Well Rude, i'm on Downding's side of this.
Substance of things hoped for ?
So faith sources from our needs and desires which haven't yet materialised ?
While I could agree with above statement I don't see why it has to invariably lead to christian god.
"I have a faith i will be sucessful in life "( just making an example ).
This may have not happend yet, to the fullest, but I will bust my bellybutton and from having seen people do the same and suceed I have a good chance of doing the same.
That's faith - reasonable, rational faith.
"I have a faith that after I die, my soul will take a walk though the pearly gates and live forever in paradise"
Problems: no proof of existance of such a thing as soul.
No proof that afterlife exists.
That's faith you are talking about: blind to reason and rational thought, condesending to those not as blind, faith.
I know you are a raligious man, and that's ok with me.
We spoke on the subject before in Dallas, and I believe that dispite our "faith" differences, we have more in common then anything.
But I suffer from the same "problem" that Downding does ( i think ). Deep down inside, I just don't "feel" presence of anything more. I don't feel presence of God or some other omnipotent being. If we were to debate here on the forum and you were to rationalise the existance of God to me, then whole thing would stop being a faith and become a fact. So I think we can agree that faith demands some "unknown".
We only differ of how uncertain it is.
