Got Faith?

Not just walk, but Live by Faith, and not by sight.

            I don’t see it; therefore I do not believe. I don’t feel it, that’s why I don’t believe. Maybe, this rational individualism could be true. It is not impossible that the presence of evidence and testimony could be one’s basis of believing that something or maybe someone really exists.  On the same hand, it is also dependent in every ideas of philosophy that every man lets to conquer their intellect.

            However, there is the presence of existing idea that would make us to hold on with our beliefs. The unseen force that would make us believes even in the absence of testimonies and evidences. That the feeling will suddenly invade our sight and be blind for those tangible things that we are finding for, and let us be just contented with our philosophies, thus the ample sincerity of our dogmas, welcomes faith.

            We believe that there is air, even wind, though we don’t see it. We only feel it, and that’s it, all of us believe. However, if we stated that there is God, only the most believes, and still there are those some who whole fully doubts. Why? Because we don’t see him? Because we don’t feel him?

            Your faith extents your beliefs, but you defines your faith.

Faith in World Religions--Sikh

     Sikhism, the fifth-largest organized religion in the world, was founded in 15th-century Punjab on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and ten successive Sikh gurus, the last one being the sacred text Guru Granth Sahib.

      The core philosophy of the Sikh religion is described in the beginning hymn of the Guru Granth Sahib,
There is one supreme eternal reality; the truth; imminent in all things; creator of all things; immanent in creation. Without fear and without hatred; not subject to time; beyond birth and death; self-revealing. Known by the Guru's grace.

     Guru Nanak, the founder of the faith, summed up the basis of Sikh lifestyle in three requirements: Nām Japō (meditate on the holy name (Waheguru), Kirat karō (work diligently and honestly) and Vaṇḍ chakkō (share one's fruits).(Wikipedia.com)

Faith in World Religions--Judaism

      

     Faith itself is not a religious concept in Judaism. Although Judaism does recognize the positive value of Emunah (generally translated as faith, trust in God) and the negative status of the Apikorus (heretic), faith is not as stressed or as central as it is in other religions, especially as it is in the faith-possessed Christendom.

      It could be a necessary means for being a practicing religious Jew, but the emphasis is placed on practice rather than on faith itself. Very rarely does it relate to any teaching that must be believed. Classical Judaism does not require one to explicitly identify God (a key tenet of faith in Christianity), but rather to honour the idea of God.

     In the Jewish scriptures trust in God - Emunah - refers to how God acts toward his people and how they are to respond to him; it is rooted in the everlasting covenant established in the Torah, notably Deuteronomy 7:9 (The Torah - A Modern Commentary; Union of American Hebrew Congregations, NY 1981 by W. G. Plaut)

    "Know, therefore, that only the LORD your God is God, the steadfast God who keeps His gracious covenant to the thousandth generation of those who love Him and keep His commandments"

     A traditional example of Emunah as seen in the Jewish annals is found in the person of Abraham. On a number of occasions, Abraham both accepts statements from God that seem impossible and offers obedient actions in response to direction from God to do things that seem implausible (see Genesis 12-15).

     "The Talmud describes how a thief also believes in God: On the brink of his forced entry, as he is about to risk his life—and the life of his victim—he cries out with all sincerity, 'God help me!' The thief has faith that there is a God who hears his cries, yet it escapes him that this G‑d may be able to provide for him without requiring that he abrogate God’s will by stealing from others. For emunah to affect him in this way he needs study and contemplation."(Wikipedia.com)

Faith in World Religions-- Islam

 

  In Islam, faith (iman) is complete submission to the will of God, which includes belief, profession and the body's performance of deeds, consistent with the commission as vicegerent on Earth, all according to God's will.

    Iman has two aspects:

--Recognizing and affirming that there is one Creator of the universe and only to this Creator is worship due. According to Islamic thought, this comes naturally because faith is an instinct of the human soul. This instinct is then trained via parents or guardians into specific religious or spiritual paths. Likewise, the instinct may not be guided at all.

--Willingness and commitment to submitting that God exists, and to His prescriptions for living in accordance with vicegerency. The Qur'an is the dictation of God's prescriptions through Prophet Muhammad and is believed to have updated and completed the previous revelations that God sent through earlier prophets.

In the Qur'an, it is stated that (2:62):

 "Surely, those who believe, those who are Muslims, Jewish, the Christians, and the Sabians; anyone who;

 (1) believes in GOD, and

 (2) believes in the Last Day, and

(3) leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve."(Wikipedia.com)

Faith in World Religions-- Hinduism

   

     Sraddha is translated as faith in Sanskrit. All schools of Hindu philosophy posit that consciousness (atman) is distinct and independent from mind and matter (pakrti).

     Therefore, Hindu faith is based on the premise that logic and reason are not conclusive methods of epistemic knowing.

     Spiritual practice (sadhana) is performed with the faith that knowledge beyond the mind and sense perception will be revealed to the practitioner.

     The schools of Hindu philosophy differ in their recommended method to cultivate faith, including selfish action (karma-yoga), renunciation (jnana-yoga) and devotion (bhakti-yoga).

     "Faith for good reason arises out of the mystery that underlies the very structure and nature of reality, a mystery that in its entirety will never be entirely demystified despite what those who have placed reason on their altar might like us to believe. the mystery of life that gives rise to faith as a supra-rational means of unlocking life's mystery--one that reason does not hold the key to-- suggests that faith is fundamentally rational in that it is a logical response to the mysterious." Swami Tripurari

(Wikipedia.com)

Faith in World Religions-- Christianity

 

     Faith in Christianity is based in and on the work and teachings of Jesus Christ. In this way Christianity declares not to be distinguished by its faith, but by the object of its faith. Rather than being passive, faith leads to an active life aligned with the ideals and the example of the one being trusted. It sees the mystery of God and his grace and seeks to know and become obedient to God.

     To a Christian: Faith is not static but causes one to learn more of God and grow; and it has its origin in God.

     In Christianity faith causes change as it seeks a greater understanding of God. Faith is not fideism, or simple obedience to a set of rules or statements.

     Before the Christian has faith, they must understand in whom in whom and in what they have faith. Without understanding, there cannot be true to faith and that understanding is built on the foundation of the community of believers, the scriptures and traditions, and on the personal experience of the believer.

     In English Translation of the New Testament, the word faith generally corresponds to the Greek noun pistis or the Greek verb pisteuo, meaning to trust , to have confidence, faithfulness, to be reliable, to assure.

     The Bible says that faith is " the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Faith in World Religions-- Buddhism

    

 Faith is an important constituent element of the teachings of Gautama Buddha--in both the Theravada and the Mahayana traditions. The teachings of Buddha was originally recorded in the language Pali and the word saddha  is generally translated as "faith". 

     In the teaching saddha is often described as:

-- a conviction that something is

-- a determination to accomplish one's goals

-- a sense of joy deriving from the other two

    While Faith in Buddhism doesn't imply "blind faith", Buddhist faith nevertheless requires a degree of faith and belief, primarily in the spiritual attainment of Gautama Buddha.

    Faith in Buddhism centers on the understanding that the Buddha is an Awakened being, on his superior role as teacher, in the truth of his Dharma (spiritual teachings), and in his sangha (community of spiritually developed followers).

    Faith in Buddhism can be summarized into Three Jewels: The Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

   It is intended to lead to the goal of enlightenment or bodhi, and Nirvana. Volitionally, faith implies a resolute and courageous act of will. It combines the steadfast resolution that one will do a thing with the self-confidence that one can do it. 

    As a counter of to any form of "blind faith", the Buddha's teachings those teachings included in the Kalama Sutra, exhorting his disciples to investigate any teaching and to live by what is learnt and accepted, rather than in believing in something simply because it is taught.(Wikipedia.com)

Faith in World Religion-- Bahai Faith

   

    Like most, this religion holds that having a strong belief, a personal faith, is crucial to a spiritual life.The religion specifically relates how the abilities to know the truth are related to the overall goal of developing a praiseworthy character in addition to personally being aligned with the truth. 

    A core teaching of the Bahai Faith is an unfettered search for the truth. Another core teaching of the Bahai Faith is that science and religion should agree and not be opposed to each other.

    As in other religions, it is held that having a firm belief itself can make seemingly impossible things possible, even natural.

     Being disciplined about this search for truth can be seen as a philosophy, and the literature of the religion sometimes praises philosophers.

     According to the Bahai Faith, the object of all learning is to achieve the presence of God in one's life, and thereby to know ourselves.

     The Bahai Faith suggests that several ways of learning can help lead you to that goal:

- Sense Perception

-Intellect

-Insight

-The Holy Writings

-The Experience and Research

-Spirit of Faith

     It also references the idea that like many other things, the appreciation of truth, one's belief and one's degree of faithfulness, is progressive.

     Various disciplines are mandated or suggested in the Bahai Faith as ways to grow, and protect, one's faith:

-Read the words of Bahau llah twice a day

-Read the daily obligatory prayers

-Teaching or promulgating one's belief(not proselytizing)

-Performing pure and goodly deeds

-Being obedient to the laws and teachings of Bahau llah

-Being detached from ego and worldly matters (not disengagement from)

-Eschewing gossip and backbiting

-Meditating on spiritual matters(Wikipedia.com)

How Valid Your Faith is?

    

     I have faith. And I know how strong my faith was built within me. I became contented with my faith and its presence beyond my knowledge and deep in my heart, around my spirit. I am not just believing that there is God, rather knowing that He is really there, somewhere, somehow, in some many ways. 

    The issue is there, I just believe. I just believe that I have faith. Thus, through my faith, there inserted the fact that I find no justification other than my fist holding my wholesome faith. Well, for me that's how having faith is defined. However, I start asking question, is my Faith valid? Yes, for me. Now I ask you, is your faith valid? I know I will get the same answer but, now, the question is, how valid is it?

     There is a wide spectrum of opinion with respect to the epistemological validity of faith. On one extreme is logical positivism, which denies the validity of any beliefs held by faith; on the other extreme is fideism, which holds that true belief can only arise from faith, because reason and physical evidence cannot lead to truth. 

     Some foundationalists, such as St. Augustine of Hippo and Alvin Plantinga, hold that all of our beliefs rest ultimately on beliefs accepted by faith. Others, such as C.S. Lewis, hold that faith is merely the virtue by which we hold to our reasoned ideas, despite moods to the contrary.

     William James believed that the varieties of religious experiences should be sought by psychologists, because they represent the closest thing to a microscope of the mind—that is, they show us in drastically enlarged form the normal processes of things. For a useful interpretation of human reality, to share faith experience he said that we must each make certain "over-beliefs" in things which, while they cannot be proven on the basis of experience, help us to live fuller and better lives.(wikipedia.com)

What is Faith, anyway?

    Some say it means believing something that you want to be true, yet cannot prove. Others say that it means believing only in what you can see and trust. Still others say that faith is like living in the unknown. There is no explanation, nor can there be. It is a mystery that simply needs to be accepted.

   Sadly, too many of us live with weak or inadequate views of faith like these. And the wrong definition of faith leads to a weak experience of faith, which leads to a weak sense of trust that would result to  abandonment.

   Faith is not about believing in some unknown mystery. Its not about blind leap. Neither does it have to do with trusting in something we can touch and feel-- something that is limited to this world.

   "Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen"(Hebrews 11:1)

   The Greek word "pistis", which we translate as "faith", more accurately means being trustworthy. Can a person be trustworthy if we they do not exist? Can a person be trustworthy if we cannot believe that what they are saying is true?

   Our faith does not make God real. Our faith is our response to a real and living God who has made himself known to us through his Son. The church has never said, "Take a leap of faith into the dark." Rather, the invitation is always to " come into the light."

   In the Book of Isaiah, God tells us: "I am the Lord and there is no other... so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun men may know that there is none beside me" (Isaiah 45:5,6).

   Be certain that God exists. Believe that he reigns on high. Put your hope in Him, and He will reward you with strength, wisdom and love.(The Word Among Us)