what is faith? [in religion]?

Answer 1

Faith is the suspension of disbelief.

Faith and logic are antithetical. If religious adherents would admit that they believe for PERSONAL, rather than logical, reasons, THEN they would be honest about their "faith". But claiming faith on a logical, rational, basis is dishonest -- faith is a personal position . . . not a logical conclusion or rational choice.

Faith and doubt always go hand in hand. Faith without doubt is BLIND faith. It takes a closed mind to sublimate doubt to the point of blind faith. Normal people leaven their faith with a little common sense. Doubt always nibbles at the edges of faith. After all, without doubt, faith would have no context, no purpose, no meaning, no point. Would it?

Because there is no evidence for anything supernatural (including God), NOBODY can claim ANY knowledge of it. Anybody who does is a liar or delusional. It takes suspension of disbelief to believe in the supernatural: one must convince oneself that the impossible is possible. This is the opposite of curiosity. You have one life, one quest . . . and you choose to surrender it.

When people talk about faith, they're usually talking about the supernatural: God, angels, miracles, etc. There is, of course, lots of doubt involved because the supernatural is entirely outside the human (natural) realm. It's not so much that God, or angels can't exist . . . the real point is that NOBODY has access to the supernatural and thus NOBODY knows ANYTHING about it. Anybody who claims to have faith in something he knows absolutely nothing about is actually confessing to placing his imagination before, and above, his intellect.

Imagination has its place . . . but not where life decisions are involved. Placing imagination above intellect is surrendering your quest for meaning. You are surrendering the meaning of your life to your religion . . . to your version of God.

And that's fine. Just be honest about it. You gave up and made a leap of faith. Your faith is a personal position . . . not a valid logical conclusion.

Answer 2

Well, I don't know if I qualify to answer this one because I sometimes don't have much faith at all.

One thing I do know though is that the only time I've ever heard of God/Jesus being astonished was when a non religious person showed faith greater in character than all the "in crowd".

Answer 3

Faith is to the soul what knowledge is to the brain.

At some level we all have faith. We have faith in our perceptions and the routine nature of our experiences.

Do any of you go to bed at night feeling like it was your last day on Earth and by falling asleep you will cease to exist?

Do you think that your head is about to get chopped off even though you see no one around you?

This is faith in its primary form.

Answer 4

Good question! I am religious, but I don't need faith. I simply believe in my spirituality. I guess faith came into being when Christians went on a bloody rampage to convert pagans. Since the Christians obviously couldn't prove their god to the pagans, they insisted that they accept it on faith - or die. So the pagans who wanted to live took faith, but with a cynical wink. And that's precisely why the pagan gods are coming back! Yippee!

Answer 5

faith is the main thing in religion

Answer 6

Rom 14:23
for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.


Eph 2:8-9
8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Answer 7

Faith is believing w/o seeing trusting the word of God is enough for your life.That his holy spirit will interceed That your salvation has already been accomplished through the blood of Jesus Christ. As far as religions go I dont know,belief another matter!

Answer 8

A faith means a belief strongly held without being subjected to the requirement of proof and scrutiny by the intellect.

Answer 9

Faith is basing what you do, your lifestyle, on something which cannot be proved scientifically. It is the opposite of certainty. I can't prove the resurrection of Jesus in a way that would satisfy a disinterested observer but I will live my life in the belied that he did. That is faith.

Answer 10

Faith is 'belief-in-action'.....
Faith is not believing that God can
Faith is knowing that He will.
Faith is knowledge...'knowing that He will'
Faith comes from hearing the Word of God...
Faith of our fathers is demonstrated in the Word
Abraham, Moses, Daniel, and David all had Faith
Thier Faith gave them the courage to do incredible
things like tend to the needs and welfare of thousands
of homeless, wandering, Jews on thier pilgramage to
the Holy Land under insurmountable odds.
Or stand in the face of an angry rebellious King and tell
him that God sent you to tell him to change.
David fell Goliath because Faith told him that 'God Will'
His words on the battlefield were "Thou comest to me
with a sword and a spear and with a shield, but I come
to thee in the name of th eLord of hosts, the God of
the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."
Picture this slightly average sized young man...a farm
boy dressed in his robes addressing the bigest soldier
the phillistines could muster from thier ranks. The enemy's
hero.....Faith told him 'God Will' so he did....'Belief-in-Action'
"This day The Lord will deliver you into my hands and I will
smite thee."....he had no doubts, he knew what was going
to be the end result of that day because he had Faith in his
God.

Jesus said that if you had Faith the size of a mustard seed(purportedly very small) you could move a mountain.
There are many mountains in life that we try to climb over,
or get around...but if we have Faith we know that God will deal with that mountain and we will continue on the path he
set us on.
The book of Hebrews chapter 11 in the Bible gives a
thourough definition of Faith.
It starts with "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." and goes on to give examples
of the Faith our ancestors had and what it did for them and how they used it. Its an easy read and would probly answer
your question further.

one footnote: Faith allowed me to answer your question
today. I havent picked up my Bible in some time and
therefore Faith is in action as God continues his work
in me even as I wander....I deal with more than my share
of mountains in life but knowing that He is there and will
guide me, I pass thru, sometimes a tad burnt but I pass
thru cause I know He will.