what is the difference between faith and believe as it relates to christiandom.Which is most important in life

Question

Someone in my local church wanted to know which of them that one should hold on to in case of eventualities. What christ jesus proclaimed first. If he was emphasising on faith or believe. Is it your believe in God that will set you free or your faith in God that will set you free and make things to work out for you in everyday life.

Answer 1

belief is acceptance of truth = trust

faith is a set of beliefs

so faith is a bunch of beliefs so whether u have faith in God or u believe in God it's the same as long as u TRUST God.

Answer 2

Suzie's long answer about the differences between faith and belief was pretty good. I have no personal opinion on the matter, because my acquaintance to religion and religous thinking is in Finnish and not in English. But I thought it would be interesting to bring some etymological considerations into the mix.

Suzie said that "faith" is acting contrary to your beliefs. One got the impression that she thought of faith as something inferior to belief. Where there is belief, no faith is necessary.

"Belief" was the earlier word for what is now commonly called "faith". It meant "the mental action, condition of habit of trusting or confiding in a person of thing". i.e. trust, reliance, confidence and faith.

"Faith" on the other hand meant "loyalty to a person to whom one is bound by promise or duty, or to one's promise or duty itself".

Because the word "faith" was the etymological representative of the Latin word "fides" which was used in the NT, it began to be used to translate the latter. Thus, to some people "belief in God" no longer means as much as "faith in God".

So this is how "belief" got to mean simply "mental acceptance of a proposition, statement or fact as true; the mental condition involved in this assent"

This is, I think, what suzie was probably thinking of when she was describing 'belief'. The difficulty is that 'belief' still carries some of its old connotations, trusting, confiding etc. and 'faith' also has the rather unpleasant connotation of "loalty" and "duty" and hence of fallowing blindly.

What I am trying to say the whole issue is wrought with etymological complications precisely because of how certain words were rendered in the Bible. It may be helpful to keep in mind that "faith" gained popularity and 'depth of meaning' because it is related to the Latin "fides", the word used in the influental Latin translation of the Bible. The way people use the words today is influenced, but not wholly determined, by the way they were used in the various translations of the Bible.

So unfortunately just looking at which words are by Jesus in the bible is not going to solve the issue in any real way. The fact of the matter is that Jesus did not speak English and never had to choose between the two alternatives. If he had spoken English, he probably would have used "belief" BEFORE the bible was translated into English and "faith" acquired all these new connotations. What word he'd use now is anybody's guess.

Answer 3

Faith is acting contrary to your beliefs, or with ill feelings toward your beliefs. We all believe in gravity. There is no faith involved on the part of a person who dives off a diving board and into the water. That person believes that they are going to hit the water. They have no underlying fear that they might go flying off into space. In addition to that belief, they have a sense of knowing based on experience. I like to call it experiential knowledge and it creates a valid or substantiated belief. A person can generate evidence to support their belief as well as being able to reproduce the material substance of the belief. An invalid or unsubstantiated belief would be one where a person had no tangible evidence to support their belief and could not reproduce the material they need to show others at will. This does not mean that they cannot, just at any given time that they choose to do so it is unavailable to them.

Flying saucers are a good example of this. People claim they have seen UFO’s, and based on that sighting, they have a belief in flying saucers. There is no faith involved here, just experiential knowledge and it is an unsubstantiated belief because they don't have a flying saucer or they can't get another one to fly by when they need to show it. On the other hand, there are many people that have faith that flying saucers exist without ever seeing one, but they act on faith. They may tell themselves they believe, but for the sake of clarity, one should say they have faith in flying saucers.
I stress the importance of these definitions only to get a comparative understanding of terms so I can speak on the subject of faith in Creation, a Divine Creator, the Universal Consciousness, God or any way you my represent this concept. Using these terms will hopefully communicate my point of view. I have an unsubstantiated belief in magic, but not in deity. At this point in my life I don't even worry about proving it. When I discuss it with others, I am asking them to accept a great deal on faith. They do not have the experience I do to base their belief on. They quite often will believe in me enough to base their faith on me. Over time, as I guide and expand their experience so they will form their own beliefs regarding deity.
I have seen a general division of people practicing faith in God. On the one hand, you have people practicing and acting based purely on faith. They have not had a personal experience with deity; still they continue to do rituals and celebrations of deity, all in the hopes that they will some day "get it". This is the main reason I dislike religion so much, for it describes the activities of man, not one’s belief in God.

It gives them comfort, strength, joy, fellowship and many other things that are good to them. But on the other hand, there are those who have had a personal experience with deity and are acting based on a belief. What bothers me is that the latter seems more acceptable than the former. In so many things I experience in life, my take on the world seems the reverse of the mainstream. Even when I get into the fringes of the culture I live in, I still find myself at odds with the world. This brings me joy.
I enjoy those who are young in the faith of a creator. I think it is incredibly foolish to say, "I have never been touched by God, nor have I ever felt a spirit moving me in some mysterious way, but I am here today because I have faith in things greater than myself of whom I have never seen nor felt. But I have faith that they are good and wonderful and it gives me joy." This is what many new followers do; follow blindly on the word of another. No wonder why the secular world laughs at these people. Can you imagine how the church community would react if one of the people new to the faith actually said this? Heck, this is not respected in the church community.
With the above in mind, I often am disgusted by the faith people I talk to are able to have. i myself having done the same in my younger days do, but also having learnt from my experience.

For years He (The Creator) brought many up through hardships and guided their steps when they were lost. All the while not aware it was anything but community belief, they blindly followed after being told to by a family member or someone of authority.
He has revealed Himself to many people, many times beyond counting and granted meditative requests. They commune with Him on a weekly basis and then exit the church doors and continue to do what they have always done....ridicule and belittle their neighbours and friends. It is such a difficult place for me to look upon and not consider with some sadness, as although i enjoyed my time in such a fellowship, i knew i was being blindly led..... I can only look in dismay to those who do their best and live in faith without having seen anything divine…

Answer 4

they both refer to blissful state of being accompanied w/ the LACK of knowledge