This post came into being as a result of a recent debate on Facebook. The debate was about different religions. While discussing the whole range of issues covered in that debate is out of the scope of this post, I’d like to comment on one particular point that I wasn’t able to explain articulately during the debate. During the debate, a statement, which I don’t see as an argument, was used as an argument.

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey will make an attempt with the same response - all of the monkeys are sprayed with cold water.

What is faith? I asked at our local ICPF cell group. One replied, “Believing in something unseen”. Another said, “Believing without any proof”. Another said it is written in Hebrews 11:1. I said, “If you are going to quote the bible, you better be ready to explain what that verse means!”. We all laughed. Then the youngest in the group said “If I lend my book to my friend, I have faith that he will return it to me”.