Faith.

[Oncedeceived]

My mistake...I thought you were saying that faith is trust.

What is faith then?

(Hebrews 11:1)
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

 

[SeraphimSarov]

(Hebrews 11:1)
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Standard issue answer. Unpack that for us, please.

 

[Ana the Ist]

(Hebrews 11:1)
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

So it's belief without evidence?

 

[Soyeong]

When? To whom?

In the past, to His people.

 

[SeraphimSarov]

In the past, to His people.

When in the past? How do you know? Who were these people? Why were they his people and not others? Why not all people?

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

"Faith ... is the art of holding on to what your Reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods" - CS Lewis

Once you accept religion, faith is holding true to it even in moments when you doubt or feel insecure or things are going awry. It is not accepting something without evidence, it is staying with it through thick and thin, as you know you accepted it already. Hence the derivitive faithful, as in faithful spouse or dog.
This is very difficult to do however, which is why we need help from God, as humans are fickle creatures.

 

[Hammster]

From God.

Now that's an answer to the OP.

 

[cloudyday2]

Can a Christian exchange his faith for something more practical like a bowl of beans?

 

[Oncedeceived]

Standard issue answer. Unpack that for us, please.

Yes, it is the standard answer because it IS the answer.

 

[Oncedeceived]

Now that's an answer to the OP.

Everything comes from God in a Christian's life.

 

[Oncedeceived]

So it's belief without evidence?

Not in the least.

 

[Hammster]

Everything comes from God in a Christian's life.

Where does faith come from for the non-believer?

 

[Tree of Life]

The question is simple. Why do Christians have faith?

Could you clarify what you mean by "faith"? Just a few sentences should do.

 

[SeraphimSarov]

Could you clarify what you mean by "faith"? Just a few sentences should do.

You're a pastor, aren't you? Why are you asking me what faith means? Christians claim to have it, so define it however you like for the purposes of this conversation.

 

[SeraphimSarov]

"Faith ... is the art of holding on to what your Reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods" - CS Lewis

Once you accept religion, faith is holding true to it even in moments when you doubt or feel insecure or things are going awry. It is not accepting something without evidence, it is staying with it through thick and thin, as you know you accepted it already. Hence the derivitive faithful, as in faithful spouse or dog.
This is very difficult to do however, which is why we need help from God, as humans are fickle creatures.

What is reasonable about faith? Why should you continue to "hold true" when conditions warrant possibly altering your views? Once an individual has accepted something, how is it a good thing that this acceptance remain static?

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

What is reasonable about faith? Why should you continue to "hold true" when conditions warrant possibly altering your views? Once an individual has accepted something, how is it a good thing that this acceptance remain static?

If conditions warrant changing it, then do so. Faith is holding to an assertion you believe in spite of doubts you might occasionally have, not against all evidence to the contrary. But every now and then, even without evidence, people sometimes doubt themselves, from cherished doctrines down to did I close the front door. We don't change our ideas or beliefs every day based on a whim for that way lies madness.

The problem here as the idea that some atheists have that there is mounds of evidence against Christianity, when actually it is very little. Hence, conditions seldom if ever, would warrant much change once you have had mature and reasonable instruction in Christianity. You can just stay faithful and follow your Shepherd home.

 

[Look Up]

What is reasonable about faith? Why should you continue to "hold true" when conditions warrant possibly altering your views? Once an individual has accepted something, how is it a good thing that this acceptance remain static?

I think Tree of Life is right to ask what you mean by "faith." Among possibilities for example one may propose something like "An extrapolation from the known or from evidence," though probably that needs refining or expanding. Thus I believe the back side of the wall exists although at the moment I have do not know it does. I have, shall we say, some evidence that the back side of the wall exists, but I do not know that it does, rather I believe it does. Or perhaps closer to our arena, I do not know that my job will exist in three months, but I make plans as if it were because I believe it will be. And my faith that it will be is an extrapolation from the evidence.

In other words also, the objects of faith may need delimiting for purposes of the conversation(s). Christians for example may differ regarding what God is like in regards to human suffering. Or extrapolations from evidence to doctrine may fall in the arenas of fulfilled prophecy or evidence suggesting claims of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

To be fair, surely you will also want to suggest evidence for why you believe there is no God (since you claim to be an atheist in your profile), why you extrapolate from the evidence that you have to the faith that God (which needs defining) does not exist or why no god exists.

The above post of Quid est Veritas? to which you respond as above here of course suggests rather more to the issue of faith, including doubt, faithfulness, and a moral dimension to faith or to faith in some objects like God or the faithfulness of a spouse. I suspect C.S. Lewis uses the word "Reason" in a way that overlaps with my word "evidence," though if logic comprises its own kind of extrapolation from (for example) empirical evidence, surely it must be distinguished from faith.

And logic and faith are not necessarily mutually exclusive or at odds. I may infer the dish is clean because I washed it, but also believe it has no residual harmful microbes to harm my children as they eat from the dish, which belief may be true.

 

[Skala]

How do you know that? If you know, how is it faith?

I disagree with the answer my fellow Christian gave.

For starters, the Bible asserts that all people know God exists. So it cannot be said "we have faith because we know He exists", because then all people would have faith.

Secondly, when we speak of "faith" we need to define what we mean. When the Bible speaks of "believing in Jesus", it isn't talking about a blind faith. It is speaking of trust. We believe in Jesus the way a skydiver believes in a parachute. In other words, belief in Jesus is trust, not just intellectual assent that he existed and walked around on planet Earth.

As for the other kind of "faith", ie, faith that God exists, the Christian doesn't have any more evidence than the atheist (unless you want to talk about personal experiences which I guess are viable). Instead, the Christian simply thinks the Bible's argument is sufficient:

There is a creation, therefore, there is a Creator.

That's the argument the Apostle Paul is making in Romans:

Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

In other words, we know God exists because we can see the result of His existence, namely, the creation itself.

Christians simply find this argument to be sufficient for God's existence. And atheists don't. The thing is, sometimes atheists can never be convinced. I believe Dawkins even said that even if he saw evidence of God's existence, he wouldn't worship him. There's entire threads of atheists nodding in agreement on the atheism subreddit (r/atheism)

So you see, sometimes we should acknowledge that the atheist is wrestling with more than head knowledge. This issue goes deeper, to the heart of a person. That's why our only hope (as hellbound humans) is for God to mercifully enter the picture and change our hearts and bring us to Jesus.

I pray that for you, OP.

 

[Tree of Life]

You're a pastor, aren't you? Why are you asking me what faith means? Christians claim to have it, so define it however you like for the purposes of this conversation.

Ok. Faith, as I understand it, would be trust in and loyalty to Jesus Christ as Lord and redeemer. Why do Christians have faith? On one level, Christians have faith because the Father has chosen them and granted them the gift of faith. On another level, Christians have faith because they've seen miraculous signs, heard testimonies from believers of how Jesus has changed their lives, and heard the words of Scripture and found themselves "cut to the heart" and believing.

 

[bling]

The question is simple. Why do Christians have faith?

God has given all mature adults the ability to express faith in somethings or people.

If salvation was dependent on some other factor than “faith” such as knowledge, ancestry, physical strength, good looks, courage, or some kind of achievement, God would not be fair/just.

Direct the little faith (we all have) toward a benevolent Creator is something the lowliest mature adult on earth can do, so extending faith toward God is a humbling experience. That little humility is all you need to be willing to humbly accept pure charity (something man find hard to do).

God is doing all He can to help you to accept His pure charity as charity (these gifts of charity are unbelievably huge). Since, Faith in God helps us in our acceptance of charity, God allows us to extend faith toward Him, but having faith in the existence of a benevolent Creator is made as easy as possible and still not be knowledge.

If you do not “need” to believe (trust) in a benevolent Creator than you can avoid putting your faith in a benevolent Creator. You can believe (trust) that the universe and life was a random result, since it would make no difference unless you had a real “need” to believe in a benevolent God.

If you have nothing to loss and a lot to be gained by believing would that not make it easier to believe, since you are going to believe something?

Atheist may say “I do not believe anything”, but practically they act like; they “believe” the Christian God does not exist and for most of my discussions with them, do not want or like the Christian God, so they have reason not to believe.

You will find you are on a “need to know bases” and if it would “upset” you to know, so God will not upset you, since all He wants to do is help you.