What is faith?

Hi guys,

Just a new thread in reference to something I said elsewhere.

This is an opportunity for the religious of us out there who want to express their opinion of faith. As I said I'm not at all religious in ANY form - that said I respect your right to worship and will never force my opinions on any of you unless I can back them up with evidence.

What I want to know is basically a description of what you consider to be faith, let us know in some way what it feels like to be so certain that there is a higher being.

If some of you think "how dare you, I will not have my faith questioned" then all respect to you but please keep in mind this isn't a "go on then, if you're so sure MAKE me believe" thread its more general interest.

I've never felt faith, I've never had a religious experience and I've never had religion influence any part of my life directly. Call me skeptical but I've just never had any cause to think otherwise. I'm a scientist through and through and believe in what I can prove.

Thanks

P.S. please, please, please can we refrain from bashing relgion and non-religion - I'm hoping for a friendly, constructive discussion not anything else.

Pretty simple. Faith is recognition that we're not alone and that we're not the only beings interested in our lives, or the lives of the other organisms around us, even in the absence of hard, scientific proof uf such entities.

reply to post by TheWalkingFox


Thanks for that insight, ok in your opinion how does this feel to be so certain? How has it positively and negatively affected your life?

My lack of faith has affected me in several ways:

Positives:

1. Allowed me to be skeptical of everything around me, my desire for proving and testing the unexplained has led me to develop my skills in a multitude of ways i.e. math, physics, computer programming.

2. I feel free from what I consider to be the restraints of religion i.e. conforming to the rules of an unseen deity. I can do what I want (providing I have respect for others) without feeling the need to confess / repent for what I've done.

3. I can live my life still unsure of certain things - don't get me wrong I crave knowledge and understanding but I also like working my butt off for it, life wouldn't be any fun if I knew everything.

Negatives:

1. I can sometimes feel alone, especially those cold nights when I'm sat up working on some theory or project until the wee hours.

2. I can sometimes feel detached from my fellow man, I have religious friends who I get on very well with - however I cannot help feeling detached from certain aspects of their lives and this negatively affects my relationship with them.

3. My constant need for knowledge and understanding of the unknown has driven me nuts!

Thanks

All I can say is that my faith comes not from books or what i am told but from facts that i have been part of or from what i have witnessed.

The main ones being instant relief from pain, through prayer. instant physical healings of joint problems that allow restrictment of movement to be overcome and words of knowledge about people who i have never met before.

there are many other ways that my faith has been confirmed as true but the above ways are the ones that confirm my faith beyond any doubt.

You may think that with all this personnel proof that i have, everything would be roses but that is not the case. I spend a lot of time asking myself and God why is my faith so difficult to understand sometimes.

Why are some people healed and not others?

Why are there so many conflicts in the world today?

Why do i suffer from strokes and have cancer now, I have been the one asking Jesus to heal others.

I do have answers to these Questions but they are not from God, just what satisfies my curiosity for the time being.

But when all said and done, i may not have all the answers but i cannot deny that God is as real to me as you are.

Hope this helps.
John.

reply to post by jon1


Hi Jon1,

Sorry to hear about your health problems, hope things get better for you.

One thing that I dislike about religion, and forgive me if this is an undersight, is that it detracts from the power of the human mind. I don't think we humans give ourselves anywhere near enough credit for what we've achieved and what we're capable of.

We have such an extraordinary ability to be powerfully good and powerfully evil, I've always thought religion hinders that because the lack of faith may make people feel inferior in some way such that a part of them is missing.

But, who am I to question something I don't think I could ever understand. I'm pretty confident that I'll never be a religious person. I have too much faith in myself and my fellow human as I believe at the end of the day it is man (or woman) with the power of his (or her) own ability that will shape the future.

If religion makes someone a good person, I'm all for it but it's disheartening to see how so much bloodshed has come from religion. But then again, greed is a human trait and I'm sure its had its fair share of blood through the ages - I guess we should be thankful for the good we have that balances the scales.

reply to post by Terric

But, who am I to question something I don't think I could ever understand. I'm pretty confident that I'll never be a religious person. I have too much faith in myself and my fellow human as I believe at the end of the day it is man (or woman) with the power of his (or her) own ability that will shape the future.

I have to agree with that statement, except to say that faith and ability can go hand in hand. Take my family for instance, OK, my son and i were not gifted with academic abilities but my son was pretty nifty with a mig welder at 12 yrs old and is a hands on person. I also am gifted that way in that i can swap an engine out of a car, build you a brick wall or fit you a new boiler in your house.
My wife and daughter though are gifted academically, My wife has a degree in theolegy and is a minister and my daughter at 25 has her own business teaching neuro linguistic programming. ( i can't even spell it ). She had a £55,000 turnover in her first year.
We each have our own abilities but for me God expands them to do other things that i am incapable of doing on my own.
I just wish he would have given me a little more in the old brain department though.

I have faith in the Lord Jeshua(Jesus) who sees us ALL the time, watches over me and my family and guides us and loves us.
I used to not believe in anything, but, trying to have a good time.
He knows everything I've ever done and he STILL loves me, because of his forgiveness.
I used to feel soooo alone. I realized most people don't really give a rat's
foot whether you're O.K. or not. Some do, but, not many I knew! They superficially gave me their friendship.

Now, I have a wonderful husband and near-perfect children!
I'm now strong enough to be a parent and provide for others.

Originally posted by Terric
What I want to know is basically a description of what you consider to be faith,

Do you drive? When you get in your car and you find yourself rolling along pretty quick, suddenly coming to a stoplight. If you drive like most people do or are taught to do. Your right foot comes off the accelerator and onto the brake.

As a result of faith, you believe that the thing is gonna stop. You don't question every time you hit the brakes, you just know.

Probably not the best analogy but it's the closest I can come up with at the moment.

Originally posted by Terric
let us know in some way what it feels like to be so certain that there is a higher being.

Do you know you have parents? That's what it feels like.

I'm no longer a part of the family I once was. To prove and try that, I've had nearly every fiery dart and device come against me you can imagine. The result has been nothing but an increase in strength.

Originally posted by Terric
If some of you think "how dare you, I will not have my faith questioned" then all respect to you but please keep in mind this isn't a "go on then, if you're so sure MAKE me believe" thread its more general interest.

If something can't be questioned, it's not worth having. Probably the first thing then one would do is start questioning GOD's character and contradictions they see in the bible, as a result of their own divinely inspired blindness. Unless a man is born again he is an enemy of GOD and will not see his things to a certain degree, his sin separates him from GOD.

Originally posted by Terric
I've never felt faith

You never will experience true faith unless GOD gives it to you. Every man is at his mercy and he gives it to who he will.

If you really want to know him and are willing at ANY COST to know him. Seek him while he may be found.

If a man loves his life he'll lose it.

Originally posted by Terric
Call me skeptical but I've just never had any cause to think otherwise.

If and or when he gives you a cause, you will know it.