What Does The Word "faith" Mean?

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What Does The Word "faith" Mean?
What Does The Word "faith" Mean?

Video: What Does The Word "faith" Mean?

Video: What Does The Word
Video: What Does the Word Faith Mean? 2024, April
Anonim

Faith is a subjective belief in the truth of something that is not related to rationale. Factual corroboration may take place, but it may not be, this will not affect faith in any way.

Faith is the foundation of religion
Faith is the foundation of religion

It is not so easy to determine the place of faith in the mental activity of a person. She has both intellectual traits, representing a kind of belief, and emotional. From the point of view of the emotional sphere, faith belongs to the category of higher feelings, because it is constant, not situational.

Faith is one of the strongest feelings. The Gospel of Matthew says: "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed and say to this mountain: 'go from here to there,' and it will go over." The efficacy of faith lies in the influence that it has on motivation, and therefore on activity, which is why faith in victory is so important in sports and in war.

Faith and evidence

Faith not only does not need proof - it would be more correct to say that where proof begins, faith ends. For example, from the time of Thomas Aquinas to the present, attempts have been made to prove the existence of God. All of them invariably turn out to be in vain, but even if this postulate could be proved, it would be of little use.

Perhaps the evidence would have convinced unbelievers, but it would be a conviction, not a faith - there would be no emotional component, therefore, there would be no powerful motivation for the Christian life, nor the basis for a sincere relationship with God. Believers do not need proof: if a person is looking for proof, it means that he is not particularly firm in the faith.

The scope of faith

Traditionally, faith is associated with religion, these words are even used as synonyms, speaking of "Christian faith" or "Muslim faith." Indeed, in religion, belief in God plays a fundamental role, but not only religious dogmas can be taken for granted.

For example, an astronomer or physicist can provide evidence that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and not the Sun around the Earth - in this form it would be a scientifically sound statement. But a person who is far from science may not know the proofs, and for him all the "justification" will be reduced to the thought: "This was proved by N. Copernicus and G. Galileo." In this case, a person takes scientific truth on trust, bowing to the authority of science.

The role of faith is also great in human relationships. It permeates all levels of the organization of society, acting as a bonding, cementing principle: if a husband stops believing in his wife, the family collapses, if the people ceases to believe in the government, the state collapses.

Faith is a truly human manifestation, not characteristic of any other animal, because it arises at the intersection of reason and feelings.

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