Faith

This article discusses faith in a religious context.

The word faith has various meanings; its central meaning is similar to "belief", "trust" or "confidence", but unlike these terms, "faith" tends to imply a transpersonal rather than interpersonal relationship – with God or a higher power. On the other hand, the object of faith can be a person (or even an inanimate object or state of affairs) or a proposition (or body of propositions, such as a religious credo). In each case, however, the faithful subject's faith is in an object, or some aspect of an object that cannot be rationally proven or objectively known. So, we can say that faith is a firm or unquestioned belief in something for which there is no proof. It is, therefore, and act or state of wholeheartedly and steadfastly believing in the existence, power and benevolence of a supreme being having confidednce in his care, and loyalty to his will as it is understood. Belief, on the other hand, is a mental acceptance or assent to something offered as true, with or without certainty, according to common useage and dictionary definitions. What is most distinguishable in the definitions is the fullness of certainty, or conviction. Example: I have belief in my ability to distinguish between the two, but lack the faith to be certain of it. Thus, the level of acceptance is crutial to establishing faith. I may have faith in God or faith in myself, but both reval a level of conviction (acceptance) that has been confirmed by positive personal experience. And so, we can speak of absolute faith. But, belief can not be spoken of so confidently. Rather, belief is based on propositions subsequent to faith, and therefore, dependent upon faith. Ultimately, faith in God, for example, incorporates certain beliefs about God, adding intellectual and common sense agreement and/or experience into the equation, resulting in acceptance and conviction.

Faith may, nevertheless, stand upon the foundation of belief, or the accumulation of beliefs about God. Thiks is another dimension of faith. Here a rational is given for faith, or enough support to make a fiarly confident claim aolf fiath. Itg follows from an "I have faith in God because . . . " type of statement. This relates more to indirect evidence of experience than more personal edxperience. A faith in God resting upon such more intellectual and rational foundation might not during a severe test, hold-up as well as a faith which rests upon rela religious experience. In this way, belief is understood as a more cognitive function and faith as a uniqaue commitment to an ultim ate fundamental decision which stgands upon real personal religious experience and around which life is organized. In other words, there is a dynamic interplay between the two.

In particular religious contexts, "faith" has several different meanings. Sometimes, it means loyalty to one's religion. It is in the latter sense in which one can speak of, for example, "the Catholic faith" or "the Islamic faith." For creedal religions, faith also means that one accepts the religious tenets of the religion as true. For non-creedal religions, faith often means that one is loyal to a particular religious community. In general, faith means being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see with your physical senses, but may otherwise sense or experience with your spiritual senses.

Sometimes, faith means a belief in a 'relationship' with a deity. In this case, "faith" is used in the sense of "fidelity." Such a commitment need not be blind or submissive, although it often shares these types of characteristics. For many Jews, for example, the Hebrew Bible and Talmud depict a committed but contentious relationship between their God and the Children of Israel. For quite a lot of people, faith or the lack thereof, is an important part of their identities. E.g. a person will identify him or herself as a Muslim or a skeptic.

Many religious rationalists, as well as non-religious people, criticise implicit faith as being irrational. In this view, belief should be restricted to what is directly supportable by logic or evidence.

Sometimes, faith means a belief in the 'existence' of a deity, and can be used to distinguish individual belief in deities from belief in deities within religion. However, it can also be used in the context of belief in deities within religions. Many Hindus, Jews, Christians and Muslims claim that there is adequate historical evidence of their God's existence and their God's interaction with human beings. As such, they may believe that there is no need for "faith" in God in the sense of belief against or despite evidence; rather, they hold that evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that their God certainly exists, and that particular beliefs, concerning who or what their God is and why this God is to be trusted, are vindicated by evidence in the historical record and by logic. For people in this category, "faith" in a God simply means "belief that one has knowledge of [any particular] God."

It is logically impossible that many of the mutually contradictory beliefs in the major faiths, not to mention the myriad others, can be simultaneously true. Therefore, it must be admitted that the majority of believers have faith in a belief system which is paritally true, and at least somewhat incongruent with other believers and belief sysgems, and about which they likely have some difficulty describing to other believers. Indeed, some religious observers and even traditions, especially Hinduism, hold the view that the several different faiths are just aspects of the ultimate truth, and mostly have difficulty in identifying the common ground they share, and in adequately describing, or even understanding clearly, their uniquenesses. These observers see the different religions as just different paths to the same goal. This does not explain away all logical contradictions between faiths but these traditions and observers say that all seeming contradictions will be understood once a person has an experience of the Hindu concept of moksha.

Finally, some religious believers – and many of their critics – often use the term "faith" as the affirmation of belief without an ongoing test of evidence, and even despite evidence apparently to the contrary. Most Jews, Christians and Muslims admit that whatever particular evidence or reason they may possess that their God exists and is deserving of trust, is not ultimately the basis for their believing. Thus, in this sense faith refers to belief beyond evidence or logical arguments, sometimes called "implicit faith". Another form of this kind of faith is fideism: one ought to believe that God exists, but one should not base that belief on any other beliefs; one should, instead, accept it without any reasons at all. Faith in this sense, grounded simply in the sincerity of faith, belief on the basis of believing, is often associated with Søren Kierkegaard for example, and some other existentialist religious thinkers; his views are presented in Fear and Trembling.

Christianity

Faith in Christianity is centeral to salvation, with Catholic notions adhering to the premise that humankind can be saved by faith alone, referring to faith in Jesus as the Savior and Messiah of all humankind; while Protestant groups insist that salvation is dependent on faith in Jesus and the Savior, God the creator, and on works. The precise meaning and content of faith in Christianity differs somewhat between the various Christian faith traditions.

For more, see: Salvation in Christianity

Buddhism

Faith (saddha/ sraddha) is an important constituent element of the teachings of the Buddha - both in the Theravada tradition as in the Mahayana. While not of the “blind” variety and on occasion linked with insight (prajna), Buddhist faith (as advocated by the Buddha of the various scriptures) nevertheless requires a degree of trusting confidence and belief primarily in the spiritual attainment and salvational knowledge of the Buddha. Faith in Buddhism centres on belief in the Buddha as a supremely Awakened being, on his unexcelled role as teacher of both humans and gods, in the truth of his Dharma (spiritual Doctrine), and in his Sangha (community of spiritually developed followers). Faith in Buddhism functions as a form of motor, which propels the Buddhist practitioner towards the goal of Awakening (bodhi) and Nirvana.

For more, see Faith in Buddhism

Rastafari

Faith to the Rastafarians implies knowledge of the divinity of Haile Selassie rather than belief in this proposition, as Rastas claim not to hold belief systems. The word faith does not hold such negative connotations. Their faith in Selassie as God, and as the being who is going to end their sufferings at the day of judgement when they will return to live in Africa under his rule is at the centre of their lives. The dreadlocks are worn as an open declaration of faith in and loyalty towards Haile Selassie, while marijuana is seen to help cultivate a strong faith by bringing the faithful closer to God. Rastas have faith when 2 or more of them come together to reason about their religion that Haile Selassie is with them. Selassie is seen as both God the Father, who created Heaven and earth, and as God the Son, the Reincarnation of Jesus Christ. To complete the Holy Trinity the Holy Spirit is seen as being in the believers themselves, and within all human beings. The announcement of the death of Selassie in 1975 did not disturb the faith of the Rastas, who assumed that God cannot die, and that therefore the news was false. Rastas also have a faith in physical immortality, both for Haile Selassie and for themselves.

See also

• Apostasy
• Belief system
• Faith and rationality
• Major world religions
• Religious conversion
• Rationalism
• True-believer syndrome
• Wishful thinking

Further reading

• Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, W. W. Norton (2004), hardcover, 336 pages, ISBN 0393035158

External links

• Epistemology of the religion, article from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy by Peter Forrest
• John Calvin on Justification by Faith from The Institutes of the Christian Religion
• Charles Spurgeon on the Warrant of Faith
• B.B. Warfield on Justification By Faith
• The Skeptic's Dictionary entry on Faith

Classic reflections on the nature of faith

• Martin Buber I and Thou
• Paul Tillich The Dynamics of Faith

The Reformation view of faith

• John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion
• R.C. Sproul, Faith Alone

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