Faith is " the assured expectations of things though not beheld". Such as the brakes of your car. You have confidence it will stop as you hurtle towards the stop sign at 60MPH because it has always stopped before. Faith is similar in religious belief. You have to weigh what you're being told by that standard. Are all things taught by the Society true? No. Some are though & therein lies the rub. The old adage comes to mind, " a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing." So examine these things for yourself. Decide from Bible standards & principles what is right & deserving of having faith in.
Does faith even exist?
by poor places 16 Replies latest jw friends
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DanaBug
I sometimes wonder if people who are born into the religion are more susceptible to doubt.
I think this is true. Your faith is handed to you, you're told what to believe, what's wrong or right, without the freedom to figure it out yourself. I think JWs in general have a very fragile faith. Think of all the information they avoid. Now if you can read something that argues against what you believe and test it and think about it, and you come away with your beliefs intact (or maybe changed to accommodate that new information) then you naturally have a stronger faith. JWs don't really get to do that. And I think I was suspicious deep down, I knew there was all this information I couldn't see; what was God afraid of?
FTR, I have no religious faith at all. But the above is what I've observed of some Christians who have a very strong faith and can defend it. I respect that.
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trevor
Faith is a fundamental part of life. Even atheists and agnostics have faith. Faith in people, faith in themselves, faith in life, love and endeavour. We are all believers.
Some people project that belief onto unseen spirit beings. My faith no longer stretches that far. But for those that are able to make that leap of faith, so be it. I count nothing in and nothing out.
I have been accused of sitting on the fence. That's what birds do. It's a great vantage point and more flexible than making a firm decision to remain on one side of the fence, only to find it's the wrong side.
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brotherdan
If a person has doubts, can it be said that they have faith?
Faith is not only a product of religion. I believe that faith is what is needed to fill the gaps of what we do not fully know. It is the CONFIDENCE that we have in people, plans, or events. For example, you can have faith that your wife will not cheat on you. You cannot know for sure, but you can have faith that it won't happen.
Also, doubt is a sign of a true believer. For example, even John the Baptist AFTER he baptized Jesus and saw the Holy Spirit decend on Him sent messengers to Jesus (while John was in prison) and asked if Jesus was the Christ. Doubts should be expected of all believers. And it is a sign of a good thinker. If you NEVER have doubts, then I would tend to question your faith.
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trevorbv
I could never grasp the faith thing, meaning you have proof than it's a fact, you don't need faith to belive it. You don't have proof, than have a little faith.
Bertrand Russell’s words summarize pretty well my thoughts now:
"We may define ‘faith’ as the firm belief in something for which there is no evidence. Where there is evidence, no one speaks of "faith." We do not speak of faith that two and two are four or that the earth is round. We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence."
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brotherdan
We may define ‘faith’ as the firm belief in something for which there is no evidence.
That's an incorrect definition. Faith is your belief in something that you cannot demonstrate. Every person must have faith in things whether they want to admit it or not.
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trevorbv
Faith is your belief in something that you cannot demonstrate.
=the firm belief in something for which there is no evidence
We are referring here to the religious faith and not to the confidence in a person or a thing.