Faith and the Chair Argument

By Neal Stone

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

When Christians go out “witnessing” they often will challenge someone who isn't interested with the chair argument. The idea is if you resist faith in god, then they say use the chair argument saying that “you have faith to sit in the chair”.

So basically if you can have faith in a chair you have never sat in before, then you should be able to have faith in god.

This is by far one of the stupidest arguments ever. I know as I used to use it a long time ago. I would argue that you are going to sit in that chair and not bother to check it to see if it will hold you? Then you have faith!

In most churches it is 100% OK for the pastor to come up with some lame “Lord works in mysterious ways/has his reason” generic answer. The problem is this. I can see the chair, I can prove it exists and know that someone built it for the reason of it's design. Of course Christians say this too to support their arguments about faith in god. But they forget one thing, no evidence of god's existence, and no way for anyone to perform any tests to prove his existence and real ability.

Faith is nothing more than trust. It's just a matter of where you put that trust and why. Christians put trust (faith) in god because someone convinced them too in most cases.

Let's look at some things in my life I have faith in.

My Computer. I have faith in my computer. I built it from scratch, choose the parts and understand its workings inside and out. I can test and diagnose the computer for problems. I can gauge its performance. If it fails to work as expected I can research and find out why and then fix the issue. If it fails to start or takes way too long to start I can look into it and resolve the issue.

Can I say that about god? No!

The Car. Well I didn't build my car nor do I know it's workings in and out. But if it fails, I can always find someone who can look at it and GIVE ME AN ANSWER. If you went to a mechanic and he said “The car works in mysterious ways and you can't understand the cars will all the time.” would you still go to this mechanic? Only if you are an idiot. What if he just told you to read the manual more and talk to the car more and then demanded 10% of your income? I would laugh my ass off!

Yet people go to church every week and that is the advice they are given when something can't be explained. AND IT'S OK WITH THEM! In most churches it is 100% OK for the pastor to come up with some lame “Lord works in mysterious ways/has his reason” generic answer.

We have plumbers, mechanics, repairmen, accountants and other professions where problem solving is a big part of the job, How would it go if these people used the same generic answer? Would you hire them? No!!!! Not unless you were a total moron!

If I ask someone a question about my car, computer, home, etc., I can usually get a good answer to what the problem is and how to fix it. Try that with a Christian. Not gonna happen in most cases.

People respect me as a computer guru because I can either give them an answer to their problem or at least a direction in finding out or at least take the time to sit down and see what is going on.

Yeah, I have faith. Faith in my abilities to reason and think and solve problems. No more waiting my time on useless answers given to me over the years by various religious leaders.

And you know the real sad part? When a "real" answer is given, it is often to the benefit of the church or pastor and not the person asking the question.

It usually plays like this:

Wife: "Pastor, my husband and I are thinking of divorce because we are growing apart."

Pastor: "Maybe you should get more involved in the church in one of our many ministries (which usually involves them working apart)."

Well just another shot from my keyboard.

Neal