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Faith

I think that there is a lot of misunderstanding about faith.

As BabyBlues pointed out:

And, from the Book of Mormon:

Let's consider another scripture.

I would be interested if anyone could provide information from other religions, such as Hindu, Shinto, Islam, etc. relating to this.

So, all of this has me thinking about what faith is, and how it works. Over the last year or so, I have been reading a few interesting books, such as As a Man Thinketh, Think and Grow Rich, and Psycho-Cybernetics. These books have had a common thread, that as we purposely THINK about things, using our imagination, our lives will head in the direction we are thinking about. In fact, Napoleon Hill, in Think and Grow Rich ties this together with faith.

Combining this with more information from the Book of Mormon (Alma 32), I have come to some realizations regarding faith in a religious sense.

Basically, when most of us talk about faith, it is almost vague. It is ambivalent. Frequently, it is merely a belief that God will save us from the results of our actions, or will protect us from harm, as long as we believe in Him and pray.

However, I think that there is a much more powerful aspect of this that very few of us figure out, and even less actually use.

Joseph Smith, in his Lectures on Faith:

The important part of this is the words: "principle of action". Faith is active, not passive. It is preparing, and doing, not waiting for someone else to do something.

So, if I want to learn a skill, say - woodworking. I will think about what I can accomplish if I learn this skill. I will look at wonderful examples of the master woodworker. I will begin to study the skill, learn the basics, read about it, watch others do the work, and possibly even try to copy some of the particular techniques I see.

Every piece that I work on, I think about it ahead of time. I imagine it. It is a "thing hoped for" and a "thing not seen". It doesn't really exist, except in my mind.

Once I have it in my mind, I begin to make it. Every time I make something, hopefully I improve. I can eventually become a master at the skill, creating wonderful works of art and utility.

Now, what if, when I start to consider learning the skill, I think to myself, "I can't ever get that good. Look at that master over there. He makes such a magnificent little cradle for his granddaughter. I will never reach his level of expertise."

Will I become a master? Not a chance. I may learn the basic techniques, but I will never get really good at it.

Faith, in a religious sense, is the same way. If I accept the Biblical teaching that I am a child of God, that I can accomplish great things, then I will. But if I profess a faith in God, or Jesus Christ, and then just sit back and wait for life to come by, then I am a complete waste of time.

Consider then, the injunctions in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). Can I be a peacemaker? Can I be meek? How can I become more like Christ? How can I obey the commandments that God has given in the scriptures?

To begin with, I can seek after, and use, real faith. I can start by envisioning the FACT that I can become what I WANT to become, not what circumstance is making me. So, if I am dishonest, I can tell myself, over and over, that I AM honest now. If I am addicted to something, and want to overcome it, I can visualize myself without it, pray that God change me to fit that image, and make THAT image part of myself. As my faith and confidence grows, and I keep that image in mind, my life changes to fit that image.

This, to me, shows real faith. It shows HOW to use faith to make changes to myself and my life. It also shows how to use faith to affect other things. For example, if you feel a need to pray that your spouse's health improve, it probably isn't going to do much good if while praying, you keep thinking that there is just no reasonable way that they will improve. Instead, you should focus your thoughts on the result you want to see - your spouse completely free of the affliction. Imagine them getting better. Imagine God reaching out His hand, touching them, and healing them. Read examples, in scriptures and in other places, of God healing people. Whatever you do, don't listen to the naysayers. Shut them out. Don't let their negative ideas destroy your faith and confidence.

That is, to me, the key. True faith inspires confidence. If you don't have confidence in what you are praying for, or working for, the results are not likely to be what you desire.

Finally, in keeping with the stated topic here, fate as well as destiny both imply outside forces acting upon a person. "It is your destiny," just doesn't inspire the idea that you have any control over the outcome. The same with fate.

(Now, I hope that the length of this post didn't put too many people off of it.)

Offtopic but, I did use quotes from outside the Bible as support for the Biblical principles involved. I hope nobody gets offended by this.

Message Edited! I move this to the general Religious Studies board, as I do NOT mean for this to be strictly an LDS, or even strictly based upon Christian understanding.

Edited: Nighthawk on 10th Mar, 2006 - 1:57am

Faith

Dictionary.com defines faith like this:
faith
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.

So what is belief?
belief:
1. The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: My belief in you is as strong as ever.
2. Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: His explanation of what happened defies belief.
3. Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons.

I think the reason that faith is so important in religion is due to the second definition of faith. Accepting something without needing logical proof shows ultimate trust in that person or in this case, belief system. Its the main reason that people like myself cannot accept organized religion or even belief in God because it requires faith, while I require logical proof.

But I have a question. If someone "accepts" the beliefs of a certain faith outwardly, trying to have faith that it is the correct choice, but then harbors doubts deep down, and inwardly questions the validity of their beliefs, do they truly still have faith? Is it a false faith, or is their even such a thing as false faith? If you follow a religions tenets, hoping they are right, is it possible to do such with out faith?

Faith Beliefs Religious General

If you accept the conclusion that Nighthawk stated, that faith is a principle of action, then there's something you have to consider. You can do all the actions of the religion, but without the faith behind it, likely you will not be very diligent, and will not become stronger in your religion, you will not truly have a goal in sight. Basically, it will be pointless, in my opinion.

Here is my question - If a man prays for his wife to be healed and has very strong faith that it will happen, it won't happen if it is not God's will - in other words, if every one had the faith that their loved ones wouldn't be hurt, etc, that wouldn't mean that no one would ever be hurt or die, right? There has to be pain and suffering in this life. So, would it be safe to say that faith is the principle of action if it is God's will that it happen?

Faith

I think that is a very accurate way to say it. However, I would add that faith is a moving principle FOR US. Yes, faith is necessary when asking God to help us with things. But it can be even more powerful as we use it to make changes in our own life.

The man who overcomes a lifelong alcohol addiction does so by an act of faith, even if he does it through AA. Alcoholics Anonymous is an organization that, in many ways, is specifically designed to help people find the faith to make the changes in their lives.

The woman who wins the marathon race does so through an act of faith. That faith is built up by spending many hours in preparation, building confidence as well as muscle. She has the faith that she can do extremely well, or she probably wouldn't enter the race. She may not even be able to identify it as faith. But it is.

I think that this is the type of faith that is necessary, yet in short supply.