Journal 1: Faith

Journal 1 1. One key idea from this section is the idea of faith. There are multiple definitions given for faith and many various examples. The secular meaning of faith defines faith as complete trust in something that one cannot know for certain. This definition seems incomplete to me. While complete trust is part of faith, I believe there is much more to it. The theological definition of faith is that faith is an intellectual assent to a loving God and His revelation. This definition refers to belief in God and His revelation to us, or Faith. While this also could be considered a good definition, I find concrete examples of secular faith to be more revealing as to what faith really is. Two excellent examples of faith can be found in Jim Goodnight and Marwan, the Iraqi suicide bomber. Jim Goodnight demonstrates faith in his business practice. He owns a software company and provides lavish benefits for all his employees ranging from a fitness center to healthcare. He has faith in his employees and does all he can to make them happy, which in turn leads them to produce more. He also shows faith in his business practice by remaining a private company instead of going public, which would greatly increase his wealth. The second example of faith is Marwan. Marwan is an ardent Muslim and eager suicide bomber. His shows complete faith and trust in his religion, the Koran, and his spiritual leaders. He desires to sacrifice his life for his religion and beliefs.

2. The first thing I want to remember from this section is the Golden Way. After understanding the ideas of nihilism or radicalism, faith is revealed as the best course. Nihilism is a viewpoint that there is no objective truth. Nihilists believe that the universe is unintelligible and that truth and morality are relative. However, these beliefs are impossible to live by because by following them they contradict there belief that there is no truth. Radicalism means strongly believing in something with no evidence to support it. One type of radicalism is fanaticism. Radicalism also is not rational because it doesn’t make sense to believe in something without a reason. After examining these views, faith supported by reason is the only option left, it is the golden way. This is important because it is too easy to fall into one of these false viewpoints, and so we must be ever vigilant as to what we believe in.

The second thing I want to remember is that faith is a virtue. More specifically, it is a theological virtue. A virtue is a noble habit or quality that someone acquires through practice. Faith is a virtue because there are often times when we lack in faith, such as questioning God when a tragedy occurs. However, we must train ourselves to be strong in our faith and overcome these doubts. This idea is important because we must remind ourselves to train our faith and strengthen it as often as we can.

3. This is an image of Daniel in the Lion's Den. Daniel shows his faith in God in this photo by trusting that God will protect him from the lions.

4. This section relates to us here and now because we are always making decisions of faith. It is important that we carefully determine who or what deserves our faith and we must also analyze our reasons for putting faith in people and things. Therefore, it is critical that we know and understand what faith is and how we should treat it.

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