1) What are we having faith in? What is the nature of this faith?

Faith is very important to God. It has always been interesting to me that the first individual we really get to know well in the Bible is Abraham (20 chapters at least are dedicated to his spiritual journey). His whole experience with God is an illustration of the importance of faith and what the nature of faith is. Paul, reviewing Abraham's experience, sums things up with these words: "He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised" (Rom 4:20, 21). God promised Abraham a son - a miracle. For 25 years He struggled to believe that God could do and would do "the impossible." Then his faith was rewarded. Paul returns to his concept in chapter 10, when he refers to salvation, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (v. 17).

We see illustrations of this pattern not only in Abraham's life but also in the life of Jesus. When faced with the temptations of Satan, He leaned on the teaching and promises of Scripture to make His decisions. In Chapter 11 of Hebrews, the "heroes of faith" are commended because they believe God's promises, responding in faith.

So what is faith? Believe that what God says is true - that He is reliable - and acting upon it. It's not wishful thinking. It's not presumption. Sometimes God's communication seems very faint. Sometimes it a matter of believing His revealed Word in Scripture. Sometimes His Word may come to us in other ways. In the same way that personal relationship between humans is developed through trust and confidence, so the Lord wants us to believe Him and demonstrate our trust through steps we take, even though we can't see. He calls this "walking by faith and not by sight."

2) What about faith and evidence?

God is gracious to us, recognizing the difficulty and complexity of this "life of faith." Often at first, He provides "evidence," such as not only His Word but also the support of friends, positive circumstances, even supernatural occurrences. However, in my experience, growth in faith usually involves testing. We see this in Abraham's life. He had the promises, the "vision" if you will. At first things went well, but no son - the promise most important to Him. All he had was God's promise. We might call this step "the death of the vision." This is a hard time. It was like the disciples' experience of the crucifixion. The temptation to despair. Then came the "realization of the vision." Isaac is born; Jesus rises from the dead. Sooner or later all of us will pass through this process. It is God's way of testing, strengthening, our faith. Through the process we become more accustomed to hearing His Voice.

3) By definition, lack of any logical underpinnings? Why apologetics?

Ultimately, the Christian life is a "faith walk." However, there is room for recognition of patterns, logical reasoning, and convincing argument. Paul's letters and sermons are patterns of logical discourse. Peter tells us that we should "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15).

There is a whole science of Christian apologetics (defense of the faith) that can give logical reasons for God's existence, Jesus' resurrection, the reasonableness of Christianity, the historicity of the New Testament documents, etc. However, both atheistic scientists (and philosophers) and Christians ultimately will make their choices on what evidence they will accept and why with a certain amount of personal subjective "faith."

For example, I had to smile at the tongue in cheek letter writer to the editors of National Geographic, commenting on an article in the Nov 2006 issue, "From Fins to Wings" and "Origin of Childhood." "I am amazed at the faith demonstrated in this article. The faith that over the course of 600 million years an organism containing one cell could mutate and evolve into a human with ten trillion cells. The faith that this single-cell organism could have the potential and disposition to evolve into a human. And the faith that this single-cell organism appeared on the scene with no explanation for its origin. The faith indeed to move mountains" (Dick Van Eck, National Geographic, March 2007).

One of the requirements to be an Apostle (Acts 2) was that an individual had been involved in the ministry of Jesus from the beginning to be a witness of the resurrection. John says, "We proclaim to you what we have heard and seen, so that you may have fellowship with us (1 John 1:3). To believe John's report, to believe the Gospel, one has to believe the reliability of his testimony, backed up by the evidence of his life, affirmed by the lives of those who have believed, etc. This is not "faith from no-where," but neither is it "proved." We hear, we observe, we think, we pray, and ultimately we decide to believe - or not. Many details are involved in this process, not the least of which is the operation of God's Spirit.

I trust these few thoughts will be helpful to you, Christina.