If faith=trust, why is it given as a reason for belief in God?

Question

Theists often claim that it takes faith to sit in a chair, or faith that tomorrow will come. This is obviously not using the definition "belief that is not based on proof." Instead, it seems more like confidence or trust.

So when faith is given as a reason to believe in God, is it like saying "I believe in God because I trust that he exists"?

This seems rather circular. Your thoughts?

MauriceH: Is that saying you believe because you believe you were asked to believe?

MichaelB: If I asked why you believed in gravity, would you answer "faith"?

Answer 1

Faith is a tricky word isn't it? You are right. We use it to mean "confidence in" I have faith that you are a good driver before I decide to be a passenger in your car. We also use it to indicate certainty about future events because of our experience with past and present events. So ..... When I say that I have faith in God I could be saying that I have confidence in the existence of God or I could be saying that I am certain because of what I have already experienced and am experiencing now that has existed, exists now and will continue to exist. I think it's a problem with English not having enough words that deal with different aspects of trust, certainty, confidence, etc. If what you are after is insight into the more theological and philosophical arguments about the relationship between faith and beliefs, there isn't enough room here for that.,

Answer 2

I haven't seen faith given as a reason for belief in God. However, I have heard the chair illustration before, given to show that everyone places trust in (has faith in) something. It's used as a defense against the argument that faith is dumb, illogical, anti-scientific, etc.

You are right; if faith were given as a reason for believing God, it would be circular logic, because faith is the same thing as believing God. (Notice I said, "believing God", as in placing your trust in him, not just "belief in God" as a concept.) Romans 4:5 equates faith with trusting God. "However, to the man who...trusts God...his faith is credited as righteousness. "

Answer 3

I actually always thought faith was a form of trust, because if you have faith in God that means you believe that you can trust that he will pull through for you whenever you need him.
And also faith is the belief that there is something greater.

Answer 4

I believe that God exists based on personal revalation more than anything else. Now this is not enough to convince any other person and I don't expect it to be. All I know for sure is that something happened. Now one could say that the reason for the change was that I adopted this lifestyle, and that is all. Those people however did not hear the full story about all that has happened, and what has been done and changed.

Answer 5

Faith is a gift from God. We can have faith in many things as you say but faith in God is definitely different. Our faith is only as good as what we have faith in. Those who seek the truth recevie a gift from God called faith and through this faith comes revelation and a personal relationship with God.

Answer 6

In Webster's and among Christians the nearest synonym to faith is trust. The problem is that trust is not always the right synonym for faith.

Further, faith and belief are used as synonyms but are two very different things. In Webster's belief and faith are much the same thing --- to have faith, according to Webster, you just grunt harder! Much like your definition.

(Belief is postulating something in your head. Faith is considering something in your heart, that is opening to an emotional level.) This is a partial statement.

The fact is belief and faith as presented in Scripture are not found in Webster's. Webster's is not a dictionary of religious terms. Faith and belief are specialized words. Webster's gives street or common definitions.

A fairly simple definition of belief is found in Hebrews 11:6. It reads in part "....for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

According to Heb. 6, one must first postulate the existance of God and further postulate that God is capable of giving rewards. The next statement says one must be diligent in seeking after God. Unspecified rewards are offered as proof that God exists. The judgment of rewards or proof is left to the individual.

The idea of belief, presented in Heb. 6, is similar to the definition used by American philosophical pragmatists: Belief: Any idea or concept which one is willing to act upon.

The above definition applies to Hebrews 6. Heb. 6 is asking for mental postulates or belief. The same type of postulate or belief that brings us to sit in a chair, expect tomorrow, and get out of bed in the morning.

Then what of faith? Faith, like belief, is a human ability. The best synonym I can leave you with is intuition; an intution that works in ones heart.

An intitution that takes and makes use of input from the mind but operates as a mind of its own. It is sometimes like a gut feeling, a hunch, or a sudden certainty that produces results. Faith involves ones conscience, and ones communion with God. It is the function that reads the mind of the spirit. It starts with hearing the word of God. Unless you hear from God, what's to believe?

The first verse of Heb. 11 remains the ultimate definition of real faith. Faith is not believing something without evidence; faith is the ability to bring our hopes into being, to produce evidence.

Answer 7

do you trust in your own judgment? it seems so as you are relying on it to believe that the world that we live in had no beginning but was always there being guided by invisible laws of science. you have faith in your self. some of us have faith in God, the creator of life and everything in it.

Answer 8

Yes

God ask us to have faith like that of a child, who trust and believes sincerely and honestly with little to no doubt

Answer 9

Romans 1:19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Answer 10

1. You can see my brain after I die; just do an autopsy. You cannot see my soul. What is the proof that it exists? 2. I don't deny the existence of a god because he isn't visible. I deny the existence of god because you have no tangible proof that he exists. Evolution is a scientific fact, and it isn't just about monkeys. Bacteria evolve -- they adjust to the antibiotics we create to kill them, and they come back stronger. That's evolution. Talk to your doctor. Believe what you like. And please allow me the same courtesy.