What is Faith?

Question

What does it mean to have faith?
How can having faith help me?
What IS faith?

Pretend that I am a 5 year old child. Break it down for me. What does it mean?

"The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
....
What does this mean?

Answer 1

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Faith is believing in something because your life experiences or history has proven it to you. It is finding comfort in the assurance that something is going to happen. When you work, you do so with the assurance that you will get paid. You believe that out of past experience and trust in the promises of the future made by your employer. How much greater are the promises of God and how much more trustworthy is His word.

Grow your faith by looking at the blessings that you have received throughout your life. Your health, or perhaps family or whatever. Compare those good things with the plight of those without familys or who are crippled or blind. Always recognize your blessings, don't look at what others may have that might cause you to envy, that is this world turning you away from the ways of God.

Answer 2

Faith is a substance of things hoped for the evidence or things not seen

Answer 3

If you're referring to the Christian faith, then it is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith requires knowledge but not knowledge alone, saving faith is not blind faith either. One must have an intelligible understanding of what and whom they believe in. Faith is not about turning off the brain and merely relying on the heart, or squashing reason in favor of emotion. It's a "calculated faith" based on a preponderance of the evidence.

*TO ANSWER YOUR ADDITIONAL POST, Hebrews 11:1 is not a definition of faith per se, but a description of what faith does. SUBSTANCE means "reality." Faith treats things hoped for as reality. EVIDENCE means "proof." Faith proves that what is unseen is real, such as the believer's rewards at Christ's return (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Try this. From where you are sitting reading this, stand up. Did you notice that you did not fly off towards the ceiling? Did you even consider the possibility that you might? Before you pushed on the floor with your feet, was there any possibility in your mind that you might propel yourself skyward? No, you knew with absolute certainty that gravity would hold you to the floor. You knew it with such certainty that the idea of something else happening did not even enter you mind. What's more, you could sit there all day with the idea that gravity would hold you down if you pushed against the floor with your feet. But, only when you stand up do you have evidence of that. It is the act of standing up that evidences the unseen thing we call gravity.

So there's an example of what Paul is talking about. It is an act that when performed produces the evidence of something not seen. This is "real" faith.

Answer 4

Faith is the source of any religion. For example in my religion Christianity. I have faith that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the true messiah known as the son of God. For many reasons. 1, he helped the blind see. 2, he helped the mute speak. 3, he helped the deaf hear. 4, he turned water into red wine during the wedding at Cana. 5, He even consoled those who were troubled and grief. 6, he told demons to get out of any one's body. And on the night before he was betrayed, he transformed the bread into his body and he transformed the red wine into his blood. And whoever did this will be saved. And i was once a doubting Thomas but after making my confirmation on Easter Vigil 2010, i was no longer a doubter

Answer 5

Faith is believing what you know ain't so. Mark Twain

Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence. Richard Dawkins

Faith is an absolutely marvelous tool. With faith there is no belief that cannot be justified. Rev. Donald Morgan (b. 1933), Atheist theologian

No amount of belief makes something a fact. James Randi

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it doesn't go away. Philip K. Dick

Answer 6

I don't know about a 5 year old , but the definition is: The substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

Answer 7

Faith is believeing without seeing. To have faith could be as simple as having faith that gravity will always be there. You cannot see it, but you would definately know if it was missing. Having faith in God can give you a feeling of calmness in the roaring storm, knowing whatever happens you belong to him and will return to him when your time on earth is through. Faith is like a security blanket to a baby...you hold onto it tightly and it comforts you when you are down.

Answer 8

Answering this question depends on your context of faith. Many times people are asking in a religious context, while others are more interested in secular and general faith in good or reliable realities.

I'll share a passage from the Bible that I frankly believe addresses both: " Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1, NIV.) While this passage obviously goes on to be established in a religious context, it is still an excellent working definition in multiple contexts.

1. Faith is a certainty and an enabler to act when we've been convinced of the reliability and certainties of something. Or simpler still - we have faith in something that hasn't let us down yet.

2. We see in the second part of that verse that faith is also not entirely dependent on what we see every day. This is the hard part...keeping faith in something that may not manifest itself to us every single day. Some would balk at this, saying this idea is irrational. Further examination reveals that ALL of us have "faith" in many "unseen" things (such as gravity, sub-atomic particles, love, etc.) Further, we have "faith" when we do such daily routines as drive through an intersection, pay our bills, manage our IRA, buys stocks, etc.

So in the end....faith is a trust in anything that we have deemed reliable, credible and helpful - regardless of whether or not we can see or tangibly touch it. Having faith also assumes that in the end, that thing is going to be good for us and make us better for believing in it.

The real problem isn't really HAVING faith, it is KEEPING faith. Everyone has on occasion had to re-assess their faith in something when they feel their faith as been "let down." This could be true in religion, politics, patriotism, love and friendship. The struggle could center on whether or not that failure was a bump along the way, or a clue that what you have faith in is no longer certain - due either to non-existence or permanent failure. Strong is the faith that can endure questions, failures and investigation of its realities.

"How can having faith help me?" It's essential! A life based only on what you see here and now will be a life that swirls in a fast-changing sense of reality. An over-simplified analogy might be stock-market trading: there is a certain amount of "faith" in investing. No faith = no economic growth, as you simply can't buy or sell purely on what is happening here and now. Everyone is investing in the idea that for the forseeable future, the US and world economy will show overall growth despite temporary setbacks. Granted - that may not eternally be reality.

Faith helps you navigate your future. It helps you to decide what really matters in the long run, and what is going to "come and go" quickly in the world. Faith helps you keep things in a proper context, and provides many directions for your life ahead. Faith helps one to choose directions that matter, while discarding or avoiding directions that lead to more confusion.

Could go on and on (and maybe is too long as it is), but I hope someone feels this is a start.

Answer 9

Faith comes in many forms. Believing in God that he will not only that he can, but he will. Believing in yourself that you can and will.
Faith is having a will to do anything you want and standing firm.
It means to stay strong and confident, and it can help you get ahead in every aspect of your life, from the smallest things to the biggest..
Have faith and never give up.
Only the strong survive.

Answer 10

How can I no I have faith.