FAITH is another word for OPINION (page 2)

cofty

Abba - you have just illustrated how faith is nothing more than an opinion.

Right now, Im in a bad position financially and career-wise. I have faith that things will turn out for the best bc Im working towards it. Plus-- this is the FIRST time in my life that things aren't working out for me as I would've lliked. So my faith that things will improve is a matter of opinion? Using the word faith here signifies a fervent hope and even a measure of desperation. I believe strongly bc otherwise I'd give up from the sheer depression!

stuckinarut2

Hey phizzy, great quote!

"faith is beleiving what you know aint so!"

Terry

abbasgreta says:

That's your opinion! I believe it can and it is because it alone is 'God-breathed'.

That's my opinion! We shall just have to stick to our own opinions - and agree to disagree.

I certainly find no profit in arguing about it.

I'd simply point out one minor point you might think is worth considering.

Before Martin Luther, for one thousand five hundred years, the Church (i.e. Catholic) held sway and the Bible was worded in Latin.

There were SEVENTY-THREE god-breathed books in the Bible.

Martin Luther came along and suddenly there were 66 books for a net loss of 7 god-breathed books.

If Luther had had his way completely we'd have lost a few more.

Martin Luther needed to replace the AUTHORITY of an infallible magisterium. He did so by declaring Christians only needed the

Bible alone (sola scriptura) and Holy spirit to know God's will.

So Luther believed as you believe.

History from that time until this has had ample time to demonstrate whether or not Luther's theory of sola scriptura had merit.

Whereas the Catholic church's magesterium and infallibility had ONE TRUE MESSAGE (in their opinion)

Christianity now has 40,000 denominations with DIFFERING "true teachings" (in their opinion.)

You see--there is a problem to having god-breathed books, isn't there?

Christianity comes down to--what?

OPINION about what it is those god-breathed books REALLY MEAN!

exwhyzee

Losingit: Right now, Im in a bad position financially and career-wise. I have faith that things will turn out for the best bc Im working towards it. Plus-- this is the FIRST time in my life that things aren't working out for me as I would've lliked. So my faith that things will improve is a matter of opinion? Using the word faith here signifies a fervent hope and even a measure of desperation. I believe strongly bc otherwise I'd give up from the sheer depression!

Really sorry that things aren't going well at the moment....and who of us hasn't been throught that? It's especially difficult the first few times it happens. After that you aren't so shocked or overwhelmed by the feelings that come go along with trying times.

I think what you are talking about might be hope and trust, rather than faith. You know, based on your past experiences and the experiences of those around you ,that although we all go through hard times, most of the time, most things go well for most people. Because you know this from your own experience, your hope or trust is based on reality and it won't just let you sit back and blindly wait for things to turn around. No magical thinking for you...you'll take action and you won't quit until things are on track again. To me, faith is sort of a last resort when you have no evidence to go on and have given up on looking for it but need to feel better about having done so.

TTATTelder

As a side point, where I am from in my corner of the U.S, when people say "So and so is a man of faith or a women of faith" they typically are saying that he or she is a religious person with morals or ethics. It is their way of saying that the person is a good/decent individual.

Personally I think saying "So and so is a person of true character or ethics" would carry more weight.

In many circles religious people are assumed to be more ethical because the person supposedly answers to a prescribed moral code.

We on this forum typically know that a person can be far more ethical as a non-religious person, but that is not necessarily the norm.

I think people assume (especially religious people) that if they dont know what your "moral code" is then you either must not have one (heathen) or have one that is inferior. This is ignorance at its best of course, but there are a lot of ignorant people out there.

Interesting post Terry.

I get what you're saying about "Person of Opinion" in actuality meaning more than "Person of Faith" because at least opinions are real. When I read "Person of Opinion", though, I hear "Opinionated" and my feeble little brain can't get past it. LOL. Oh well maybe I'm just tired. Night Night.

-TE

abbasgreta

Cofty: lol - thing is, however you want to define what it is I claim to possess, its giving me more and more happiness and stability. Don't know what else to say. I wish the same for you, and every other poster regardless of how you might get there.

galaxie

I'm sure there are SOME people who feel happy and stable that AL QUAEDA ARE LOOKING AFTER THEM!!.

Fernando

Religionist steals faith, and then hides its crime by redefining faith as (religious) belief.

OnTheWayOut

I know you said you weren't looking for our different definitions of faith but the subject automatically lends itself to our need to express just that in order to comment. The problem with faith is that the religious/spiritual people apply the nonreligious definition. I have faith in my best friend or brother in that I trust them to come through for me. I am faithful to my spouse in that I am loyal. That doesn't work for belief in a deity. Faith there means pretending to know what you do not know. To strengthen such claims, believers have attached trust and loyalty to such pretending.

I know many don't think they are I pretending. Most here used to be JW so we know you can actually believe what you don't know to be true and forget that it started with pretending.

FAITH is another word for OPINION