Essay on The Nature of Faith

Faith in Christ has given me a unique life filled with optimism and purpose. From a young age, I have been raised in a home where I was taught about the love of Christ. Not only at home did I learn about Christ, but at school and at church. Thus, my life has been filled with experiences that have amplified my faith. For example, when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, I found that my relationship with Christ grew. Through all of the difficult circumstances that I have faced, faith in Christ has given me the encouragement that I need to persevere through any situation. Additionally, faith has influenced my decision making, which is why I strive to make all my decisions and live my life according to faith-based principles. This means

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 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.

One argues that today we have a crisis of belief, not a crisis of faith. To explain this crisis, I will briefly examine the relationship between faith and belief, explain why cultural shift is important to note when trying to understand religious issues, go into detail on the three hallmarks of each of the two cultures by showing how they compare to each other, show how Tillich’s notion of correlation deals with this idea of culture and a crisis of belief, and explain how Marsh’s notion of a “theology of negotiation” (33) fits with Lonergan’s definition and allows him to argue that film can help us raise theological questions.

Man’s experiences come and go; they are finite. But man is able to understand infinite things and comprehend the meaning of the infinite. Therefore, he is able to understand faith.

What is faith? Scripture tells us in Hebrews 11:1 that “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (NIV) Faith means trusting that various situations will provide results best suited to help us in some way during our life. I’m sure others may have a different opinion; however, throughout my life, that has been the most accurate description.

This section provides us with two selections from the essays of William K. Clifford (1845-1879) and William James (1842-1910). Clifford's essay, The Ethics of Belief, is based on the concept of evidentialism. This concept 'holds that we should not accept any statement as true unless we have good evidence to support its truth'; (Voices of Wisdom, 346). James wrote his essay, The Will to Believe, as a response to Clifford's essay where he endorsed a philosophy called pragmatism.

a) Christians believe many different things about God’s nature; due to the huge spectrum of Christians that there are. However, as a general rule they perceive God as being one of the following four things:

The Dynamics of Faith is an in-depth look at what faith is from a theological perspective. Tillich seems to be replying to all of the writers we have read thus far and placing their arguments within the context of faith. Nowhere is this more apparent than on page 24, in his discussion of community. He rightly acknowledges that faith is usually seen in its sociologic setting. He then proceeds to sort out the different claims, saying that

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

Chapter 2 discusses faith as visualization of, and belief in attainment of desire. It goes on to discuss faith as another word for "Absolute Confidence." When a person has faith in his beliefs then one can say that half of the battle to acquire success is won. Therefore, when faith is combined with the vibration of thought then the subconscious mind picks up the vibration, translates it into spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to infinite intelligence. Knowing how to develop faith is a method by which it does not already exist is very difficult to describe. Faith is a state of mind, which may be developed at, will after the thirteen principles, which can be mastered in this book.

What is faith? Faith is something different to everyone. If you asked a hundred different people, it is possible that you would get many diverse answers. Religious faith and non-religious faith are two very distinct terms. Faith holds an extremely complex meaning when discussing it in the context of religion. Faith is a belief. That holds true to every religious and non-religious person. Every faith involves a decision. It is not about what we claim to believe, but what we actually do believe, that is true faith. Throughout this paper, I am going to discuss Christian faith, how it pertains to daily life and Christianity as a whole. I also intend to delve into George W. Forell's discussion of Christian faith and analyze and

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

Since the dawn of mankind religion has been one of the most significant elements of a society’s social and cultural beliefs and actions. However, this trend has declined due to the general increase in knowledge regarding our the natural sciences. Where we had previously attributed something that we didn’t understand to the working of a higher power, is now replaced by a simple explanation offered by natural sciences. While advocates of Religion may question Natural Sciences by stating that they are based on assumptions, it is important to note the Natural Sciences are based on theories and principles which can be proven using mathematical equations and formulas. Faith however contrasts from the easily visible feasibility of data

The production of knowledge is a process that occurs through a sequence of related actions, these series of actions allows for the Ways of Knowing to interact in a way that works to develop the knowledge that is being produced. From the prescribed title we can claim that while the Ways of Knowing may appear to be acting in isolation when forming knowledge, they are actually working in a variety of different ways in the construction and formation. In some cases, the Ways of Knowing are interacting so closely together that it is often hard to differentiate between them, for example emotion and reason, or imagination and memory. Given the right circumstances faith can be isolated to a point where it can be acting by itself to produce knowledge. However, this knowledge is often deemed as unreliable, due to faith being seen as one of the more “subjective” ways of knowing. This inability to differentiate the ways of knowing from each other during the production of knowledge, raises the questions “Can any knowledge in any Area of Knowledge be produced by a single Way of Knowing?” and “Is it possible to distinguish between Ways of Knowing if they are working together?”. While reason is used in almost all production of knowledge, it is the other Ways of Knowing used that can determine whether the knowledge is reliable or not, as some Ways of Knowing are more subjective than others. This essay will attempt to