What is "FAITH"

[Faith No More]

I think that for believers, faith really is "evidence-based".

Well, faith is evidence based in the sense that it is the excuse to poorly interpret the evidence.

[orogenicman]

I hate to break the wishes of the OP about definitions, but in any discussion about any issue, it is helpful to have an understanding of the terms of discussion.

Faith is, in it's simplest meaning, a belief in something not in evidence. As such, one can not have faith, for instance, that the sun will rise in the morning. It is an astronomical certainty that the sun will rise in the morning, and as such, doesn't require faith.

When religious people tell you that you have to have faith it is because they cannot prove that their first personal revelation is true for anyone else. They want you to trust them that their experience is real and true. They have faith, they say, because of this revelation that they believe they have received. But since revelation is, by definition, first person, no one is under any obligation to believe one person's revelation over another's.

Sometimes our intuition tells us that something is true even if we don't readily have evidence of the truth of the matter. But intuition is a fickle bitch, and gets people in trouble at least as often as not. In my opinion, without unambiguous supporting evidence, it's speculation, and most likely, lazy/wishful thinking.

[Minimalist]

What amusing about "faith" is that both sides tend to agree on it.

[FifthElement]

I do not want to die, therefore FAITH, that's it, plain and simple

[Godscreated]

For a bunch that has no faith in anything you sure seem to have a lot of opinions about faith. You know what they say about opinions, right. You should try and experience faith before running it into the ground.

[Minimalist]

Oh, "faith" exists, G-C.

The problem with jackasses like you is that you attach it to the non-existent and think very highly of yourself for doing so.

I'll take reason, everytime.

[Walking Void]

What is faith?

Hold my bear, I'm going in dry!

[Rahul]

What is faith?

Hold my bear, I'm going in dry!

"I find your lack of faith disturbing." - Darth Vader

[Tartarus Sauce]

For a bunch that has no faith in anything you sure seem to have a lot of opinions about faith. You know what they say about opinions, right. You should try and experience faith before running it into the ground.

It's a common theme in atheist communities like this one to host several members who are former believers. Who's to say they haven't already tried it?

[fr0d0]

What is Faith:

Being persuaded and fully committed in trust, involving a confident belief in the truth, value, and trustworthiness of God. When it comes to Christianity, 'faith' is defined by three separate but vitally connected aspects (especially from Luther and Melancthon onwards): notitia (informational content), assensus (intellectual assent), and fiducia (committed trust). So faith is the sum of having the information, being persuaded of its truthfulness, and trusting in it. To illustrate the three aspects: "Christ died for ours sins" (notitia); "I am persuaded that Christ died for our sins" (notitia + assensus); "I deeply commit in trust to Christ who I am persuaded died for our sins" (notitia + assensus + fiducia). Only the latter constitutes faith, on the Christian view.

Consequently, notitia and fiducia without assensus is blind and therefore not faith. This shipwrecks the egregious canard that faith is merely a blind leap. Faith goes beyond reason—i.e., into the arena of trust—but never against reason. From the Enlightenment onwards, faith has been subject to constant attempts at redefining it into the realm of the irrational or irrelevant (e.g., Kant's noumenal category); but all such attempts are built on irresponsible straw man caricatures that bear no resemblance to faith as held under the Christian view: notitia, assensus, and fiducia.

- Ryft