Faith Information

Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, concept or thing.^[1][2] The English word is thought to date from 1200–50, from the Latin fidem or fidēs, meaning trust, derived from the verb fīdere, to trust.^[1]

The term is employed in a religious or theological context to refer to a confident belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. It may be used to refer to a particular religious tradition or to religion in general.

Since faith implies a trusting reliance upon future events or outcomes, it is often taken by its detractors, notably agnostics or atheists, as inevitably synonymous with a belief "not resting on logical proof or material evidence."^[3][4]

Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true,^[5] belief in and assent to the truth of what is declared by another, based on his or her supposed authority and truthfulness.^[6] Informal usage can be quite broad, and the word is often used as a mere substitute for trust or belief'.

Epistemological validity of faith

There exists a wide spectrum of opinion with respect to the epistemological validity of faith. On one extreme is logical positivism, which denies the validity of any beliefs held by faith; on the other extreme is fideism, which holds that true belief can only arise from faith, because reason and evidence cannot lead to truth. Some foundationalists, such as St. Augustine of Hippo and Alvin Plantinga, hold that all of our beliefs rest ultimately on beliefs accepted by faith. Others, such as C.S. Lewis, hold that faith is merely the virtue by which we hold to our reasoned ideas, despite moods to the contrary.^[7]

William James was thinking that the varieties of religious experiences should be sought by psychologists, because they represent the closest thing to a microscope of the mind—that is, they show us in drastically enlarged form the normal processes of things. For a useful interpretation of human reality, to share faith experience he said that we must each make certain "over-beliefs" in things which, while they cannot be proven on the basis of experience, help us to live fuller and better lives.

Fideism and Pistisism

Fideism is not a synonym for "religious belief", but describes a particular philosophical proposition in regard to the relationship between faith's appropriate jurisdiction at arriving at truths, contrasted against reasons. It states that faith is needed to determine some philosophical and religious truths, and it questions the ability of reason to arrive at all truth. The word and concept had its origin in the mid- to late-19th century by way of Roman Catholic thought, in a movement called Traditionalism. The Roman Catholic Magisterium has, however, repeatedly condemned fideism.^[8]

Faith in world religions

Bahá'í Faith

In the Bahá'í Faith, faith is ultimately the acceptance of the divine authority of the Manifestations of God. In the religion's view, faith and knowledge are both required for spiritual growth. Faith involves more than outward obedience to this authority, but also must be based on a deep personal understanding of religious teachings.^[9]

By faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds.^[10]

Buddhism

Faith (Pali: Saddhā, Sanskrit: Śraddhā) is an important constituent element of the teachings of the Buddha—both in the Theravada tradition as in the Mahayana. Faith in Buddhism derives from the pali word saddhā, which often refers to a sense of conviction. The saddhā is often described as:

• a conviction that something is
• a determination to accomplish one's goals
• a sense of joy deriving from the other two

While faith in Buddhism does not imply "blind faith", Buddhist faith (as advocated by the Buddha in various scriptures, or sutras) nevertheless requires a degree of faith and belief primarily in the spiritual attainment of the Buddha. Faith in Buddhism centers on the understanding that the Buddha is an Awakened being, on his superior role as teacher, in the truth of his Dharma (spiritual Doctrine), and in his Sangha (community of spiritually developed followers). Faith in Buddhism is better classified or defined as a Confidence in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and is intended to lead to the goal of Awakening (bodhi) and Nirvana. Volitionally, faith implies a resolute and courageous act of will. It combines the steadfast resolution that one will do a thing with the self-confidence that one can do it.^[11]

As a counter to any form of "blind faith", the Buddha taught the Kalama Sutra, exhorting his disciples to investigate any teaching and to live by what is learnt and accepted, rather than believing something outright.

Ethical Culture

Ethical Culture is a humanist religion that centers on living an ethical life. With its emphasis on human worth and dignity, it asks that all actions elicit the best in others in order to bring out the best in the self. The faith is in the interrelatedness of all people and in an improvable future in this world.

Sikh

Sikhism,^[12] founded in 15th-century Punjab on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and ten successive Sikh Gurus (the last one being the sacred text Guru Granth Sahib), is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world.^[13] This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharma. Sikhism originated from the word Sikh, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit root śiṣya meaning "disciple" or "learner", or śikṣa meaning "instruction".^[14][15]

Philosophy

The core philosophy of the Sikh religion can be understood in the beginning hymn of the holy Guru Granth Sahib

Guru Nanak, the founder of the faith, summed up the basis of Sikh lifestyle in three requirements: Naam Japo, Kirat Karni and Wand kay Shako, which means meditate on the holy name (Waheguru), work diligently and honestly and share one's fruits.^[17]

Christianity

Faith in Christianity is based in and on the work and teaching of Jesus Christ.^[18] In this way Christianity declares not to be distinguished by its faith, but by the object of its faith. Faith is an act of trust or reliance. Rather than being passive, faith leads to an active life of obedience to the one being trusted. It sees the mystery of God and his grace and seeks to know and become obedient to God. To Christians faith is not static but causes one to learn more of God and grow; it has its origin in God.^[19] In Christianity faith causes change as it seeks a greater understanding of God. Faith is not fideism or simple obedience to a set of rules or statements.^[20] Before the Christian has faith, he must understand in whom and in what he has faith. Without understanding, there cannot be true faith and that understanding is built on the foundation of the community of believers, the scriptures and traditions and on the personal experiences of the believer.^[21] In English translations of the New Testament, the word faith generally corresponds to the Greek noun πίστις (pistis) or the Greek verb πιστεύω (pisteuo), meaning "to trust, to have confidence, faithfulness, to be reliable, to assure".^[22]

Hinduism

In Hinduism, Śraddhā is the word that is synonymous with faith. It means unshaken belief and purity of thought. Faith is recognized as a virtue throughout all schools of Hinduism, although there are various interpretations of the role of faith in one's daily life, its foundation, and what rests upon it. Some schools more strongly emphasize reason and direct personal knowledge, while other schools of thought more strongly emphasize religious devotion. In chapter 17 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna mentions the three gunas of faith: Faith rooted in sattva, faith rooted in rajas, and faith rooted in tamas. Those with sattvic faith are said to worship the devas, those with rajasic faith are said to worship demons, and those with tamasic faith are said to worship ghosts and spirits.

Swami Tripurari states:

Faith for good reason arises out of the mystery that underlies the very structure and nature of reality, a mystery that in its entirety will never be entirely demystified despite what those who have placed reason on their altar might like us to believe. The mystery of life that gives rise to faith as a supra-rational means of unlocking life's mystery—one that reason does not hold the key to—suggests that faith is fundamentally rational in that it is a logical response to the mysterious.^[23]

Islam

Faith in Islam is called Iman. It is a complete submission to the will of Allah which includes belief, profession, and the body's performance of deeds consistent with the commission as vicegerent on Earth, all according to Allah's will.

Iman has two aspects:

• Recognizing and affirming that there is one Creator of the universe and only to this Creator is worship due. According to Islamic thought, this comes naturally because faith is an instinct of the human soul. This instinct is then trained via parents or guardians into specific religious or spiritual paths. Likewise, the instinct may not be guided at all.

• Willingness and commitment to submitting that Allah exists, and to His prescriptions for living in accordance with vicegerency. The Qur'an (Koran) is the dictation of Allah's prescriptions through Prophet Muhammad and is believed to have updated and completed previous revelations Allah sent through earlier prophets.

In the Qur'an, God (Allah in Arabic), states (2:62): "Surely, those who believe, those who are Muslims, Jewish, the Christians, and the Sabians; anyone who (1) believes in GOD, and (2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve."^[24]

Judaism

Although Judaism does recognize the positive value of Emunah (faith/belief) and the negative status of the Apikorus (heretic), faith is not as stressed or as central as it is in other religions, e.g. Christianity. It is a necessary means for being a practicing religious Jew, but the ends is more about practice than faith itself.

The specific tenets that compose required belief and their application to the times have been disputed throughout Jewish history. Today many, but not all, Orthodox Jews have accepted Maimonides' Thirteen Principles of Belief.^[25] For a wide history of this dispute see: Shapira, Marc: The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides' Thirteen Principles Reappraised (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization (Series).)

A traditional example of faith as seen in the Jewish annals is found in the person of Abraham. On a number of occasions, Abraham both accepts statements from God that seem impossible and offers obedient actions in response to direction from God to do things that seem implausible (see Genesis 12-15).

In the Jewish scriptures it refers to how God acts toward his people and how they are to respond to him, it is rooted in the covenant established in the Torah, notable^[26] Deuteronomy 7:9 (New American Standard Bible)^[27]

"Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, (the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments"

Very rarely does it relate to any teaching that must be believed.^[26]

Criticisms of faith

Rationalists criticize religious faith arguing its irrationality, and see faith as ignorance of reality: a strong belief in something with no evidence and sometimes a strong belief in something even with evidence against it. Bertrand Russell noted, "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."^[28]

Many Jews, Christians and Muslims claim that there is adequate historical evidence of their God's existence and interaction with humans. As such, they may believe that there is no need for "faith" in God in the sense of belief against or despite evidence; rather, they hold that evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that their God probably exists or certainly exists.

Faith as religious belief, has been advanced as being desirable, for example for emotional reasons or to regulate society, and this can be seen as "positive" when it has "benign" effects. However, rationalists may become alarmed that faithful activists, perhaps with extreme beliefs, might not be amenable to argument or to negotiation over their credulous behavior.

In the rationalist view, belief should be restricted to what is directly supportable by logic or scientific evidence.^[29] Robert Todd Carroll, an advocate of atheism, argues that the word "faith" is usually used to refer to belief in a proposition that is not supported by a perceived majority of evidence. Since many beliefs are in propositions that are supported by a perceived majority of evidence, the claim that all beliefs/knowledge are based on faith is a misconception "or perhaps it is an intentional attempt at disinformation and obscurantism" made by religious apologists:

There seems to be something profoundly deceptive and misleading about lumping together as acts of faith such things as belief in the Virgin birth and belief in the existence of an external world or in the principle of contradiction. Such a view trivializes religious faith by putting all non-empirical claims in the same category as religious faith. In fact, religious faith should be put in the same category as belief in superstitions, fairy tales, and delusions of all varieties.^[30] —Robert T. Carroll

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins contends that faith is merely belief without evidence; a process of active non-thinking. He states that it is a practice which only degrades our understanding of the natural world by allowing anyone to make a claim about reality that is based solely off of their personal thoughts, and possibly distorted perceptions, that does not require testing against nature, has no ability to make reliable and consistent predictions, and is not subject to peer review.^[31]

See also

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith
2. ^ http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=confidence
3. ^ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/faith
4. ^ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith
5. ^ Dictionary.com. Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith (accessed: April 20, 2009)
6. ^ Dictionary.com. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith (accessed: April 20, 2009)
7. ^ Lewis, C.S. (2001). Mere Christianity: a revised and amplified edition, with a new introduction, of the three books, Broadcast talks, Christian behaviour, and Beyond personality. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 0-06-065292-6.
8. ^ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fideism/
9. ^ Smith, P. (1999). A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications. p. 155. ISBN 1851681841.
10. ^ Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 383
11. ^ The Way of Wisdom The Five Spiritual Faculties by Edward Conze, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/conze/wheel065.html
12. ^ pronounced /ˈsiːkɨzəm/ ( listen) or /ˈsɪkɨzəm/ ( listen); Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖੀ, sikkhī, IPA: [ˈsɪkːʰiː]( listen)
13. ^ Adherents.com. "Religions by adherents" (PHP). http://adherents.com/misc/rel_by_adh_CSM.html. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
14. ^ Singh, Khushwant (2006). The Illustrated History of the Sikhs. India: Oxford University Press. p. 15. ISBN 0-19-567747-1.
15. ^ (Punjabi)Nabha, Kahan. Singh (1930) (in Punjabi). Gur Shabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh/ਗੁਰ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਰਤਨਾਕਰ ਮਹਾਨ ਕੋਸ਼. p. 720. http://www.ik13.com/online_library.htm#mahankosh. Retrieved 2006-05-29.
16. ^ "Sikhism – MSN Encarta". http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566784/Sikhism.html. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
17. ^ "Concepts of Seva and Simran". http://www.sikhpoint.com/religion/philosophyofsikhism/default.php. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
18. ^ Benedict, Benedict X.V.I. (2004). Introduction to Christianity. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. p. 203. ISBN 9781586170295. http://books.google.com/books?id=VwwtInC5fwAC&pg=a#PPA203,M1. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
19. ^ Wuerl, By Donald W. (2004). The Teaching of Christ: A Catholic Catechism for Adults, Edition: 5, revised. Huntingdon, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Pub. Division. p. 238. ISBN 1592760945. http://books.google.com/books?id=IzqDiPALzKEC&pg=PA238&dq=a#PPA237,M1. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
20. ^ Migliore, Daniel L. 2004. Faith seeking understanding: an introduction to Christian theology. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans. pp. 3-8.
21. ^ Inbody, Tyron. 2005. The faith of the Christian church: an introduction to theology. Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. pp. 1-10
22. ^ Thomas, Robert L.; Editor, General (1981). New American standard exhaustive concordance of the Bible:. Nashville, Tenn.: A.J. Holman. pp. 1674–75. ISBN 0879811978.
23. ^ Tripurari, Swami, On Faith and Reason, The Harmonist, May 27, 2009.
24. ^ Islam (Submission). Your best source for Islam on the Internet. Happiness is submission to God.-Islam-Submission-Introduction,definition, discussion, debate, laws, justice, hum...
25. ^ The 13 Principles and the Resurrection of the Dead from The Wolf Shall Lie With the Lamb, Rabbi Shmuel Boteach (Oxford University)
26. ^ ^{a b} Brueggemann, Walter (2002). Reverberations of faith: a theological handbook of Old Testament themes. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 76–78. ISBN 0664222315. http://books.google.com/?id=dBJQ71RIpdMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=faith+in+the+old+testament.
27. ^ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%207:9;&version=49;
28. ^ Russell, Bertrand. "Will Religious Faith Cure Our Troubles?". Human Society in Ethics and Politics. Ch 7. Pt 2. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
29. ^ Harris, Sam (2006). The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason. The Free Press. ISBN 978-0-7432-6809-7.
30. ^ Carroll, Robert T. (2006). faith (religious). The Skeptic's Dictionary. (accessed February 20, 2007).
31. ^ Dawkins, Richard (January/February 1997). "Is Science a Religion?". American Humanist Association. http://www.thehumanist.org/humanist/articles/dawkins.html. Retrieved 2008-03-15.

Further reading

• Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, W. W. Norton (2004), hardcover, 336 pages, ISBN 0-393-03515-8
• Hein, David. "Faith and Doubt in Rose Macaulay's The Towers of Trebizond." Anglican Theological Review Winter2006, Vol. 88 Issue 1, p47-68.
• Stephen Palmquist, "Faith as Kant's Key to the Justification of Transcendental Reflection", The Heythrop Journal 25:4 (October 1984), pp. 442–455. Reprinted as Chapter V in Stephen Palmquist, Kant's System of Perspectives (Lanham: University Press of America, 1993).
• D. Mark Parks, "Faith/Faithfulness" Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Eds. Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England. Nashville: Holman Publishers, 2003.
• Marbaniang, Domenic, Explorations of Faith. 2009.
• Poetry & Spirituality
• On Faith and Reason by Swami Tripurari

Classic reflections on the nature of faith

• Martin Buber, I and Thou
• Paul Tillich, The Dynamics of Faith

The Reformation view of faith

• John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion
• R.C. Sproul, Faith Alone

External links

• Patheos - unaffiliated educational resource striving to be the premier online destination to engage in global dialogue about religion and spirituality
• Epistemology of the religion, article from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy by Peter Forrest
• Epistemics of Divine Reality, studies in rationalism, empiricism, and fideism
• Martin Luther's Definition of Faith
• John Calvin on Justification by Faith from The Institutes of the Christian Religion
• What is Faith?
• Charles Spurgeon on the Warrant of Faith
• B.B. Warfield on Justification By Faith
• The Skeptic's Dictionary entry on Faith
• Rational Christian Faith Versus Reason
• Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Faith
• Faith in Judaism chabad.org
• Faith from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
• Pew Research Center Reports on Religion
• Faith in public life
• Faith News & Religion | Times Online Articles and comment about faith issues and religion from The Times
• WFN | World Faith News Worldwide

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