The dangers of fideism
When I was an undergraduate student at Liberty University, I remember distinctly sitting in class with Gary Habermas (his course on Miracles, I think), and we were discussing the Resurrection (for which Dr Habermas is famous). In the midst of this conversation, one of the students told the class, with a note of frustration in his voice, that he didn't care about evidence or arguments about the Resurrection. I don't remember the entire conversation that ensued, but I do remember Dr. Habermas being very considerate. And I definitely remember someone asking whether that student was a fideist.
It was the first time I heard that word, and I had no idea what it meant. Over the years, I've had many opportunities to look more carefully at the world of fideism, and it's a complicated subject, mostly because people rarely self-identify as fideists. Philosophers, as I understand them, claim that fideism at its most basic is a claim that knowledge begins first with faith in God's revelation. In a sense, I think that's true. Some knowledge that we need does indeed come from God's revelation (otherwise why would God bother revealing things to us?), and my faith in that revelation is fundamental to my ability to perceive and understand the world.
But those identified in history as fideists rarely stop at this most basic level. For example, some like Blaise Pascal have argued against rational demonstration of God's existence. Others have argued that all knowledge begins with revelation and faith in God. Kierkegaard has also been accused of fideism for his denial of the rational basis of faith. For Kierkegaard, faith is just a leap in the dark, and it can't be justified logically. For fideists, the rationality or evidential basis of faith is irrelevant or even nonexistent. We don't believe because we have reasons to believe. We just believe because God said so. Of course, the big challenge for true fideists is figuring out how we know what God said and whether it's God speaking at all.
Today, there's a different kind of fideism rising in our culture. I see it a lot in the creation/evolution world. This modern fideist asks us to just take my word for it. Don't ask questions. Don't look too closely at arguments or evidence. The overwhelming majority of experts believes such and such. You can trust them and accept what you're told. If someone challenges you, don't examine what you believe but defend it and don't give up.
Like the fideism of old, there's something at the core of this that I admire. There are things that are fundamentally true and ought to be held no matter what. Stubborn tenacity in the face of skepticism and doubt really can save a person's soul. And I think there are questions that are so hopelessly complicated that there's little value in getting wrapped up with anxiety over them.
At the same time, fideist tenacity can't become the only pattern of our Christian lives. This modern spin on fideism suffers from the very same problem that all hardcore fideism faces: How do we know what is true and what is worthy of belief? If we can never examine our faith and make rational choices, then we're just being gullible.
In Matthew 10, when Jesus commissioned his apostles and sent them to declare the kingdom of God to Israel, he told them, "I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matt. 10:16). Jesus did not expect his apostles to just blindly go about the business of the kingdom. He warned them to watch out for people who would oppose them and abuse them for preaching the gospel. Jesus did not expect unquestioned, blind allegiance.
That's why evidence and science matters so much to me and to the entire staff of Core Academy. We can't just duck the hard questions. We won't accept easy answers. We'll keep digging and searching and most importantly questioning. Is the evidence for evolution really so "overwhelming?" Let's look at that again. Is Genesis "easily reconciled" with billions of years? We should question that. Should we just accept the canopy theory or Flood geology or even baraminology and never question it again? We need to keep digging.
Because in the end, even while we recognize our own human limitations and ignorance, we still want our understanding of God and his creation to be as close to the truth as we can get it. With the fideist I recognize that I'll never perfectly understand God, but I also recognize the dangers of lazy fideism. I don't want unquestioned errors to creep in and start growing into apostasy or even idolatry. We must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. We must not believe everything we're told but rather test the spirits to see whether they are from God. We must search the scriptures to see whether these things are true. As long as human ignorance endures, that searching and questioning and testing can't stop.
The good news is that I don't think things are nearly as bleak as the hardcore fideists do. I think we've got good reasons to believe what we do and pursue the kind of research that we do. Faith is not blind. Just the opposite, actually. Faith opens our eyes and expands our understanding. We can start to see things more clearly, even if we still see through a glass darkly. The longer I live and the more work I do, the more I'm convinced that creationist beliefs are correct. I see them confirmed over and over and over again.
In my journey of research and study and hard questions, I am often reminded of Jesus' encouragement to the apostles on the night before he died, "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). My search is not pointless or futile, because this lifelong pursuit of God will end at the marriage supper of the Lamb, where Jesus the great overcomer will welcome us into that final kingdom. We will be together at last.
Have you read my book? You should check that out too!
