Question about "faith"

[Angrboda]

Do these people who came to belief through experience, etc, have first-hand observation of the divine, or do they trust or have faith in others, such as the authors of the bible?

I think the Bible more precisely falls into the divine category. By that I mean it isn't an independent resource whose propositions you must trust in order to believe God exists. You have to first be convinced of it's legitimacy before you have faith in it. Keep in mind Scripture is the Word of God for the Christian. As such, God is the proposer, Scripture is the proposition, and faith emerges from that:

"Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (1 Timothy 1:4)

But I'm sure there are individuals who read scripture and it appeals to their reason; it is self-evident in that sense. As for people's experiences, I suspect it is a spectrum. Ranging from those who believe they have had direct interaction with the divine, down to those who simply found religion to work in their personal life, it gives positive results.

I think you're getting the cart before the horse. Perhaps you can clarify. If the person believes the bible to be the word of God then they already believe in God, so that's not a relevant case. However, if they already believe in God prior to experiencing the writings, and have no direct experience with the divine, then what are they basing that faith upon? That case is interesting, but not what I was asking about. I was specifically addressing the more common scenario wherein one lacks any direct experience of the divine, and therefore knows only of God through the writings of others, and perhaps some private speculation. What is their faith/trust based upon?