Faith

[nailit]

The Bible says that
//Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen//

How is that any different from saying that faith is
unsupported assertions of impossible absurdities with no good evidence?

Why is ''Faith'' promoted as a good thing?
The 9/11 high-jackers had faith.
So did the followers of Jim Jones and David Koresh.

[nailit]

//the evidence of things not seen//
Whoever wrote that (Traditionally St Paul but obviously not)
must off been a tile loose...

[Old_Geezer]

I have faith of many things that are not impossible absurdities. I have faith that maths represent real things in a world external to me. I have faith that both relativity and quantum science give a reasonable understanding of reality. I have faith that the barman is going to pour my beer in a minute or so.

[Distinguished]

Hello. You refer to Christian faith, but then tried to apply it outside of a Christian context. There is lots of evidence that the Bible is the infallible, inspired Word of God, but faith was never intended to be part of such evidence. Faith is believing that something is so, even though your eyes do not see it to be so, simply because God said so. Faith of the Bible always points to Jesus Christ, which, to answer your question, differenciates itself from the 9/11 hijackers who did not have faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith is taking God for His Word before He gives evidence of its fruition. Faith is understanding that God's Word is Truth and Truth only originates from the mind of God, of which He has expressed via His Word, i.e., the Bible.

God often tests our faith by giving our eyes apparent contradictions to His Word. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. The purpose of Him testing our faith is that our faith gets strengthened when we pass the test. He disciplines us when we fail the test. His discipline matures us.

Faith is not a blind hope for the unknown; rather, it is a concrete "substance" of confidence and an invisible assurance of God/Jesus' reality.

Jesus often told His disciples, "Oh, ye of little faith." There are degrees of faith. Great faith is accomplished when we act like God is telling the truth even though the circumstances appear otherwise. God rewards great faith. Jesus said that mustard-seed faith is capable of moving mountains.

Finally, it is important to understand that faith in anything other than Jesus Christ is not the faith that the Bible refers to. The source of true faith is Jesus Christ. Faith devoid of Christ voids faith.

[William51]

Faith in something is the same for everyone, except some bad people use it to justify their bad actions.

[naomi24]

//There is lots of evidence that the Bible is the infallible//

There's lots of evidence that it isn't.

[Old_Geezer]

Wow, that makes little sense.

"Faith is believing that something is so, even though your eyes do not see it to be so, simply because God said so." Errr ... when have you ever imagined God spoke to you ? If you can recall such an incident it may be time to discuss the issue with a medical doctor.

"Faith is taking God for His Word before He gives evidence of its fruition" Again, what word has any God spoken to you ? If you think one has, the most likely explanation is that your mind has fooled you. Blind faith is in things you want to believe in but have no credible evidence for.

[Canary42]

IME Faith fails frequently.

[mibn2cweus]

If you look hard enough you can find 'evidence' to support almost any assertion. Reality on the other hand is more often than not another story altogether. Believing is far more prevalent than actually knowing. The trick is in learning how to discern the difference.

[Khandro]

//Believing is far more prevalent than actually knowing. The trick is in learning how to discern the difference.//

Which of course, you can ?

[mibn2cweus]

^ I try. Recognising that fallibility is inherent in perception and the process of consciousness is a good start. No one and nothing is exempt from the necessity for a process of verification and confirmation.

[Khandro]

//No one and nothing is exempt from the necessity for a process of verification and confirmation.//

So having undergone that process, can you confirm that God does not exist?

[mibn2cweus]

Tell me what you believe 'God' to be and perhaps I will share my thoughts regarding that belief if such interests you. If by 'God' you mean the following, I see no reason to believe in a conscious purposeful creator and overseer of existence.
For starters, consciousness must follow from existence apart from which there would be nothing to be conscious of. Consciousness is a process of becoming aware of that which exists rather than creating existence. Consciousness of nothing is a contradiction. Likewise creation and purpose presuppose experience of and a working knowledge of existence from which and through which such knowledge and awareness of a need for and the benefits of purpose come into being. I exist and think by virtue of a universe that provided the means and process essential to and by which I came into existence.
The presumption of an inconceivable entity contributes nothing to a comprehensible understanding of existence.

[Khandro]

That's not what I said, I said, 'can you confirm that God does not exist?'

Yes or no.

[Atheist]

Khandro; mibn2 said to you, "Tell me what you believe 'God' to be and perhaps I will share my thoughts regarding that belief if such interests you."
Any chance that you could answer that? Or doesn't it interest you?

[Khandro]

^^ Another cop-out !! My personal view of God is entirely confidential - nothing to do with you or that poster.
I await an answer to my question; " 'can you confirm that God does not exist?'
Yes or no."

[Canary42]

Khandro, can you confirm that the Tooth Fairy does not exist - Yes or No ?

[vulcan42]

Khandro, it's you that's coping out.

\\ My personal view of God is entirely confidential - //

Yet you insist mibn2 must give you an answer.

[Atheist]

Khandro; No-one can prove that god doesn't exist if you don't define what god is.
Do you not see that you're not asking a rational or meaningful question?

[Distinguished]

@Old_Geezer: "Errr ... when have you ever imagined God spoke to you ?" God's infallible Word, i.e., the Christian Bible, is where God speaks to all who listens. God spoke in His Word. Faith is believing the Word of God, not some personal exitential supposed experience with God Himself.

If you are requesting an example of what I am saying, then:
Jesus says in John 8:51, "I tell you the Truth: If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." So, applying what I said above, faith is believing that this statement is so, even though my eyes cannot currently confirm that it is so, but I believe it because Jesus said so. That's what faith is--not some imagined voice from God that an individual claims to be hearing exclusively.

[Distinguished]

@Atheist: You cannot disprove God. But on many, many levels, you can prove that God does exist. At some point, you have to invoke a miracle because something absolutely cannot come from nothing. So whether you call yourself an atheist or not, you cannot escape that a supernatural event has occurred.

DNA, by the way, is computer code. DNA cannot possibly come from chance. That's like throwing a bunch of resources onto the ground and waiting billions of years for Windows 11 to create itself. DNA is much more complexed than computer code that even includes self-correcting algorithmic functions.

Evolution - everything coming from nothing - goes against science itself. It goes against the 2nd Law of thermodynamics, the law of conservation of energy, and the law of conservation of mass. Not to mention, it is also statistically impossible. Every thing follows the law of entropy. The law of entropy contradicts the "theory" of evolution.

Finally, the Christian Bible itself can be proven because God has embedded within it many fulfilled (and yet to be fulfilled) prophesies, and even many spectacular hidden codes and prophecies within the Hebrew and Greek words, names, and even letters of the text. If you press me, I can offer some examples. These things cannot be explained--they are supernatural, proving that a supernatural God wrote the text.