Paradoxical relationship between belief and faith.

[Drich]

It seems you have a different understanding of Faith than what God expects or provides for. God tells us: Faith is what makes real the things we hope for. It is proof of what we cannot see. God was pleased with the people who lived a long time ago because they had faith like this.

For God and his followers 'faith' is an extention evidence based belief. Hokem writters that cater to those who wish to try and phiosophically seperate themselves from God, have changed the meaning of the word faith to mean: an intense baseless hope. Which is not what God offers, nor is the faith God offers limited to the reading of the bible. God offers exactly what an indivisual needs to sustain biblically based faith, and if one is faithful to what he has been given. He will be given more. If not what he has been given will be taken from him and given to someone else.

Lets see what the origins of "faith" are according to wikipedia.

Etymology

The English word is thought to date from 1200–50, from the Middle English feith, via Anglo-French fed, Old French feid, feit from Latin fidem, accusative of fidēs (trust), akin to fīdere (to trust).

So "biblically based faith" is essentially "trust in the bible". That is why I say you have faith in the book primarily and God secondarily. When you see video of people in churches with their hands out and upturned, swaying with their eyes closed, they are basically imagining that God is there, as the bible says He is.

Now you may wonder why I stress this primary trust in the book. As an agnostic, I give you theists a lot of slack. I don't know anything about gods but who am I to say you don't, right? But when I realize that it is a book that completely underpins your belief, I feel a lot less charitable. A book is a document. If you build your entire case on it, fine, examine it as evidence. But again, I don't care what the bible says. All that matters is authenticating the document. There is no imaginable evidence that could establish a convincing link between the bible and any gods. The writing could be from the right area and right time without providing the slightest guarantee that even one word is inspired by the divine.

Looks like I have to start giving you Christian guys much less credit. If all you have is the bible and the self hypnosis you employ based on its evidence, then you truly have no more knowledge of God than I do .. and I have none.

Again you are only furthering my point by appealing to wiki. You have to redefine faith apart from the faith found in Heb 11, in order to make your arguement work. for why would anyone assemble a 'faith' outside of the faith God calls for in His bible? (the only book that defines God). Regaurdless of the english word we use to describe what Hebrews 11 outlines (the whole chapter) it is what is found in Hebrews 11 God is expecting from us. Not what you or wikipedia or anyone elses decides to lable 'faith.'

So depite what you understand faith to be, God says the faith He requires is indeed based in solid evidence. Evidence He provides when one asks, seeks, and knocks as He perscribes.