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Faith

Andrew Reil

Member
Having spiritual/religious faith is to believe in the unseen and faith in the teaching that what is told as wisdom is the truth, even before one see it.

Any thoughts?
I belief "faith" is a gift from God, a growing understanding of the way things really are, the way He sees them. The more we accept it, and choose to act according to it, He blesses us with more. This slow release, dependent upon our genuine acceptance (as demonstrated by our actions) preserves our agency so the purpose of this life which is to allow us to choose who we want to become, is maintained. Also, if we were given too much, without the slow growth, and reject it, it would throw a terrible wrench into our development.

Eventually, as we continue to follow the light God gives us, we will know as we are known (1 Cor 13:12).
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Having spiritual/religious faith is to believe in the unseen and faith in the teaching that what is told as wisdom is the truth, even before one see it.

One might question whether the unseen "truth" has objective
verification by others,

We can get into a discussion of the word 'objective' but this observation.

I have faith that quantum mechanics is true. I have faith in the findings of qualified physicists because of their agreement.

I have faith that Divinity is real. I have faith in the findings of those who have attained that knowledge because of their agreement. I have read Meher Baba, Ramakrishna, Rumi, Hafiz, Kabir, Baal Shem Tov, St. Francis of Assisi and many others as part of reaching my faith.

You might accept the conclusions of physicists and reject the conclusions of mystics but to me the unseen "truth" of quantum mechanics and the unseen "truth" of Divinity are both verified even though I have not personally seen that truth.
 

Psalm23

Well-Known Member
Having spiritual/religious faith is to believe in the unseen and faith in the teaching that what is told as wisdom is the truth, even before one see it.

Any thoughts?

Yes that sounds like a good definition of faith. I would add faith is about trust in God. Sometimes trust may be little or it may be big or somewhere in the middle. Growing in faith is a process and can take time. :blush:
 

PureX

Veteran Member
If you want to get a bit more technical, the term “faith” is translated from the Greek word piʹstis, primarily conveying the thought of confidence and trust.
And interestingly, these characteristics appear to contradict each other. As we become more confident that "X" is true, we need to trust, less, that "X" is true. Confidence (belief) and trust (faith) would actually appear to be at odds, functionally speakig, with each other.
 

Altfish

Veteran Member
Actually, I'd say unseen is a fine way of putting it as well, at least from a religious perspective.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
But we have 5 senses, sight is but one.
 

TransmutingSoul

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Having spiritual/religious faith is to believe in the unseen and faith in the teaching that what is told as wisdom is the truth, even before one see it.

Any thoughts?

It could be that belief is the vision. Thus when we accept Muhammad is a Messenger from God, then we are able to see what Muhammad was offering in the Quran.

If we do not accept the Messenger, we can not see what is written in the Message they brought. Jesus the Christ offered we must be born again into the Spirit of that Message, the Word of God.

Regards Tony
 

Nimos

Well-Known Member
Having spiritual/religious faith is to believe in the unseen and faith in the teaching that what is told as wisdom is the truth, even before one see it.

Any thoughts?
Faith to me, is the lack of knowledge. Don't misunderstand it as me being rude, it is not meant like that, which will probably be clear in a second. :)

But as with anything else in life, you don't have faith in gravity or faith in being able to hold your breath underwater forever. You know gravity is there, you might not know exactly what it is or how it works in every single detail, but you can feel it on your body, you can test it by simply throwing or dropping something, just as you know that you can't hold your breath forever. Therefore you have knowledge about these things and that makes faith irrelevant.

However, a God or what some other person might tell you, where you don't have certainty that they are correct requires faith in them, doesn't necessarily have to be religious, could just as well be you having faith in a scientist telling you how gravity works and you putting your trust or faith in him/her telling you the truth.

So to sum it up with a question, if you have knowledge about something, why would you need faith in it?
 

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
Faith to me, is the lack of knowledge. Don't misunderstand it as me being rude, it is not meant like that, which will probably be clear in a second. :)

But as with anything else in life, you don't have faith in gravity or faith in being able to hold your breath underwater forever. You know gravity is there, you might not know exactly what it is or how it works in every single detail, but you can feel it on your body, you can test it by simply throwing or dropping something, just as you know that you can't hold your breath forever. Therefore you have knowledge about these things and that makes faith irrelevant.

However, a God or what some other person might tell you, where you don't have certainty that they are correct requires faith in them, doesn't necessarily have to be religious, could just as well be you having faith in a scientist telling you how gravity works and you putting your trust or faith in him/her telling you the truth.

So to sum it up with a question, if you have knowledge about something, why would you need faith in it?

The problem is that your knowledge is a belief system.
That is connected to this:
Philosophy of science - Wikipedia
 

halbhh

The wonder and awe of "all things".
Having spiritual/religious faith is to believe in the unseen and faith in the teaching that what is told as wisdom is the truth, even before one see it.

Any thoughts?
Yes, this is the accurate basic first understanding of what "faith" is.

Or I like to say that faith for a Christian is to believe before seeing.

There is more to say but that's the key fundamental thing
 

PruePhillip

Well-Known Member
I'd change 'unseen' to 'unproven'.

Not in Judaeo Christianity.
Here you must begin in faith, and prove it for yourself. The claim is made
in scripture that if you have not proven this doctrine for yourself then you
have not understood.

In science there is what I call the 'corporate proof', and in Christianity
there's the 'private proof.'
 

Clara Tea

Well-Known Member
I'd change 'unseen' to 'unproven'.

ESP proof (predicted comes true).

Example 1: Revelation 13 dragon (Satanic demon President Bush Sr.) had son (Satanic demon President W. Bush) and "gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority."

Example 2: Revelation 15 (7 plagues for defying God's order not to attack Iraq).

Example 2: Revelation 17:18 Most powerful nation occupied and corrupted Iraq, US earned name Whore of Babylon.

Proof of God is that the Bush presidents were Satanic demons. Makes sense (greed, pollution, war, torture camps). Willing to kill a million to make Americans feel less scared, though not linked to terrorism.

Modern events clearly fit predicted events of Revelation (so we're in the end times, and all life on earth will soon end). But it proves that God is real because psychics say so, and psychics are real.
 
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