includes all those spiritual gifts (including our minds and our growth in reasoning with each other) even though we use them imperfectly. We know that those gifts don’t save us – Christ does. But the “us” getting saved – baptized if you will, includes our bodies, souls, and minds.