1.
The purpose of this section is to define faith. We each need to decide for ourselves what faith means, but this can be very difficult to do. In trying to create my own definition of faith, I started with what our freshman theology text says: faith contains two key elements, which are belief and trust. Based on this, a definition of faith would be:
Faith is a belief or trust in someone or something
Although this makes sense, it is not a satisfactory definition for me. I believe that faith needs to be something stronger than a casual or simple trust in someone. You need to have a solid belief in someone or something. However, complete faith, at least in my mind, is impossible. Who can you trust absolutely? Can you even trust yourself completely? I know that I do not have complete trust in myself, since I know that I make mistakes and I make poor decisions just like everyone else. So now my definition of faith looks something like this:
Faith is a deep and strong, though not complete, trust and belief in someone or something.
Even this definition is lacking something. Why would you have faith in someone? Who/what should you have faith in? How does one develop faith? I have tried to answer some of these questions. Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, says that “Faith is a necessity to a man. Woe to him who believes in nothing.” I agree with this quote. How can anyone properly function and live a healthy life without believing in something? You need a group of friends or family to bounce ideas off of or to give you guidance. You also need to have some degree of confidence, or a belief in yourself and you own abilities. A little confidence goes a long way in making all the obstacles in your life seem a little easier to overcome. Although a little juvenile, the story of The Little Engine that Could applies here. You also need to believe in you well-informed conscience. A sound conscience will tell you who or what to have faith in. To me, faith is a gradual process. A true faith in someone does not occur instantly; it has to be built over a long period of time. You need time to reason through if the risk involved is worth it or if the person you are choosing to have faith in is trustworthy. With these thoughts in mind, my definition has become this:
Faith is a deep and strong, though not necessarily complete, trust and belief in someone or something based on your own well-informed conscience that takes time to develop.
This definition looks pretty good, but there is one last thing to remember: Faith requires balance. Faith is not completely intellectual or reasonable; faith has an emotional element involved. Each one of us needs to find a suitable balance between belief and reason in order to find faith, which is described by our text as “The Golden Way.” Finally, my definition of faith has evolved into this statement:
Faith is a gradually developed deep and strong, though not necessarily complete, trust and belief in someone or something which requires a sense of balance between belief and reason and is based on a well-informed conscience.
To me, this definition covers what faith really is.
2. One key idea from this section is that faith involves risk, which is one of the key characteristics of biblical faith. When you choose to trust someone, you make yourself vulnerable. In order to have faith in someone, you need to open yourself up to that person and let that person into your life. I believe this element of faith is important to remember because it may change whether or not you do place faith in someone. If you are not willing to take the risk that faith in a particular person or idea involves, you won’t place faith in that person. I think this is important because it makes you take a step back and think about what you are doing. You need to use reason to see if this person is trustworthy or responsible before you can trust them. To me, risk is what makes faith worth having. If faith was guaranteed without any risk, what value would that faith have?
Another idea in this chapter is that there is not necessarily an explanation for something. Some things in life cannot be definitively proven, yet you need to believe anyway. For instance, we cannot prove that God exists. We can point out some evidence supporting God’s existence, but we cannot prove it. Faith is not completely based on reason or intellect; there is an emotional component that needs to be taken into account. Through reason, Andy Griffith decided that there was no Mr. McBeevee, yet he still believed in Opie. Andy believed in Opie because his love for Opie led to a nearly complete trust in his son. I think that this is always important to remember, especially during periods of darkness in one’s faith.
3. Images of Faith
Pictures such as this remind me of a poem that we have hanging in our house called "Footprints of God." I really love this poem and I think that it has a lot to do with faith in God, that He will always be with you. Click on the Image above to read a version of the story of the Footprints of God, or Click here for the version I know.
Do you agree with Victor Hugo's quote "Faith is a necessity to a man?"
I agree with this quote because faith has played an important role all throughout my life, whether I always realize it or not. I believe this to be true for everyone as well. I believe it is a part of the human condition to have a need for the company of others and the need for guidance from others. As children, we all have an inborn faith in our parents. We trust almost everything they say from Santa Claus to why we have to go to school. We may not always like it, but we believe them. As we get older, friends and teachers play a role in shaping who we are. We open ourselves up to them and place faith in them, trusting in them for guidance. Without putting faith in someone, it is impossible to have a strong friendship, which everyone seeks. People need people. In order to achieve a close circle of friends and advisors, one needs faith. Try to imagine what you life would be like if you didn't believe in anything.........it is pretty grim. If you didn't believe in anything, what makes life worth living? What do you have to look forward to? To me, faith is necessary because faith brings hope: hope for a better, brighter tomorrow or for finding God and happiness in our lives. Without faith, there can be no hope, which I believe is a key element to everyone's life.
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