Augustine's Faith in the Unseen

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Many religious critics have questioned Christianity because of the simple fact of “blind faith”. This meaning faith in the unseen or believing in something that you have never actually seen for yourself. Saint Augustine of Hippo, a very influential Christian theologian, explored this in his essay “Concerning Faith Unseen”. He makes the point that many people refuse to believe in something that they cannot see for themselves. What possesses Christians to believe in God if they have never seen him with there eyes? Our minds are mad to believe the things which cannot be seen and thus it is ok to believe in them.
Augustine’s main argument is that all people believe in things that they have never seen for themselves. Augustine uses this example, we choose to believe in our friends when we first meet that we will have a good friendship and it will work out. The unseen part is that we trust in each other without ever knowing what the future holds. Just as those who believe in God give their faith to an “unseen” being. Augustine believes since those who deny the idea of believing in God because he is unseen but they believe in the good will of others then there belief system is inconsistent. If they can believe in the good will of others but can’t believe in a supreme being then what do they really believe.
We put our faith in a friend without knowing that they are a true friend just as Christians put their faith in God without seeing him with their eyes. This is the same through all human relationships. We give our hearts to our spouse or friend without knowing what the future holds. The question that Augustine raises is how we can put faith in a friend or spouse but we cannot put faith in God. Christians believe that they will one day...

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...se who believe in God believe that one day they will meet there lord face to face. Faith is something that may be hard to understand because it relies upon things that may or may not be true. This can be very hard for people to wrap their minds around because it’s like gambling. Augustine wants people to understand that they already do this in their everyday relationships. If they can give their faith into a human relationship then they can give their faith in the “unseen” God.

Works Cited
Augustine. Concerning Faith of Things Not Seen, 2012. Print
Augustine. Trilogy on Faith and Happiness, 2010. Print.
. N.p.. Web. 3 Dec 2013. .
New International Version. Bible Gateway. Web 27 November 2013
Olson, C. n.d. n. page. .

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