Do you see any benefits to religious faith?

[Arkilogue]

I was referring to his belief that "faith" mean's human belief and while certainly it is used that way today, the bible clearly states in many places it is not made by man, not belief, it is a gift of God.

It does not matter if there is or isn't a God in this instance, the syntax and context is crystal clear on it's ancient usage and meaning.

Which is why I use the Superman example, the lore is crystal clear: He is weakened by kryptonite, not samsonite.

Well I for one refuse to be corralled into the narrow confines of your assumptions.  I place a great deal of store in "faith" and have no problem assigning meaning to "soul" and "grace".  So long as one doesn't insist on a strictly dogma based definition I think my own meanings are far superior.  I can even indulge your quaint formulation of faith = "a gift from god", provided that "god" isn't defined as a unique entity standing on its own and tricked out with omni-powers.  (That would just be lame.)

There isn't much an atheist must do without .. apart from believing stupid, literal things based on any particular traditional system of beliefs.  That I don't believe those things is why I'm atheist - but I also reject your silly assumptions about what we all must believe.

I'm just letting you know how I use it, based on how it was used.. Semantics and syntactics. The third aspect to language is pragmatics and that it what your definitions allow you to do...or limit you from doing. Define it and use it as you will.

I figured that it would be overlooked which is why I bolded OF God. Not "from" God. A gift of God itself. Like a seed of pattern and growth potential (tree of eternal life). What you do with it is up to you. Or a touch of a something so powerful it changes some of your dross into pure conductive gold, so that you may know what to refine the rest of yourself into...or not. It's not a quantity, it's a quality of being that is pure and unclouded by personality or weighted down in self/other judgment or shrouded in a temporal personality. God is not another greater piece of highly complex and pretty origami, God is what you get to experience when you unfold into a perfectly flat sheet again..and the smoother your surface the more accurately it reflects.

Let me give you something to help look where I am looking from, don't believe or disbelieve just look and feel.

Belief is what one thinks to be true.
Faith is what one knows to be true and in this belief is no more.
The third step is fruition, man and truth as one and in this even faith is lost.

It describe a transformation of the subject/object (you/truth) relationship. The first is a stage of belief and or doubt that the object (truth) exists. The second stage is finding truth and collecting enough to gain a working model that you abide by and gain feedback in you life from following. This is all personal trial and error. A willingness to wrestle directly with God and not let go until blessed.

Through that process of seeking/finding and using truth to slay self falsities, is the process of dissolving the veil between subject and object. Fruition is when you become a fluency to truth, an instrument. All doers of good are instruments of God (quality of being) knowingly or unknowingly. The I becomes an eye...an aperture.