Why should we have faith?

Question

I believe in Nature, I can see it, smell it, feel it. I know the process by which that tree came to be...seed to tree.
So why should I have faith in something that I have NO tangible proof of??

My soul is eternal..I don't have to be a christian to know that

I am not trying to influence anyones faith/religion.. it was simply a question!
Jon C please don't be so judgemental of me! and I will serve you the same courtesy

Think you should all know that I USED to be a sunday school teacher!!!

Thank you Jon C a real gent! ;0

Answer 1

When you say 'we' it covers just about all mankind!
And I will assume that you are just asking about 'faith' as in believing that there is a God?
Some folk need to believe or have faith , they need to believe that there is something out there after death, they need faith to believe that their loved ones have gone to a better place!
If that gives them comfort then to my mind, no harm done!
Your question has been pondered since the beginning of time.
I personally don't need to believe , I know in my own mind what it's all about,but I do understand why others need other comfort.
I have no objection to folk believing in a God, my only objection really is to all these different religious leaders and teachers that are just out to take advantage of this situation.
I could ramble on for ever on this subject , and also do a bit of insulting religions , but at the end of the day there is no way I can prove that there is no such thing as God, and there is no way 'they' can prove to me that there is!
The main thing is that you are comfortable (as I am) that all religion is BS.
If ever you dont feel comfortable about that and feel a need to join some particular religious group, feel free to contact me, I didnt become an atheist overnight , I have looked into most religions so have 'faith' in me it's all BS.
You can trust me, I'm an atheist!!!!

Answer 2

Faith is a fundamental part of life and I can't imagine a person who doesn't exercise it to some extent. When you turn on a light switch, you have faith a light will go on or you wouldn't act to turn on the switch. You're actually not certain the light will go on, and you may not even understand what could go wrong, or how it all works. Waiting for what we might consider proof before we act is extremely inefficient to say the least. I believe it would bring life to a halt. Think about it.

There are many valuable sources of truth with varying amounts of reliability attached to them:

- our 5 senses (can be fooled)
- text books (can be incorrect)
- school teachers (can be wrong)

One source of truth is how we feel about things. We all have a sense of what is right and wrong. Whether you believe this is genetic, learned, from God, or all 3, it serves as a valuable source of truth for most people.

Another source of truth are the models we develop in our minds for the nature of reality. Everything we experience is compared with our models, sometimes causing us to refine them.

Because all these and other sources of truth aren't perfect, I used to say I really didn't know anything. I eventually came to realize this was flawed -- there are some things I do know. Here's one of them.

We have a Heavenly Father who loves us and who sent us to live on earth under various conditions so we can grow and develop.

Answer 3

Faith is not simply believing in something that isn't seen... it's believing in something that is'nt seen which is TRUE.

Faith is the essence of life, mortal and eternal. Can you see the sun rising tommorrow? Does that mean the sun isn't there?No.

We should have faith because we have to have it to be cleansed, and to know truth and not be clouded by this mortal state we are in. Faith builds character, character reflects faith.

We are here to be tested, there would be no test if there was no faith required.

Have a great day!:)


You can have tangible proof, but it takes faith first.

Answer 4

Faith is not believing what you already sense to be true. Faithing is believing what God says. In other words, faith is believing that the Bible is true.
Biblical faith is putting your trust in Christ for salvation, relying on His righteousness, and no longer relying on your own righteousness.
In the Bible, nobody is righteous (Romans 3:10).
This puts us in a serious dilemma, since we must be righteous to commune with God. However, God made a way for us to assume the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21), through faith. Faith substitutes for our righteousness (Rom. 4:5, 10:9-10) just as Christ's sacrifice substituted for our payment for sin (1 John 2:1-2).
Faith is necessary for eternal life (Eph. 2:8-9), whereupon one is sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13-14, 4:30) by the Holy Spirit.
Believing that God exists is not enough (James 2:19). Trusting in Christ for salvation is the faith that saves.

Answer 5

Faith is exactly that - belief in something for which there is no tangible proof, otherwise it would be fact, not faith. Some people find comfort in faith especially when they come across something in their life that they cannot reconcile simply by looking at the facts - sickness, death of loved ones, etc. and in these cases they still want to know it's alright despite all the weight of evidence against that. I am just like you and I don't need faith in my life. It doesn't have anything to do with the processes of life, in fact it is quite the antithesis.

Answer 6

you may have confidence without faith which purely determines what denomination you carry on with (which one suitable suits and what you think approximately Jesus Christ). A Christian develops spirituality yet there are different spiritss which at the instant are not of God. Paul the Apostle stated "try the spirits that they are of God" so we ought to be careful.

Answer 7

Read Baruche Spinoza's Ethics, and Emendation of the Intellect. He basically examines the concept of an all knowing, perfect being, and it begins more and more to be impossible to differentiate it from nature. The word God becomes intertwined with Nature, one being able to be substituted from the other. Probably one of the most coherent Atheist-Believer compromises, and beautiful in it's own way. Highly reccomended.

Answer 8

All you who live in the dark it is because you have no faith. And you don't even know you are in the dark ,Cracks me up. Because we who are in the Light can point you out in an instant of your ignorance. WAKE-UP. You are dreaming that you are awake.


Heb 11:6 But 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 diligently seek Him.

DeeDEE, He says Re 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
You have to let him in. Ask Seek Knock

Answer 9

I don't believe that we should have faith. However I do think that a person needs a sense of purpose and a reason to have morals. I haven't decided what my purpose is, but my morals come mainly from philosophy, especially Kant, and not religion.

If faith can give you both of those, and you can swallow it, then there isn't much harm in it.

Answer 10

You have to want to first. If you don't want to,l then it doesn't matter anyway. Faith or trust is required by God. That's what makes it so meaningful. It might not mean anything to other people, but it means something to him.

Who cares?
exactly. Who cares enough about what God wants? The ones that do are the ones that God wants. The others are trusting something else.