Someone asked me the other day to define what I meant by ‘faith’. Strangely enough, there is a great deal of confusion on the subject. Some hold to classic definitions such as ‘faith is a step into the dark’ or ‘believing something in the absence of evidence’. While each of these captures part of the essence of the concept, they fail to express its fullness to my satisfaction. For me, faith is a conviction arrived at when all the evidence has been examined, assessed, or studied. It is far from something that is opposed to the dictates of reason as some suggest, but is ultimately the fruit of the application of reason that apprehends the truth of something when not all of the evidence can be studied, gathered, or known to provide a definitive answer. After all, if we can know something completely then there is no need to have faith in it. Complete knowledge negates the need for faith. Put in a religious context, if God revealed himself in such self-evident manner that doubt in hi...