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The author of Hebrews equates faith with having confidence and conviction.
So, if he was correct, it seems it's perhaps just a matter of degree. One can hold something to be true, but not have confidence in it when the rubber meets the road.
I believe it is true that non-poisonous spiders pose no threat to me and are actually beneficial to my environment and should not be killed for my emotional comfort. I don't have confidence in that belief, nor the conviction to stand by it when I come face to face with a spider in my home, however. I have a belief in spiders, but very little faith in them.
So, putting this in the context of Christianity...
When I was a Christian, I believed absolutely that the bible was 100% the inerrant, infallible Word of God. I had complete faith in it. Looking back, I realize that that belief/faith led me to have very little confidence/conviction [faith] that the God of the bible loved me and had my best interests at heart, in spite of having the belief that that was supposedly true.
The author of Hebrews equates faith with having confidence and conviction.
So, if he was correct, it seems it's perhaps just a matter of degree. One can hold something to be true, but not have confidence in it when the rubber meets the road.
So you think the statement "I have faith that I am typing on City Data right now" is a correct usage of "faith"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pleroo
I believe it is true that non-poisonous spiders pose no threat to me and are actually beneficial to my environment and should not be killed for my emotional comfort. I don't have confidence in that belief, nor the conviction to stand by it when I come face to face with a spider in my home, however. I have a belief in spiders, but very little faith in them.
You do have confidence in that belief. You just have a fear. That is not the same thing as a lack of confidence in your belief.
Clearly not. There is no commitment to that belief
You aren't the person I was responding to. I was asking Pleroo if, based on his definition of faith (confidence and conviction), he or she believed that statement makes sense. Pleroo didn't say anything about commitment, and I'm not sure why you're responding to the question I asked him or her.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nateswift
No, what is lacking is a commitment that would animate that belief and make it faith.
Do you think that pointing to faith as an explanation for a mere belief in god makes sense? In other words, when someone is explaining why he or she believes in god, does it make sense to say "It's a faith thing?" If it does, then "faith" can refer merely to belief -- commitment isn't needed.
Btw, I agree with L8Gr8Apost8 above. I don't think we should ever aim to be committed to beliefs. We should always believe what the totality of the evidence indicates.
Last edited by Wittgenstein's Ghost; 06-03-2017 at 08:55 PM..
You aren't the person I was responding to. I was asking Pleroo if, based on his definition of faith (confidence and conviction), he or she believed that statement makes sense. Pleroo didn't say anything about commitment, and I'm not sure why you're responding to the question I asked him or her.
Do you think that pointing to faith as an explanation for a mere belief in god makes sense? In other words, when someone is explaining why he or she believes in god, does it make sense to say "It's a faith thing?" If it does, then "faith" can refer merely to belief -- commitment isn't needed.
Btw, I agree with nateswift above. I don't think we should ever aim to be committed to beliefs. We should always believe what the totality of the evidence indicates.
No, i"faith" is not the right word for explaining belief, it is the right word for basing a life on the belief.
Part of the evidence will always be how we can identify with the understanding and how that identification makes us feel... whether it is the stuff og commitment. I know people who are committed to the idea that the world is a mess and people deserve whatever you dish out to them but it doesn't make them feel good about anything. (I don't think "smug" is a good feeling)
No, i"faith" is not the right word for explaining belief, it is the right word for basing a life on the belief.
Part of the evidence will always be how we can identify with the understanding and how that identification makes us feel... whether it is the stuff og commitment. I know people who are committed to the idea that the world is a mess and people deserve whatever you dish out to them but it doesn't make them feel good about anything. (I don't think "smug" is a good feeling)
I'm honestly not sure I understand what you're saying. However, being committed to a belief is not something we should aim to do. As epistemic agents, we should always aim to have as many true beliefs as possible and as few false beliefs as possible. Personal commitment to a belief makes no sense.
So you think the statement "I have faith that I am typing on City Data right now" is a correct usage of "faith"?
I'm not typing on City Data, I'm typing on a keyboard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghost
You do have confidence in that belief. You just have a fear. That is not the same thing as a lack of confidence in your belief.
I don't have confidence that spiders won't hurt me, nor do I have the conviction of my belief that they shouldn't be killed for my emotional comfort.
But, the spiders thing was just an analogy. What I had in mind (since this is a Religion & Spirituality sub-forum) was the difference in the words 'belief' and 'faith' when it comes to spiritual matters, as per my follow-up post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pleroo
So, putting this in the context of Christianity...
When I was a Christian, I believed absolutely that the bible was 100% the inerrant, infallible Word of God. I had complete faith in it. Looking back, I realize that that belief/faith led me to have very little confidence/conviction [faith] that the God of the bible loved me and had my best interests at heart, in spite of having the belief that that was supposedly true.
If you don't like how I use the words in that context, that's your prerogative. But, that's how I see the difference when I'm thinking/talking about it.
Jesus had ' faith in his beliefs ' which was based on his logical reasoning on the old Hebrew Scriptures for us.
So, Jesus' faith was his confidence in the beliefs or the teachings as found in the old Hebrew Scriptures.
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