An honest question from an Atheist to Christians?

Question

I really don't understand the notion of Faith. Is it really believing in something without proof?

Answer 1

Yes, you need to believe in it without any proof. I know is sounds stupid and something no capable human would do but it helps many of us in times of need. Faith is just believing because in your mind you think is true, you don't need evidence. Is taking a risk if you're wrong but we will all know the truth in the end.

Answer 2

Things which are experimentally verifiable need no proof.
Things which are tangible need no proof.
Things which are true by definition or formula need no proof.

We can not prove that the sun will rise tomorrow.
We can not prove that all swans are white (only that certain particular swans are white).

If we can not prove something it may be a theory.

If we can prove something there may be some doubt, however small. In law "reasonable doubt" is not the tiniest of doubt and is not large doubt (though sometimes could be) but a significant measure of doubt.

If there is a small doubt we will have an opinion and an according belief.

Scripture says "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." I know that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. I know that the Messiah is going to come soon. This is faith, and I know because he is faithful.

Now consider a matter of supposed fact. A fosil is found in a lower level of sediment. For one person that is objective evidence supporting the fact that millions of years of dust settling fixed that fosil in its present position in a sedimentary layer. And that is held as a fact. For another person that is objective evidence that the sediment layers were deposited by a great flood and tremendous pressures fixed the fosil in its present position, and that is held to be a fact. But without perfect knowledge there is doubt on either side. This is why God says in the New Testament "thou knowest not how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child." Scientists do not know the details of that even today.

We can be faithful to our belief system, that is an extension of the use of "faith". But everybody has a belief system.

Answer 3

Faith is the evidence of thing unseen, and the certainty of what we hope for. Faith is believing in something besides ourselves and this world. Faith is seeing the difference in a person who has faith and wanting that kind of peace. No, there is no scientific proof, but the testimonies of the faithful provide a preponderance of the evidence.

Moreover, everyone takes a leap of faith at sometime or another. When you get married, you take a leap of faith that it will work out. When you have children, you take a leap of faith that you have the patience and wisdom to bring them up to be productive citizens and not mess them up so badly that they end up in prison or on the therapist's couch. When two people come to you in a dispute, you can listen to each story, but if they have no concrete proof, you must have faith in your own reasoning ability to judge who is right and who is wrong. Even if you choose not to believe in God, you are saying that you have faith that you are right and millions of people are wrong. And you may be, but you don't really know.

Answer 4

The proof is all in the Bible. What people find hard is that, they can't see God and most of us cannot understand how one can believe anything without seeing. For Christians to be so strong in their faith is because of the experiences they've encountered reading the Bible and being able to build a relationship with someone greater then them. How does that happen? Some people claimed they were nothing until they asked God to re veil himself to them if He existed. It will only happen to people who really want to know of his existence for the right reason. Hope that helped.

Answer 5

Yes. It is really believing something without proof. That's why God does not split the heavens open to demonstrate he's real. That's one reason that he doesn't step in and stop the "bad guys" from doing bad things. If he proved that he was real in a way that left no room for doubt then people would not need faith and would not choose to believe.

Answer 6

its the willingness to follow your hearts convictions in the face of a lack of conclusive proof or having only "personal proof" that is not shared by others. It makes it possible to choose your belief rather than be forced to believe whatever you believe by your mind or by others arguments. Faith is useless without conviction, faith is the natural follow on from conviction it just depends where you attribute that conviction to

Answer 7

I suppose so. It's like having faith in your spouse. You wouldn't have made a commitment to them if you didn't have faith in them. Of course, having faith in God is a lot less risky, because God is faithful and without sin. You can still go through hard times even if you have faith in God, but He'll never leave you. That's why faith can be comforting.

Answer 8

It's believing in something that cannot be seen but when we know Christ within us, we have all the proof we need and we believe because He has given His Word. Others may not see Him but will see that Christians are different. It's something we cannot prove until you come to know Him yourself and then you say 'AHH so this is what they meant! God bless :)

Answer 9

I believe that faith is believing in something whether you have the proof or not. Even if someone can disprove you, your believes are not changed. That's what faith is to me.

Answer 10

its hard to believe when you dont have proof or see it first hand. but when you know because you know because you know that there is something much bigger out there then us, then you will be sure this is faith. just look at nature and us humans, who could have created this but God? yes there is evil out there but we humans choose to be like that and God gave us free will and we have a choice what we do with it