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Topic: What do you think Faith is  (Read 3954 times)

totosli_08

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What do you think Faith is
« on: December 05, 2009, 04:46:03 pm »
 IVE heard alot of people on here talk about Faith belief and stuff...so what do you think it means ..i think we all need faith in this time and day even if its not based on religion because without it ...there's no hoping for anyone

Stealth3si

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2010, 03:10:46 am »
IVE heard alot of people on here talk about Faith belief and stuff...so what do you think it means ..i think we all need faith in this time and day even if its not based on religion because without it ...there's no hoping for anyone
Good question.

If I'm going to think about faith, then I want to talk about the definitions of the so-called "faith" that you raised, right here. I'm not proposing that anyone is to elect the faith of their choice. If someone out here has a logical explanation of another version of "faith" you'd like to share then please do elucidate because we'd love to hear it. Really. You take the differences you learn from here and make the decision for yourselves in your personal lives and move on. No one is going to make it for you.  :)

When people are talking about religion, faith is believing in something of which you have never seen evidence, or at the very least, none of the faiths in this world are more or less valid.  Still, we have to focus specifically on the term 'faith' and its validity and what exactly makes the Christian faith more valid than what we today consider by those terms.

If you'd like to elaborate how equally valid they are I'd love to hear them --- basically, I'd like you to give me three examples of the faiths in this world and I'll see if I can distinguish your examples from biblical faith. Or, I could give us the three examples myself and have your work cut out for you. How about that?

magnetmoney

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2010, 05:50:37 am »
I believe faith is based on your ability to move toward your goals without worry.  I am totally blind and I live life "by faith and not by sight"  Since I have developed this way of believing life has been very successful for me.  I have a consulting business where I help people to reach their goals by helpin them to eliminate worry therefore, making obstacles to their goals non existant. []

yolandazwei1

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2010, 05:51:35 am »
to me it's what I believe in and not what other people tell me

ivyruefthaler1

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2010, 08:26:10 am »
i think faith is trust if you dont trust someone than that means that u aint got faith

mlmhome

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #5 on: January 01, 2010, 08:30:00 am »
In today's world you need faith to stay alive!

bboyben95

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #6 on: January 01, 2010, 06:38:06 pm »
I think that faith is not knowing what to do but trusting whatever it is you have faith in to lead you.  :icon_rr:

sdotnet

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #7 on: January 01, 2010, 06:57:19 pm »
something that god has set aside for you or sumthing u believe in :angel12:

ancmetro

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #8 on: January 01, 2010, 09:08:29 pm »
 ;)  When everything goes wrong...'have faith'...it will keep you going and hoping for a better tomorrow!

aliciaanthonyownz

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #9 on: January 01, 2010, 09:13:16 pm »
having faith to me might be different to everyone. i have faith in somethings but they dont always go *bleep* they seem.  :dontknow:

joey2011

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #10 on: January 01, 2010, 11:34:19 pm »
I can answer this quite simply put
that Faith is the sustance of things
not yet seen.

Stealth3si

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2010, 11:32:33 pm »
Since the OP did not provide some examples, I'll go ahead and give a few (and ride on a few examples already posted.)

My relative recently deconverted from Christianity and in discussions with her friends who still believe, a few interesting points cropped up, namely in the area of the term 'faith' and its definition. Her view is this: 'faith' is nothing more than a synonym for 'really really wanting something to be true' but not wanting to admit otherwise'. And I'm sure you'll agree this is the typical view of the world (when they look at religion from the outside.) After all, you never hear Christians say 'I really really hope Jesus will return'. This can be shown in other examples, i.e.:

- Jews having faith that they are God's chosen people.
- A husband having faith his wife will recover from illness.
- A group of Muslims having faith that blowing up the twin towers would grant them entry to heaven.

My examples are wide-ranging because I want to focus specifically on the term 'faith' and its validity. To appeal to external evidence, i.e., the empty tomb, is missing my point; to give faith as a condition at all implies that it is a valid concept. But if faith is nothing more than a heavily glorified wanting, what makes the Christian faith more valid than the examples above?

First, to comment on the examples:

- Jews having faith that they are God's chosen people. - But they failed to realize that their Messiah had come. Identity as God's chosen people is based on covenant (as even they agree -- see the centrality of Abraham, Moses, and David, the three most famous covenant heads), and by rejecting the Messiah they were rejecting the covenant. That is to say, this is not faith in a person but faith that a proposition is true, and that proposition must be revised according to information which they have rejected.

- A husband having faith his wife will recover from illness. - This is optimism, not hope. But optimism has no place in a world where Jesus attains the ultimate victory by enduring suffering and martyrdom. Christian hope is grounded in a trustworthy person who has made beautiful promises about the future which provide us with hope, not optimism.

- A group of Muslims having faith that blowing up the twin towers would grant them entry to heaven. - The way it is being portrayed, this is just a blind wish and not the trust of a perfectly reliable person who has made sure promises.

But your complaint might be of this form: "I have faith that Christianity is true" doesn't necessarily end the conversation, because there are a lot of people who say "I have faith that x" and yet are obviously deluded. I agree with that. "I have faith that Christianity is true" doesn't constitute an end to dialogue.

For instance, our faith is all rubbish to the world. But we don't define 'faith' the way the world sees it. Faith according to the bible is very different.

Faith isn't really wanting something bad. Its belief it will occur. There is a distinct difference. What makes faith valid? The accuracy of what that faith is in.

For this discussion, there are two definitions of faith: the world's and the Bible's. If there are discrepancies in this statement then please ignore it. The basic idea is the definition that anyone knows of is the world's. The Bible's is much different:

Heb 11:1,6 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Actually, I would have to say that the common definition is more about hope than faith in that hope is more oriented to the future and is grounded in faith. I would put it like this: I believe in "something" and so therefore I also believe that whatever happens in the future is grounded in that "something". Just substitute God, or even better, the promises of God, for "something" and I arrive at the idea that because I have faith in God and that He has made certain promises then I have hope, or confidence, that what He says will happen in the future will happen. All of this is grounded in the knowledge that God has in the past made other promises that others have believed in and they have experienced those promises for themselves.

But the popular view of the Christian faith is that it can't be based on any evidence or reason -- that's basically what we're all saying. This idea seems different from what I read in scripture. There are plenty of people who believe after seeing miracles or works of Christ. Thomas believed after witnessing the resurrection. He missed out on a blessing by having to see the Lord before believing, but his faith was still faith. Faith in the Bible is trust in God, and particularly in God's promises, and has little or nothing to do with an opposition with "reason" -- unless "reason" means "trusting in myself alone," I suppose, which it seems to for Descartes and his descendants.

lynnc35

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2010, 06:25:02 am »
Trust, believing what you can not see. I trust God to get me where I need to be. Faith is the key word, you cannot know God if you wont' believe, if you want trust, and if you won't have faith.
I trust in my Savior Jesus Christ, I have faith.

angel379227

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #13 on: January 27, 2010, 08:35:10 am »
Faith is blind devotion-- what parents earn and deities demand.
Abash'd the Devil stood, and he felt how awful goodness is

samiole32

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Re: What do you think Faith is
« Reply #14 on: January 27, 2010, 09:22:52 am »
I think faith is you beleive and trust by your brain and heart together, If it is relegion you have to belive it and you can't belive in something you don't have the evidence that it's true and your brain is the judge and when you accept it by brain you ask your heart if he goes with that

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