Belief versus faith
Feb. 7th, 2012 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foliumnondefluetSomething I dug up from http://www.reallivepreacher.com/rlparchive/node/15
In our world we have separated mind from body to our great loss. Here a man may betray his wife and neglect his children, but say he loves them “down inside”.
Bullshit. There is no “down inside.” Love is something you do, not something you feel.
Likewise, we think having faith means being convinced God exists in the same way we are convinced a chair exists. People who cannot be completely convinced of God's existence think faith is impossible for them.
Not so. People who doubt can have great faith because faith is something you do, not something you believe. In fact, the greater your doubt the more heroic your faith.
I learned that it doesn't matter in the least that I be convinced of God's existence. Whether or not God exists is none of my business, really. What do I know of existence? I don't even know how the VCR works.
What does matter is whether or not I am faithful. I think faithful is a hell of a good word. It still has some of its original shine. It still calls us to action.
It has been said (but now I don't remember by whom) that belief and faith are opposites. The believer will unshakably cling to an idea, convinced with a certainty beyond question even in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence. Belief gives one the strength of knowing all the answers. To have faith is something else entirely. Credulitas versus Fides. A "leap of faith" is not about certainty, but about how we act in the face of the deepest uncertainty. To have faith is to act as though life and the universe have meaning even when we doubt whether it is really so.
I haven't much in the way of beliefs, but I do have a little faith in this world.
In our world we have separated mind from body to our great loss. Here a man may betray his wife and neglect his children, but say he loves them “down inside”.
Bullshit. There is no “down inside.” Love is something you do, not something you feel.
Likewise, we think having faith means being convinced God exists in the same way we are convinced a chair exists. People who cannot be completely convinced of God's existence think faith is impossible for them.
Not so. People who doubt can have great faith because faith is something you do, not something you believe. In fact, the greater your doubt the more heroic your faith.
I learned that it doesn't matter in the least that I be convinced of God's existence. Whether or not God exists is none of my business, really. What do I know of existence? I don't even know how the VCR works.
What does matter is whether or not I am faithful. I think faithful is a hell of a good word. It still has some of its original shine. It still calls us to action.
It has been said (but now I don't remember by whom) that belief and faith are opposites. The believer will unshakably cling to an idea, convinced with a certainty beyond question even in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence. Belief gives one the strength of knowing all the answers. To have faith is something else entirely. Credulitas versus Fides. A "leap of faith" is not about certainty, but about how we act in the face of the deepest uncertainty. To have faith is to act as though life and the universe have meaning even when we doubt whether it is really so.
I haven't much in the way of beliefs, but I do have a little faith in this world.
