What is Faith?
Sep 24, 2012 13:17:49 #
Over the years I have pondered the idea of faith.
Here is my take on the subject.
WHAT IS FAITH?
Faith is ritualized hope.
Faith is superior to love but subordinate to hate.
Faith is blind devotion, in the face of stark reality.
Faith is what is left after you give up hope.
Faith will carry you through it, love will carry you to it, hope will carry you with it.
Faith is to religion as hope is to promise.
Faith can only be achieved through the cunning application of dogma.
Faith makes one feel superior, the same as do spirits.
Without Faith, one must be forever self-reliant.
Faith is its own reward.
Faith needs not reason, just as love needs not beauty.
Blind faith is no better than blind love.
Faith steps through deaths door, that hope can only approach.
Faith comes as a revelation, love comes as a surprise.
A Christian has faith, an Atheist has questions.
Here is my take on the subject.
WHAT IS FAITH?
Faith is ritualized hope.
Faith is superior to love but subordinate to hate.
Faith is blind devotion, in the face of stark reality.
Faith is what is left after you give up hope.
Faith will carry you through it, love will carry you to it, hope will carry you with it.
Faith is to religion as hope is to promise.
Faith can only be achieved through the cunning application of dogma.
Faith makes one feel superior, the same as do spirits.
Without Faith, one must be forever self-reliant.
Faith is its own reward.
Faith needs not reason, just as love needs not beauty.
Blind faith is no better than blind love.
Faith steps through deaths door, that hope can only approach.
Faith comes as a revelation, love comes as a surprise.
A Christian has faith, an Atheist has questions.
Sep 24, 2012 13:21:18 #
Sep 24, 2012 13:27:03 #
susie-q-tip wrote:
I feel sorry for you with that attitude.
Susie, there are a lot of people in this country that we need to feel sorry for.
Sep 24, 2012 15:12:15 #
Robert Graybeal wrote:
Susie, there are a lot of people in this country that we need to feel sorry for.
Susie, there are a lot of people in this country that we need to feel sorry for.
I agree with you on that. He has a lot of definitions completely wrong.
Sep 24, 2012 17:35:44 #
susie-q-tip wrote:
I feel sorry for you with that attitude.
What attitude are you talking about. I do not undestand your statement. What do you mean?
Sep 24, 2012 20:35:27 #
Bangee5 wrote:
What attitude are you talking about. I do not undestand your statement. What do you mean?
susie-q-tip wrote:
I feel sorry for you with that attitude.
What attitude are you talking about. I do not undestand your statement. What do you mean?
Obviously he is faithless and thinks that's the right way to be.
Sep 24, 2012 20:59:50 #
susie-q-tip wrote:
Obviously he is faithless and thinks that's the right way to be.
Bangee5 wrote:
What attitude are you talking about. I do not undestand your statement. What do you mean?
susie-q-tip wrote:
I feel sorry for you with that attitude.
What attitude are you talking about. I do not undestand your statement. What do you mean?
Obviously he is faithless and thinks that's the right way to be.
"it is his right" is the only thing that is right about it.
Sep 24, 2012 21:09:53 #
FAITH-- Confident obedience to the WORD of GOD, Regardless of the consequences or circumstances
Sep 24, 2012 21:16:14 #
A very contemplative piece of writing.
The only part I understand and agree with immediately is "A Christian has faith ..."
"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17 NIV
The only part I understand and agree with immediately is "A Christian has faith ..."
"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17 NIV
Sep 24, 2012 21:18:16 #
MisterWilson wrote:
A very contemplative piece of writing.
The only part I understand and agree with immediately is "A Christian has faith ..."
"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17 NIV
The only part I understand and agree with immediately is "A Christian has faith ..."
"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17 NIV
Well said!! Faith is itself a gift from God.
Sep 24, 2012 21:22:06 #
Faith in Action... from Hebrews 11 (NIV)
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at Gods command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: He could not be found, because God had taken him away.[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better countrya heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Josephs sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
23 By faith Moses parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the kings edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaohs daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the kings anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[d]
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at Gods command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: He could not be found, because God had taken him away.[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better countrya heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Josephs sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
23 By faith Moses parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the kings edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaohs daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the kings anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[d]
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
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