Faith

There are various concepts of faith which have different connotations. In the dictionary there are multiple limiting definitions across a common theme:


 * 1) Confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
 * 2) Belief that is not based on proof.
 * 3) Belief in god or in the doctrines or teachings of religion.
 * 4) Belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.
 * 5) A system of religious belief.
 * 6) The obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.
 * 7) The observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.
 * 8) The trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.

All are legitimate definitions, possessing thematic inter-relation.

The variety of definitions for the term is one reason why so few arguments on the subject of faith lead to useful ends. If different individuals are using different definitions, both sides are inclined to make errors of equivocation.

Mark Twain also created a classic definition in his book, Pudd'nhead Wilson: "Faith is believing what you know ain't so."

this is similar to Nietzsche's definition:

"Faith means not wanting to know what is true."

Many atheists regard faith as the act of coming to a conclusion first, and then filtering the facts to match your expectations. In a sense, this is the opposite of science.

While useful for illustrating the problems associated with faith, this derisive use of the term sometimes hinders discussion of the topic, and thus, it hinders intellectual growth.

Faith can apply to any assertion of truth, regardless of the quality of the reasons for that assertion. This is an important distinction because while faith includes counter-factual (wrong) beliefs, it also includes both factually supported and factually-neutral positions.

Factually-neutral positions include subjective statements (that's a pretty picture) and value-judgements (it's wrong to hurt people for fun). These are factually-neutral positions because it is impossible, even theoretically, to prove them right or wrong. Facts, effectively, do not apply to them.

Religions typically assert a number of positions in which they have faith, and do not typically differentiate between positions which can and cannot have facts applied to them. Since most religions do not have a formal vetting process, there is not typically a need for them to do so. This can lead to miscommunication when secular atheists vocalize a rejection of faith. For instance, most religions assert (explicitly or not) the central tenet of humanism; Human beings are morally valuable. As this is factually-neutral stance, it is an article of faith. Secular atheists (like most people) typically do not reject factually-neutral ideas as being fallacies, and (like most people) do not typically reject the idea that humans have moral value. A religious person hearing someone reject faith in general may well misunderstand this statement as a rejection of all moral values, as all moral values are eventually based on factually-neutral premises. This helps lead to the characterization of atheists as having no morals.

Faith in the Bible
In one classic Bible story, Doubting Thomas does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus appears to Thomas and gives him the opportunity to touch his wounds, after which Thomas becomes a believer. However, Jesus admonishes Thomas' skepticism, saying: "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." .

This anecdote demonstrates the view of faith that belief in the claim without requiring evidence is righteous, compared with requiring evidence to believe.

In, it says: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," it also says "[e]xamine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" in. Clearly the writer of Hebrews is simply stating the obvious, that faith is complimentary to a lack of omniscience. The writer goes on to make examples of other Biblical characters who demonstrated faith. Each had faith in something yet unseen, but not necessarily without reason; Noah had the promise of protection; Abraham, the Covenant; Joseph, his father's blessing; the list goes on. They were able to maintain faith because of a lifetime of evidences that God would fulfill His promise. Furthermore, Paul's account in shows that indeed faith is to be tested and not dogmatically held.

Arguments for faith
A number of arguments exist in defense of faith.


 * 1) Faith is a virtue: Faith is something to be desired, in and of itself.
 * 2) *The idea that premises should be accepted without evidence and that the premise is better without evidence can be used to justify any claim. One could just as easily believe that God wants you to love your neighbors as you could that God wants you to kill them for working on the Sabbath. For example, faith is often used as a justification for suicide bombers.
 * 3) ** "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." – Voltaire
 * 4) ** "A casual stroll through an insane asylum shows that faith does not prove anything." – Friedrich Nietzsche

Arguments exist amongst the Christian community (as well as other religious communities) as to weather 'faith', when spoken of as a virtue, should apply to all believed premises or only some. For instance, there are those who believe that 'faith' in this sense, means something closer to optimism, and not a blatant disregard for reality. It has often been argued by linguists that the terms 'faith' and 'hope' are not distinct in the language of the Bible.

Belief in belief
Rather than directly justify faith, often arguments will defend the belief in belief. That though, faith may not be itself justified, faith is itself useful. These arguments are largely irrelevant to the question at hand. Sam Harris addresses these argument by comparing the argument that "faith brings comfort" and "faith gives purpose to people's lives" to the claim that "I have a diamond the size of a refrigerator buried in my back yard". Such a belief could provide a person with purpose, and could be a comforting thought, just as it could give their life meaning. However, none of this has anything to do with the truth of the statement.