It has become commonplace to conceive of faith as a blind leap in the dark. It doesn’t matter what the facts are, just have faith. On this view, faith is either a substitute for or opposed to evidence. Let’s apply this approach to the resurrection of Jesus. If archaeologists discovered Jesus’ body in a grave somewhere , then a person’s faith would not be affected because the evidence never mattered in the first place. It was all about a blind act of the will. But, is this biblical faith? Paul thinks not:
“Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”—1 Cor. 15:12-19
Paul calls this kind of faith “worthless” because biblical Christianity and history are intertwined. Or as apologist Craig Hazen summarizes, “Christian faith is not blind in the least; rather it is dependent upon a historical event that can be thoroughly investigated with eyes wide open.”
For more on this, see “blinded by faith?” in Welcome to College.