Arguments For Religious Faith

In a world that is so unpredictable, sometimes there is nothing else that a person can do to make a situation better besides hoping for a good outcome. Hope can have a big impact on the way people view the world, and can potentially save lives. Hope is communicated in many ways, including a variety of art forms, such as literature. Some examples of literature that show how powerful having hope can be are the novel Soledad Brother by George Jackson, the short story Salvation by Langston Hughes, the short story Superheroes, Just for Each Other by Peter S. Goodman and the article Man Needs Hope to Live, by Christopher Kaczor. These literary works show that even the smallest bit of hope can help a person make wiser decisions regarding his or her future, but having no hope for the future leads people to make choices that are ethically wrong.

2. Instillation of faith-hope, becomes: "Being authentically present, and enabling and sustaining the deep belief system and subjective life world of self and one-being-cared- for" (p. 468).

Many people would agree that without faith, the world would be in chaos. The book Christian Foundation by Kathleen Fischer and Thomas Hart gives an interpretation on faith in our time. Many people would question the definition of faith. Faith is a gift, which is given by God to have trust in him and belief in him. This book is a great entry in anyone's life that has speculation on his or her own faith. The book has many ways into understanding ones own religion. It discusses the Bible, Jesus, Church, God's existence and Images of God. All of these chapters helped me get a better interpretation of what my religion entailed.

Defining hope can be equivocal and yet it is commonly associated with a particular experience. Hope reflects an individuals moral values, it is required for human survival; hope is often needed when there is a sense of uncertainty for the future (Tanis & DiNapoli, 2008). In healthcare, hope is described as one of the most important concepts associated with spirituality; without it everything else seems to loose its value. Therefore, hope instigates positive adjustment during the dynamic process of recovery (Tutton, Seers, & Langstaff, 2009).

James Fowler’s theory of faith development includes six stages: primal faith, intuitive-projective faith, mythic-literal faith, synthetic-conventional faith, individuative-reflective faith, conjunctive faith, and universalizing faith (Hutchison,

Hope and Faith ties into a lot of things, courage, fate, and ultimately religion. It can one way someone can preserve themselves. But once those values disappear, a character may start to lose their

Hope is surprisingly difficult to define and may be expressed in many ways. Overall, I feel that a good definition for hope would be that it is an optimistic and expectant desire that emerges from a stressor. It is a coping mechanism deeply rooted in motivation. It is the opposite of despair and fear as well as the influence that keeps us from succumbing to them. Hope can be identified as a means of perseverance as well as perseverance itself. Hope is the ability to detect even the smallest amount of light in the darkest of places.

When discussing faith is it important to look at the word closely and understand its meaning. The basic definition of faith is “confidence or trust in a person; and belief that is not based on proof” (Random House… 693). Whether someone puts their faith in a person or a religious being, faith can be simplified as having

Faith, defined as a strong belief in something which cannot be proven, has been argued over countless generations. Still, even without proof, individuals worldwide hold true to their faith each day. After studying faith and religion in texts written by scholars with varying backgrounds, it is easy to see faith is something which is widely disputed. Comparison of Sigmund Freud’s The Future of an Illusion and Paul Tillich’s Dynamics of Faith, fully displays the discrepancies in points of view on the function of faith, as well as the necessity of faith, in society; while the comparison of Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Karl Marx’s “on the Future of Religion,” demonstrate both similarities and differences

Faith is accepting what you are taught or told without trying to prove or disprove it, rather than discovering it through experience. Those who believe in God have faith. It has not been proven that God exists; similarly, it has not been proven that humans are kind, honest, and good by nature. Young Goodman Brown is a character in "Young Goodman Brown," who leaves his known world in Salem village and travels an unknown road in a dark forest in the middle of the night, a common motif in literature better known as the Hero's journey, and is faced with obstacles. He must decide if he will carry his journey out till the end, or turn back and not learn the truth about himself and other

Faith and reason can be viewed as opposites. Faith is an element of belief, something an individual does not necessarily require a reason for accepting without reason. For example, an individual’s reason for believing in God may not seem too rational when they are trying to explain them. They may not even stand up to criticism. On the other hand, reason is constructed as a formula. Faith is basically something we believe in, like something we learn in church. Reason is something we learn in school, such as a math formula.

Finally, the third section will dwell on the controversial topic of faith, and human’s need for belief. Religion has done an excellent job in manipulating human’s need for trust. Therefore, the combination of these three sections should compel the reader to better understand why such a false belief, such as religion has had such success throughout history.

Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties

You can not have religion without faith. George W. Forell states that "faith is universal," (Forell 1). By this Forell is saying that everyone has some sort of belief, they believe in something or somebody. Forell is not limiting this belief to God, or gods for that matter, he simply means that all humans believe in something- money, or education, or the general goodness of mankind. Forell goes on to also describe Christian faith; "Classical Protestantism asserts that God wants fellowship with man and that if we trust completely in Jesus Christ and his work we will have communion with God. This complete and utter trust in Jesus Christ is faith," (Forell 19). I tend to side with George W. Forell and his explanation of Christian faith.

Faith and reason were two modes of belief that dominated the history of Western Civilization. Both faith and reason were popularized as tools to understand the universe in Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian eras. By conflicting with each other, these two modes of belief sparked a lot of controversy. Reason or rationality is belief based on concrete evidence and logic. The development of one’s reason relies heavily on observation and questioning. Greco-Roman philosophers believed in the power of the human mind to understand the world. So in order to find ultimate truth, Greco-Roman philosophers dedicated their lives to perfecting their reasoning skills and encouraged those around them to do the same. Contradictory to reason, faith is the