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What is faith?

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
Blind faith is not based on evidence, but on hearsay.

Real faith is based on the evidence that surrounds us.

My son has just begun to understand electricity in his Physics class. That has not stopped him from using the light switch. Was his faith "blind"? Nope, the evidence suggested that flipping the switch would produce light. It has been re-enforced over his life time. From time to time his faith is shattered. Either the bulb is burned out or the electricity coming to that circuit has been disrupted. Does he throw out the concept of Electricity when this happens? No, he knows that a problem has rendered his faith ineffectual and he will try and figure out what happened.

So it is with God. The evidence surrounds us. It envelopes us constantly, and yet because some things don't seem to work the way we want them to, we give up our faith in God. Unlike my son, many people refuse to look for the "disconnect" and just give up on God. It doesn't have to be this way.

Unfortunately, many of us see the same evidence and draw different conclusions. This leads a few to clamour that the other's faith MUST be blind. Instead of trying to understand each other's differences, some are quite content to dismiss and demean. This only leads to condescension and bitterness. To what end? I am here to understand as well as to be understood. How about you?
 

michel

Administrator Emeritus
Staff member
scitsofreaky said:
This seems like it could be potentially dangerous, if I'm understanding it fully. Sometimes what makes one person feel better is harmful to another, and I know that you don't think that is good (right?). Perhaps we should say, "whatever makes people feel better and causes no harm is good." Sound good?

There seems to be different kinds of faith. Blind faith is belief in things unseen (ie, unknown) because someone/thing says so. And there is what I might call inductive faith. This is faith that evidence can lead us to generalities about nature. This type of faith relies on evidence and repeateability, which is why it works so well for science.
It seems that it is in blind faith that people find comfort. In some instances, it is a total rejection of the real world just to make one feel better.
IMO, most "religious" people (can't think of a better word) tend to be in the middle, relying on blind faith as a sort of foundation for inductive faith. For example, The Bible is correct(blind), therefore everything in it is correct (inductive).
Just my humble thoughts put up to be picked apart.

You are quite right, of course. I have looked at my post again, and can see where I worded my reply badly;
Sometimes what makes one person feel better is harmful to another, and I know that you don't think that is good (right?)

Of course I agree with the above regarding that what can be good for one person may mean harm to another. I think I disagree with your definitions of the inductive and blind parts of faith though (although that may verywell apply to some) - I don't think it applies to all.

I think many start off with a 'spiritual revelation' which then leads to an interest in confirming that by reading the Bible.

I can only speak for myself, of course, but that is how it was with me. I would even go further, and say that the Bible, whilst a great tool, is not necessary to someone's faith. Sure, for those who feel the need for it, it's fine, and corroborates their revelations.
 

opuntia

Religion is Law
The Holy Bible states that "the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4; KJV). No one can really live without faith. It is faith that we wake up to every morning. We believe in the day, otherwise we give up on living and seek to get out of it (suicide). Having faith in a higher power is a good because it leaves you not feeling alone in this what can be a cold world. Faith can heal. Jesus said to the healed woman after she touched His garment, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole." (Matthew 9:22). We need to have faith in ourselves. The following is very fitting to the issue:

"Self-esteem is essential for psychological survival. It is an emotional sine qua non [essential]--without some measure of self-worth, life can be enormously painful...." Matthew McKay & Patrick Fanning, Self-Esteem, Second Edition (New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 1992), p. 1.

It is good to have faith in God, but I believe that He wants us to have faith in ourselves, too--His best creation.

:kissbette
 
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