Faith is a measure of irrationality

[BlackMason]

You've heard people say it before, "I have faith" or so and so has a lot of faith. What does that mean really? What is having a lot of faith?

It would seem that having a lot of faith is the act of tenatiously rejecting reality. You walk out your house without an umbrella even though you've got big gray clouds in the sky. Is this faith?

If I keep telling myself that something unlikely to happen will, does that constitute faith?

When does faith become stupid? When do adults take responsibility for their own lives? Does someone who believes they can walk on water have more faith than somone who believes they will pass a test?

I remember being in a restuarant and a man came in and said he was a man of faith. He had an incredible sense of superiority. It's sad that a bold statement like that can be said with such gusto in 2014.

I think faith is directly proportional to irrationality.

[Knowledge of God]

You've heard people say it before, "I have faith" or so and so has a lot of faith. What does that mean really? What is having a lot of faith?

It would seem that having a lot of faith is the act of tenatiously rejecting reality. You walk out your house without an umbrella even though you've got big gray clouds in the sky. Is this faith?

If I keep telling myself that something unlikely to happen will, does that constitute faith?

When does faith become stupid? When do adults take responsibility for their own lives? Does someone who believes they can walk on water have more faith than somone who believes they will pass a test?

I remember being in a restuarant and a man came in and said he was a man of faith. He had an incredible sense of superiority. It's sad that a bold statement like that can be said with such gusto in 2014.

I think faith is directly proportional to irrationality.

Hebrews 1;11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

[BlackMason]

Yeah sure, I was seeding off of that.

[The Grand Nudger]

Hebrews 1;11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

translation- faith is wishing.....really, really hard.

[FreeTony]

The question is: How should I determine what to have faith in?

Use evidence?
Whatever feels right?
Whatever makes me feel better about myself?
Whatever my parents/preacher tell me?
The belief that promises the greatest reward?

[ignoramus]

Religion done properly satisfies all those criteria.
They're just brain washing cults sold wholesale.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Hebrews 1;11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

First off, it isn't Hebrews 1:11, but Hebrews 11:1.

'Confidence in what we hope for' is why lotto players can't make the rent.

'Assurance about what we see.' How is this any different from a drug-induced hallucination?

Sorry, mate, but I've had it up to HERE with Hebrews 11:1. Your lot consistently trot this out as if it were the final word in favour of faith. Well, prepare yourself for a shock: it isn't. Faith is simply a way of convincing yourself that a particular proposition is true, without have to go through all the tedium of actually thinking about it.

Boru

[Thumpalumpacus]

I've got family members who are religious. They aren't stupid. They simply wall their native intelligence and natural curiosity off when it comes to a certain topic or three. They are content in those topics to accept received "wisdom" without asking the right questions, probably because of the same fear I felt when I was a believer losing my own faith.

[fr0d0]

Favorite quote time!


Faith is 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.

[Mr Greene]

You've heard people say it before, "I have faith" or so and so has a lot of faith. What does that mean really? What is having a lot of faith?

...
I remember being in a restuarant and a man came in and said he was a man of faith. He had an incredible sense of superiority. It's sad that a bold statement like that can be said with such gusto in 2014.

I think faith is directly proportional to irrationality.

In my experience the statement tends to say more about the person making it than the subject, for example; I've been described as being "very christian, I must have a lot of faith..." on numerous occasions. This always results in a rather awkward silence as I resist the urge to laugh. However the people who make this type of statement are invariably the more religious types who talk first, think later (if ever) they're also the usual suspects when someone is out to twist the system to their own ends.