What is faith?

I'm hoping, probably naively, that this won't turn into a bun fight.

So, I've not Googled the meaning of religious faith but I will just share some of my thoughts here.

There are a lot of religions in the world.  They can't all be right, can they?

Surely if what a person of faith believes is true, that particular faith must be true for everyone?

After death we can't all be shooting off to different places, can we?

I haven't read about this but a friend of mine (autistic) has a special interest in faith and reads reams of books.

He is particularly interested in Shamanism and I find that quite fascinating. 

I find ancient  and 'Tribal' religions of great interest.

I'm agnostic.

However, I'm not sure which fence I sit on as all the major religions have something to offer but some of them have caused a lot of death and suffering too over the centuries.

My husband believes that the world was created by aliens.  Is this a faith too, even if not a religious one?

People sometimes talk as though they know that their faith is true. 

However, how can it be as the word 'faith' is explicitely saying it's a belief.

It can't be proven as what happens after death can't be known. 

Also even if historical figures such as Jesus did live (and there is evidence that this is true) it's our interpretation of their signficance that is pertinent.

Hence the word 'faith'.

If you have a faith, please share why you believe if you care to.

Please also just share your thoughts on this.

Thanks.

Parents
  • There are a lot of religions in the world.  They can't all be right, can they?

    I don't see why not to be honest. A better question is why can't they all be right? There could be more than one God. Perhaps they are all a family, created different beings with their own beliefs? Maybe not. But who knows?

    As for allowing pain and suffering, maybe the rules are they aren't allowed to intervene or perhaps they just choose not to which sounds awful but then a lot of humans see and know a lot of what happens and choose to look the other way... Humans are the biggest monsters of them all really.

    Faith brings people hope. Religious faith brings comfort that there's something after death, that God is always with them etc. I don't know if it's true. I don't really have a religious belief but I don't rule it out either.

    Even if it isn't there's nothing wrong with having faith in something.

Reply
  • There are a lot of religions in the world.  They can't all be right, can they?

    I don't see why not to be honest. A better question is why can't they all be right? There could be more than one God. Perhaps they are all a family, created different beings with their own beliefs? Maybe not. But who knows?

    As for allowing pain and suffering, maybe the rules are they aren't allowed to intervene or perhaps they just choose not to which sounds awful but then a lot of humans see and know a lot of what happens and choose to look the other way... Humans are the biggest monsters of them all really.

    Faith brings people hope. Religious faith brings comfort that there's something after death, that God is always with them etc. I don't know if it's true. I don't really have a religious belief but I don't rule it out either.

    Even if it isn't there's nothing wrong with having faith in something.

Children
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