What are the "things hoped for"? Existence of God, Eternal life, Heaven, mileau of love, and for us truthful people "great tasting non-fattening desserts"! (Just kidding about the latter). And what is "the evidence of the things not seen"? Think about what you can't see (or at least are unaware of): angels, God, Heaven, Hell, Satan, cherubim, seraphims, and many other things mentioned in Scripture that we believe in, but have never laid eyes upon.
"Evidence" is used to characterize "the things not seen". That means tangible things wich lead a person to believe in "the things not seen", the supernatural if you prefer. Yes, God and his realm is supernatural! The evidence that there is God is, however, found in the "natural world"; the world we know because our senses detect it. The natural world is the physical or material creation. Here's why even pagans from third-world countries are to know and seek God:
Psalm 19:(KJV) 1 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."
When Carl Sagan looked at the universe he saw a freak accident. He saw gases coming together just in the right amounts and quantities to cause a cosmic "Big Bang" from which all matter and life was created. Carl is with his master now. He knows just how wrong he was! What I see and what Scripture says is that the cosmos is God's artwork. It's his 3-D dynamic painting in living color. It's demonstrates God's omnipotence and omniscience. What Sagan saw with the eyes of science was ignorance of real truth. It's too late for Sagan to repent of his wrong and that's why this is directed to the living.
Romans 1:20 (KJV) "20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"
Mankind is to believe in the supernatural (and God the Creator) because of the majesty of the physical things God created. Because of what God created, if we fail to see his majesty, we are without excuse! That means God gave Sagan the evidence, he rejected it and at the "Great White Throne Judgement" he will be "without excuse". God will mete out punishment for his disbelief and that is eternity in hell.
Here's where "pragmatism" and "faith" converge! "Pragmatism" is being driven by facts or actuality. Pragmatic people look at the "evidence". You might think that pragmatic people would reject the supernatural, but Romans 1:20 correlate "pragmatism" and "faith". The "evidence" for the supernatural mentioned in Hebrews 11:1's definition of faith means that a pragmatic person can have faith and that faith and pragmatism are not mutually exclusive!
Gov. Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky was an engineer who while in office pursued the teaching of creationism. One writer to the Daily News of Bowling Green asked how an engineer could possibly believe in creationism because they're supposed to be scientists. As an engineer and scientist I believe that God created the universe because I'm pragmatic! Natural causes fail to explain natural laws. The supernatural power of God explains it all! Probability says the "accident theory" (Big Bang) never happened because the odds are against it exponentially. Thermodynamics says it didn't happen because entropy drives systems toward disorganization, not organization. These are just two examples of the many!
Pragmaticism and faith are not oxymorons. Pragmaticism supports faith as we see from Holy Scripture and from the physical laws of nature which are all "God's Laws" of Motion, Thermodynamics, Relativity, etc and were merely "discovered" by scientists. What a majestic God created brilliant men merely quantified!
From a psychological standpoint I'm pragmatic as well! I believe in Jesus to save my own skin for eternity! That's the smart thing to do. If I reject God and God exists, I'm not pragmatic... I'm stupid! Many people are stupid because they're gambling their soul that God is a liar! Because I believe in Jesus, I have eternal hope. Without hope I would be depressed. I don't like to be depressed so my believe is pragmatic.
Will pragmaticism alongside belief in God save you? Most certainly. You're exercising your free will to accept or reject God. Belief in predestination would not be pragmatic. With free will you can ask and accept God's grace. With predestination you're either doomed to hell or bound for heaven and there is nothing you can do to change that! That's by definition "without grace". It's deterministic and that belief is not pragmatic!
God certainly had a plan! When he created the earth and the heavens, he knew that his disobedient children would see his work and say "It's amazing! God must be!" His "being" is His name "I AM THAT I AM"!
Will pragmaticism alongside belief in God save you? Most certainly. You're exercising your free will to accept or reject God. Belief in predestination would not be pragmatic. With free will you can ask and accept God's grace. With predestination you're either doomed to hell or bound for heaven and there is nothing you can do to change that! That's by definition "without grace". It's deterministic and that belief is not pragmatic!
God certainly had a plan! When he created the earth and the heavens, he knew that his disobedient children would see his work and say "It's amazing! God must be!" His "being" is His name "I AM THAT I AM"!
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