What is the difference between fact and faith?

Question

I was debating with a friend last night and we got stuck on this topic for the better part of 5 minutes.

She said that I had faith that the sun would rise tomorrow.

I said that you don't need faith for that the same way you don't need faith to think that 2 + 2 = 4.

She joked and said I had faith that 2 + 2 = 4.

(At least I hope she was joking)

What is the difference to you?

Answer 1

facts have a proof.

faith can't be proven, at least not as far as we are able.




the real question is why were you debating with this chick when you should have been nailing her?

Answer 2

She was right with the first one. There's no proof that the sun will rise until it's risen.

She was partially right with the second one. We know that 2 and 2 equals 4 not because we have proven it, but because of habit thinking. It could be argued that 2 + 2 = 2. However because 2 + 2 exists and is a fact, we tend to regard that as such - a fact! So, she might be right that it's just sheer faith but the existence weighs heavily against faith in this regard.

Answer 3

Faith will tell you 2+2=4, logic and math make it a fact. Faith could also say 2 + 2 = 6, logic and math would prove that not to be a fact. When you are first told by a teacher that 2 + 2 = 4, you might just believe them. However in order for you to learn and understand this they will give you a proof like showing you two apples in one hand and two in another, and then they will put them together and it will be four apples.

Answer 4

Faith is belief without evidence. Fact is evidence. I believe what I can test. God doesn't do tests. The results of the tests must be repeatable. God doesn't do tests. The results must be repeatable by other indifferent 3rd parties. I will not accept what cannot be quantified and verified.

You believe the sun will rise tomorrow because you have a lifetime of repeated demonstrations that the sun rises at regular intervals. benny Hinn can't wlak through the Mayo Clinic and cure every cancer patient there. You have no demonstration whatever that God was born as Jewish carpenter and once killed rose from the grave. In fact you have no evidence whatever that bodies dead for three days re-animate, and have grave yards full of examples that such things don't happen. You have to believe a mere assertion made in some cases by biblical writers who never even met Jesus.

Don't have children with your friend. Why cut their IQ in half?

Answer 5

okay, the difference with the sun and logic is this: man organizes the symbols of logic, so that when 2 and 2 are placed together, they equal 4. If in some alter-universe, instead of the number "4" equalling "four" fingers, then 2+2 might equal 6 or 8 or Apple, it all depends on what is the formally accepted definition of "4"


As for the sun rising tomorrow, that is based on an "experience" with a logical outcome. If your friend wanted to be really smart (or annoying) she would ask, "how do you know the sun is really called the sun?"

To which you could respond by saying, "cause you just called it that."

Answer 6

In the examples given..the math equation is constant,it is a universally accepted fact..no faith required..the sun rising tomorrow does require a least a subliminal faith.Similarly,when I flick the kitchen light switch on,I assume by faith that light will shine. There are possible variables with both the sun and light switch..there is not with the math problem.

Also,the idea that something requires faith does not necessarily mean that it is not fact but rather without evidence faith is required.

The biblical definition for faith is."Faith is the substance of things hoped for,the Evidence (fact) of things not seen.

Answer 7

2+2=4 is pretty definitional. I don't think that is faith. Any plan for the future, (even about the sun coming up- or my being alive to see it) does take a measure of faith. You need to back up just a little into epistemology, and linguistics. Sounds like a neat friend!

Answer 8

Faith is defined as belief without credible evidence. We have evidence for both that the sun will rise tomorrow and 2+2 = 4. So faith is unnecessary for either of those beliefs.

We have no credible evidence for gods so for that people need faith.

Answer 9

Fact is something already seen or proven, tangible. Faith is the ability to believe without seeing. Faith denotes actions and is not an intellectual belief but a way of life

Answer 10

Those who believed the Earth revolved around the Sun before they had all the evidence to prove it, had faith in that particular fact.....so one can have faith in a fact.

But the relationship with God is more similar probably to the relationship you might have with a trustworthy friend....when someone has proven to you over and over that they are trustworthy, you tend to take their word in faith even before the full proof of their fulfilling it comes to pass...because they have earned your trust (and so "blind faith" is never really asked of us)

Answer 11

Sounds like she was joking. To me, faith is believing in something that can't be proved. You can see indicators that something exists without it being in front of you. Fact is something concrete, like 2+2=4.