“What is Faith?” Journal

by: Dan Baxter

 

1) Explain the major key idea of the section.

 

One key idea from this chapter is the difference between faith and Faith. While Faith must be in God or religion and is defined by our textbook as an intellectual assent to a loving God and His revelation, faith is simply belief and trust in something. That something could be absolutely anything. An excellent example of faith would be Jim Goodnight, the CEO of SAS because he has complete trust in the ideal that if he treats his employees well and cares for them they will in turn work hard for him and his business. On the other hand an excellent example of Faith is Marwan Abu Ubeida from Time Magazine’s article “Inside the Mind of an Iraqi Suicide Bomber.” He believes so strongly in the Koran and in his religion that he is willing to sacrifice his life for what he believes in. This is about the strongest form of Faith I can think of as he considers only the will of Allah instead of his own well being.

 

2) List and explain two of the most important ideas you want to remember from this section.

 

One idea I want to remember from this section is that faith is the Golden Way. This means that it beliefs which are supported by reason instead of being only reason (nihilism) or only beliefs (radicalism). I think this is important to remember because knowing better what faith is will help me to increase it.

 

Another idea I want to remember is that Faith is a virtue. This means that it is a value acquired through practice. I think it is important to remember this at times when having Faith is difficult because it reminds me that Faith doesn’t just come freely. It is something we have to strive for and achieve and truly believe in.

 

3)                  One image that reminds you of the topic.

 

Image taken from this website.

 

4)                  How does this apply to me here and now?

 

This applies to me here and now because faith and Faith are both constant lifelong struggles and challenges. The Five Foundational Lessons clearly show this. The most important decisions I make are faith decisions. I am constantly making these decisions. Therefore, it is essential to me here and now that I understand faith and Faith because in my daily life I encounter challenges which deal with faith. In addition, trusting others is essential to friendship which is a key to happiness. Trust is in turn an element of faith. In fact friendship itself involves faith in that person. Without faith, there is no real relationship. In order to understand the relationships in my everyday life, I must also understand faith.