Can you have faith without religion? Or do you need both?

Question

Life is a test.
Most people think that it is. No one really knows what is on the other side.
Faith is trust in somebody or something, where religion is people’s beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a God.
Can you have one without the other? or do you simply need both?

Answer 1

I have faith that a safe will not fall offf space station and kill me

I have faith in gravity

I have faith that humans will generally choose the stupidest course of action

I have faith that given even a microscopic opening a fellow human will screw me as hard as possible

None of these are religions...so yeah you can have faith without religion

Answer 2

Faith is believing in something and religion is a set of practices and beliefs that people follow.

If if a spiritual journey were a long road, I think of faith being like the gas, and religion being like the car... you need both to effectively get anywhere.

Faith and religion can be mutually exclusive. A person can have a great faith in a Higher Power or of something outside of themselves without practicing a religion.

Likewise, someone can go by rote through the hoops they were taught to jump since childhood without ever really having faith in anything.

Of course, faith and religion can, and do, work together well, but when there is one, the other is not automatically present.

Answer 3

Of course you can have faith without religion. The guy in the cube next to me (I'm supposed to be working!) is not religious. Even though he is not religious he has faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. He has faith that if he works hard and does his job he will get a paycheck.

Faith is another word for belief. A belief doesn't necessarily have anything to do with God or religion. I believe that I will have pizza for dinner tonight.

Also, there are literally millions of people in the world who believe strongly in God and are not part of any religion. Faith and religion are not co-dependent or mutually exclusive.

Answer 4

Hey Amy, it's Jessica! hehe.

I can answer your question to the best that I can lol.

An opinion is a person's ideas and thoughts towards something. It is an assessment, judgment or evaluation of something. An opinion is not a fact, because opinions are either not falsifiable, or the opinion has not been proven or verified. With that said, I can still have a faith without a religion because I'm having faith in something meaning anything.

Lol, now your gunna be addicted to this like me. hehe.

Answer 5

Of course. "Religion" is merely the format of worship, the rites and ceremonies that are used to express a particular belief system.

"Faith" is relational. You have to have faith (trust) in someone or something. Personally I have faith in Jesus Christ. This is a vital, growing relationship between myself and the living God. I trust Him with my life, my soul and my being.

Answer 6

Life is not a test. It is a demonstration, and lesson. I know what is on the other side, as I have been there. Faith is religion. Faith is beliveing in the unknown/unproven, which is religion. Most-but not all-religions go far enough to codify their faith by adding doctrines...what you consider opinions. You may as well ask whether I own a car, or transportation.

Answer 7

Religion is the code of the people, it is usually run by men. This is the force behind the public ceremonies in a culture. Then there are subversive forces that are hard to control. Rituals which are subversive are usually called "magic". Practitioners of magic are outsiders to their community, but the rituals (and even health care) provided by this group of outsiders are an essential outlet for the segments of the population which are excluded from participation in the Religion of the people. In particular, women often turn to magic when ignored by the public religion. (examples: snake worship, the kitsune "fox" cults in Japan.) You could say that subversive magic cults have lost religion, but have gained faith. You could also say the self-righteous pedophile priest has kept his religion but has no faith. So, yes to both.

Answer 8

I don't necessarily believe life is a test. Life was granted to us by God because he wants us to be free (in my opinion). You can definitely have faith without religion. You can have faith that there is no real religion. You can have faith without religion, but it is impossible to have religion without faith. You can have faith that you will do well on your next exam because you studied 12 hours a day. That has nothing to do with religion.

Answer 9

You can believe in a supreme being (or whatever) without liking organized religion. Your beliefs are your own, and your relationship with god (or whoever) is yours to define and express as you wish. Churches are complex human organizations where the vestry tries to make everyone come up with more money to support the plant (buildings, etc) and their favorite causes. Clergy therefore are largely redundant, unless you like the pomp and circumstance.

Answer 10

Faith is really something you blindly believe without proof, so maybe the answer is no.
However, you can faith in things like the goodness of human nature (also not much proof for that) or that things will work out all right. That's faith too.