UBBY: "My issue with faith is that any religion can claim it without any empirical evidence. I know then that a response could be that that's the point of having faith.
It's one thing for you to have faith in yourself or in other people, it's another type of faith to believe in specific exact events without any evidence in the known universe."
A good post and perfectly rational concern.
My response starts with a comment that this is why Bible study is so important. It's completely natural to trust your own instincts and mind, but it also leads to a lot of error. I am reminded of the verse in Judges (21:25) which reads:
"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit"A lot of people here, I believe, would see that condition as a good thing, everybody just doing their best to do right as they saw it. But every human has blind sports, biases, and personal failings, which over time lead to mistakes, sometimes serious errors with bad terrible consequences.
This means that beyond a certain point, we all need to trust God's help for our needs, and sometimes that does mean believing in "
specific exact events". That does not mean blindly going along with what someone in a religious position says - Jesus was very harsh in rebuking the Scribes and Pharisees, since their actual behavior led people into sin instead of a greater relationship with the Lord.
The Bible says in many places not to test the Lord, That means - to me - you take your child to a doctor when sick, not assuming prayer will save them. It means you work hard for your money, not assuming you will have your bills paid by God so you don't have to work. It means you pray about life decisions, but also do your homework to understand as much as possible.
But it also means you don't ignore God out of arrogance or fear. Trusting in God is more than a social comfort zone. There are times where it
does involve meeting a specific need, which is also why prayer matters, Prayer is not just asking for what we want, as if God were some kind of cosmic vending machine, it's about understanding what we are to do in different situations. If we can understand what God wants, it's easier to know what we should ask for in order to do what is set for us.
That which does not kill me, will try again and get nastier