Contrary to Richard Dawkins` view of faith as “blind trust, in the absence of evidence, even in the teeth of proof,”[59] Alister McGrath quotes Oxford Anglican theologian W. H. What is faith? What makes faith reasonable or unreasonable, precious or priceless, morally permissible or inadmissible, virtuous or evil? How does faith relate to psychological conditions such as faith, desire, trust and hope? How does faith relate to action? To what extent is faith under our voluntary control? Since the answers to these other questions depend on what faith is, as well as assumptions about the relevant standards of evaluation and philosophical psychology and theory of action applicable to faith, this article focuses on the nature of faith while addressing the implications of different belief models for assessing its relevance and value. Living faith is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8; Romans 4:16) was transmitted to the obedient heart through the Word of God (Romans 10:17) and the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). This faith becomes effective when it is exercised by man with the help of the Spirit, whose help is guaranteed whenever the heart has fulfilled the divine state (Hebrews 5:9). Living faith must be distinguished from intellectual trust, which may be in possession of an unawakened soul (Romans 10:1-4).- Principles of Faith, Association of Emmanuel Churches [71] GM`s role in making the badger will therefore almost certainly help increase buyers` confidence in the quality of the truck`s manufacture. Aquinas` model of faith therefore shares with the Reformed model of epistemology the problem that it leaves unanswered the concern of the thoughtful believer about claims. The attempt to solve this problem by fulfilling the requirement of proof leads to circularity: theological truths must be accepted on the basis of divine authority, but the truth that such authority exists (historically mediatized, as the relevant tradition claims) is one of the truths that must be accepted about divine authority – in fact, it is the most decisive. As Descartes says in the dedication to his meditations: “It is of course quite true that we must believe in the existence of God because it is a teaching of Sacred Scripture, and vice versa, that we must believe in Sacred Scripture because it comes from God. But this argument cannot be put forward to unbelievers because they would consider it circular” (Descartes 1641 [Cottingham et al.
1984, 3]). Although they differ on whether the firm faith of faith is considered knowledge, Aquinas and Calvin essentially understand faith as the acceptance of the truth of the statements revealed by the voluntary receipt of God`s gracious gift of that very revelation. The question remains how the acceptance of this gift could be epistemically rational. The externalistic narrative of how Christian beliefs might have an epistemic value proposed in Plantinga`s faith model (called the “A/C” model because its sources are supposedly found in both Aquinas and Calvin) provides some help with the required explanation, but may not be sufficient (as mentioned in the last paragraph of section 4 above).