What is Faith?

Question

I just want different opinions of what y'all think faith is.
Im doing an assignment for my Theology Degree and just need everyones views of what they think faith is/means.
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Actually, I have been looking at this question as part of my private spiritual examination. It really needs a systematic study of the uses of the word (for Christians, in both the Old and New Testaments), but since I haven't completed that study, here are some preliminary notions.

The famous "definition" in Hebrews 11:01 says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Revised Standard Version) This book is traditionally ascribed to Paul, although there is considerable doubt about that even among conservative scholars now. At any rate, I believe the writer was describing an effect of faith rather than defining the term.

Generally, uses of the word throughout the Bible seem to be consistent in referring to a steadfast commitment to a relationship. The steadfastness is obvious; I introduce the notion of a "relationship" because I believe we often overemphasize an attachment to some particular theology. That is, I believe faith in God, and faithfulness to God, are not the same thing as a bullheaded insistence that one's particular beliefs about God are all true.

I believe it is possible to be faithful without having any confidence that one is right. This sort of faithfulness comes from trusting God as a person, from believing that God can take care of matters however much we error-prone humans have gotten things wrong.

(In "The Great Divorce," C. S. Lewis actually has souls in Heaven celebrating the fact that they were all wrong, but it didn't really matter: "We've all been wrong! That's the great joke. There's no need to go on pretending one was right!")

The writer of Hebrews describes a certain confidence, but I don't believe it has to be read as a confidence in the correctness of our theology. In fact, insisting that we've got it right often substitues faith in ourselves for faith in God.

Incidentally, while the Hebrew and Greek words have to be interpreted largely by context, the Latin rendition was, I believe, fides, a root which has come into modern English in the concept of "fidelity." Again, this suggests a matter of relationships, not a matter of insisting that we're right.

I just realized this reads as though it's possible to be faithful without being faithful to anything in particular. That's not the case. Being faithful to my wife means that there are many things I don't do, because they would hurt her and hurt the relationship. I have to learn them, over time, and sometimes I do things I believe she would want and find out that she wants something else. (I'm well beyond any narrow notions of "marital fidelity" here, as I hope you can tell. Daily life has a lot more challenges to fidelity than the simple matter of sexual exclusiveness.)

The same is true of faithfulness to God. It has to do with learning what God wants of us, and doing the best we can to live up to our part of the relationship. I'd say it isn't easy, but the thing about relationships is that they make difficult things easier to do than things which look easier, but involve being unfaithful, because infidelity is the one thing we rule out. If we stop being faithful, we stop being ourselves.

Answer 2

Unwavering, unthinking allegiance to a given proposition, no matter how outlandish or illogical, and notwithstanding clear "proof" to its contrary.

Here are some possible, and perhaps amusing, examples:

The world is only 6000 years old, and any valid evidence to the contrary was planted by the devil.

Voting republican will avoid war and balance the budget

There is no such thing as an ET, as we are the only "advanced species" in an infinite omniverse.

If there were ETs , a number of them would watch the goings on of the earthlings as if such were a sad cartoon


The South shall rise again, this time, perhaps, without the inept help of the British

It's always best to vote for president for that person with whom you'd most like to have a beer and watch NASCAR

The Iraq war is all about saving us from Islamic terrorists and saving the Iraqi people from ....(fill in the BS)

:)) y'all

Answer 3

faith in God is important element. while i mandatory God the main while cases for me have been rather undesirable God replied my prayers. while My kin became scuffling with and abusing me God have been given me out of that situation and right into a much extra desirable place. i'm now married and that i consistently needed a splash woman. I prayed and that i became despatched a captivating little woman. God is magnificent, in case you call and pray for Jesus and your in want of help, he listens to each prayer.

Answer 4

Faith is an emotion that keeps us believeing in something or someone no matter who or what tries to stop us. It is what we tell ourselves, deep in our minds, so as to have something to live for. be it belief in a God, or belief in a true love.

Interestingly, some compare it to love. Also an emotion that other people can't take from you with their own views.


Hope that helped.
Good luck with your degree. =)

Answer 5

Faith is believing in something you want but can not see or get it right away. Just like when you pray for your needs and then there taken care of.

Answer 6

Faith designates blind acceptance of a certain ideational content, acceptance induced by feeling in the absence of evidence or proof. --Dr. Leonard Peikoff, Ominous Parallels

The way to see by Faith is to shut the Eye of Reason. --Benjamin Franklin

Answer 7

Faith is blind, unthinking acceptance in the absence of knowledge.

My favorite quote:
"an error made on your own is safer than ten truths accepted on faith, because the first leaves you the means to correct it, but the second destroys your capacity to distinguish truth from error." - Ayn Rand

Answer 8

The best definition of Faith comes from the Bible. St. Paul wrote Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Think about that....it is the best definition I know.

Answer 9

Faith is an unquestioning belief in something or someone without requiring evidence or proof of its existence.

Answer 10

Trusting that something is true no matter how illogical or contradictory it is, and taking it as your guide.

I personally don't believe in faith. For me, I can't believe anything I haven't witnessed or observed.