What is faith?

Question

"Faith is beauty and grace. It lights the darkest night and warms the coldest heart."---

Answer 1

It may seem a trite answer, but faith in God will make you more pious. But, by faith I mean the following:

Faith commences with the conviction of the mind based on adequate evidence; faith continues in the confidence of the heart or emotions based on conviction, and faith is crowned in the consent of the will, by means of which the conviction and confidence are expressed in conduct.

Key points:
Conviction of the Mind
Confidence of the Heart
Consent of the Will
Conduct of the Body

As you can see from the above, faith affects the whole of a person's nature. Even the demons *believe*. Belief is not enough. Many may claim to be Christians, but we know from the scriptures that many are called, but few are chosen:

Mat 7:16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Mat 7:17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
Mat 7:18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Mat 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
Mat 7:23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' (ESV Translation)

Faith without works is dead, just as the fig tree cursed by Christ when it did not bear fruit (Mt. 21:19). By a Christian's fruit you will know their true nature.

Answer 2

Faith is good intention willed forward. Faith is not knowledge of understanding. It is just intentions. Faith is a poor substitute for belief. You cannot forsake knowledge or learning for faith as so many do. That is why this society is spiraling out of control. Faith in the form of belief stops real actions. Faith based on a belief your circumstances will change in the form of a miracle also stops responsible actions.

We have all heard the saying "Evil prevails when good men do nothing." Faith as a belief in a book that mislead will give a man the feeling he has no control. A man that feels he has no impact of his environment will tend to just sit in his faith and wish for the best while taking no action to change his fate.

You have to look at the world’s direction. In the past religion served to freeman of his own savage impulses. The problem of religion it is itself enslaving.

Science is the next step of human direction. We have to drop the cloak of past superstition to move intelligently toward out new frontier that is seemingly technology based. Acquiring knowledge is our next religion that is a non-religion. We have faith yet our condition is worsening.

In the end it will not be science or religion that shape us per say. It is the continual moving toward higher existence that will determine our fate. Faith driven religions are now becoming this planet's Achilles heel.

Holding on to old ways of thinking will spoil our evolution but that to is part of our learning process.

Answer 3

Faith is the belief in the of existence of goodness.
Incapables of faith *believe* in reason and rationality alone. Faith gives meaning to life.

Answer 4

Faith is believing and trusting in something that doesn't have physical evidence to back it up. It is going out on a limb to stand up for what you believe deep in your heart even though others can't see or understand it.

Answer 5

I'd give two answers. First, the Bible quote from Hebrews given above.
Second, I'd say that faith is belief that cannot be validated by measurable or quantifiable facts. In other words, it is belief without physical validation. Perhaps it might even be apt to say that it's belief that cannot be empirically proven or disproven.

Answer 6

HEAR THE BIBLE:
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Answer 7

Faith to me, is an unflappable belief in the intangable..that which you can't see, feel, or prove.

It's what keeps people going....what compells them to get up in the morning and enables them to fall asleep at night..in the comfort of "knowing".

It makes failures tolerable...knowing that this too shall pass.

It makes everything OK

For some.

Answer 8

Faith is the will to believe without evidence.

Some say, faith is the will to believe despite evidence to the contrary.

Answer 9

Faith is trust and Faith is believing, but Faith is not believing unquestioningly,but in clarifying ones questions in order to strengthen one's power of belief and deepening one's trust.

Answer 10

Believing what you know to be true, despite the evidence. Its what you know in your heart, you dont need evidence for that. I dont think there is a scientist out there that can measure that yet.

Peace