Whats more important? FAITH OR TRUTH?

Question

PLEASE PLEASE No cop out answers like "they are the same thing".

If thats all you have to say keep that outta here

If you found a inconsistency in the bible how do you reconcile it? (and if you HAVE NOT, then you arent reading the bible much and you should ignore this thread and go read it, they are all over, if you need me to point a few out i can, but thats kinda cheating your spiritual education)

Is it more important for you to know the truth or to believe in god?

When these two items diverge, what do you choose?

For those that have requested.. Here are a few SIMPLE inconsistencies.. I have chosen simple ones for clarity:

God sent his prophet to threaten David with how many years of famine?

(a) Seven (2 Samuel 24:13).

(b) Three (1 Chronicles 21:12).



he chief of the mighty men of David lifted up his spear and killed how many men at one time?

(a) Eight hundred (2 Samuel 23:8).

(b) Three hundred (1 Chronicles 11:11).

Apart from Jesus did anyone else ascend to heaven?

(a) No (John 3:13).

(b) Yes. “And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11).


Now, these are just a few i have thrown up for your perusal. DO NOT TRUST THEM. Grab your bible and check them out yourself.

Now ask yourself honestly.. if both of these CANNOT BE RIGHT.. WHICH IS RIGHT?

And if these and other errors exist, how much OF the bible can be trusted to be accurate at all?

If there are errors in the bible, how can anyone trust the idea of Divine word or holy ghost?

Answer 1

The weak minded need faith, the strong minded want truth. That is the difference. A weak person can't deal with knowing their child will die of cancer and has faith in God they will make it. A strong person will want the truth and prepare themselves for what is to come.

Faith is certainly in opposition of truth. With truth you don't need faith.

Answer 2

i view them as very different and the main thing everyone needs to keep in mind is that there is a new covenant with God and all of humanity. the only rule is to have faith . go back and look at David he was a man after God's own heart and still he was a very not nice guy. the moral is that the very best you can do isn't ever enough and that includes truth or the telling of it. people are always going to be bad at some point . so you can't win UNLESS you have faith .truth is only relevant to the speaker anyway because anyone can lie and you don't have to believe them anyway truth or not. but faith saves you. so good hunting with this ? i hope you find what your looking for

Answer 3

Ultimately faith is more important than truth. No one, except God, knows the truth completely and deeply and exhaustively. Meaning all of us have a very limited apprehension of the truth, but an ignorant, poor slave can have faith. God requires faith. That is not to say that truth is not important. Of course it is. And you need both. But I give the edge to faith.
Furthermore, if your faith depends upon having a perfect, error free Bible, even though it exists in many translations, and that it have no seeming contradictions, or if it depends on being able to resolve to your satisfaction and perceived contradictions, your faith will not stand any test of time. If this is your situation, you're basing your belief in God on your ability to recognize and resolve contradictions (or, maybe you're trying to find a cause to reject God, Christianity, the Bible and so on). How can we know we have understood the "inconsistencies" correctly, or for that matter, that we have resolved them correctly? Did the Bible claim in any place to have perfect, error free stories, etc? You're like a man who refuses to marry until he finds the perfect woman. Sorry, life isn't like that.
Read this verse and consider it: "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6)

Answer 4

When it comes to God Faith is more important, because if I never picked up a bible in my life, or never heard someone speak about God, common sense tells me the --truth-- is that God exists. You can't have faith without believing --something-- as truth. Lots of people have the truth and don't believe it so that answers the question right there.

Answer 5

Truth and always truth. I tend not to look beyond what is intellectually accepted as truth, into the ignorance I like to call faith.

Faith, to me, seems misguided and unrealistic. One religion being right meaning from over 2/3 of the world being wrong? Don't think so.

I am, however, open to new evidence and proof towards a faith's truth, if it's plausible and worth my time (such is yet to be discovered).

What's true is true, and there's no denying it. Faith is a different story.

Answer 6

The truth is the most important thing faith comes second ,but as it is good for some people to depend on something faith can be a great thing

Answer 7

There is no meaning to faith without truth. Truth is absolute, and is not subject to opinion, belief, speculation, faith, observation, perception, time, place, or circumstance.

Faith is the acceptance of truth without full understanding. They do not go hand in hand, they are not synonymous. I can have faith that there is a sun in the sky, but if there is no sun in the sky, what is the value of my faith? On the other hand, I may not believe that there is a sun, but if the sun exists, it will continue to exist without my belief. Our faith has no affect on truth, but truth has an affect on faith.

Therefore, Truth is superior to faith.

Answer 8

Truth, Ignorance may be bliss but the Truth opens your mind.

Just like the old Greek Myth about the man kept in a cave all his life. Until he escaped. When he was brought back he was not happy for the rest of his life

Answer 9

I had faith first, then God gave me the truth. I needed faith to be able to know and understand the truth . If you don't have God in you, the Word won't make sense. You must have God in you first so that He can open your heart to the truth. This is my understanding through my experience.

Answer 10

Truth is important, but ABSOLUTE TRUTH is ultimately important than even relative truth. One may change different faiths from Christian to Hindu or Hindu to Christian or Muslim to Hindu etc...
but the Truth remains as it is.

Introduction to Bhagavad-gita-As-It-Is, by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of ISKCON
(International Society for Krishna Consciousness).
Yet man professes to belong to a particular type of faith with reference to particular time and circumstance and thus claims to be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or any other sect. Such designations are non-sanatana-dharma. A Hindu may change his faith to become a Muslim, or a Muslim may change his faith to become a Hindu, or a Christian may change his faith and so on. But in all circumstances the change of religious faith does not effect the eternal occupation of rendering service to others. The Hindu, Muslim or Christian in all circumstances is servant of someone. Thus, to profess a particular type of sect is not to profess one’s sanatana-dharma. The rendering of service is sanatana-dharma.

Factually we are related to the Supreme Lord in service. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are His servitors. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we become happy. We cannot become happy otherwise. It is not possible to be happy independently, just as no one part of the body can be happy without cooperating with the stomach. It is not possible for the living entity to be happy without rendering transcendental loving service unto the Supreme Lord.

Answer 11

its all about what you believe in and how you interpret the bible, why does it disturb you that my believes are differant than yours, this is how wars get started there has to be a balance of religions and believes between the people otherwise people would force there believes on a nation or country and we will end up with another islamic country