Saturday, August 10, 2013

The Meaning Of Faith

Faith is an important concept in all religion today. But what exactly is it? That's what I hope to explore in this article. I believe the word, in religious context or otherwise, is often misunderstood or not fully understood. So let's start off with a basic definition. According to the dictionary, faith is to have "confidence or trust in a person or thing." It is synonymous with belief, and doesn't require physical proof or knowledge in order to exist. It acts as a driving force behind everything we do.

Let's look at a few examples to illustrate this principle. Do you believe Antarctica is real? Of course you do (I hope). In all likelihood you've never been there and seen it with your own eyes, but someone taught you about it and you believed, or had faith, that what they taught was true. How about turning on a light? Do you believe the light will turn on when you flip the switch? Of course you do, or you wouldn't go to the effort of flipping the switch. Faith prompts action. Would you seek knowledge if you didn't believe you could obtain it? Would you eat food if you did not believe it would nourish your body and keep you alive? The principle exists in all facets of life!

But what about faith in religion? The scriptures teach this concept throughout, so let's look at a couple examples. Paul, in the New Testament, explains that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Similarly, Alma, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, affirms that "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things," and further declares that "if [you] have faith [you] hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

So, what if you have faith that the earth is flat? Does that make it true? Of course not! We can have faith in false things, and that will get us nowhere, and perhaps hold us back from accepting truth when we hear it. To get true results, we must have faith in true things. You could believe with your whole heart that flapping your hands will make you fly, but our bodies are simply not designed to fly, so in all your flapping you will remain on the ground, and perhaps embarrass yourself a little.

Taking a Christian approach, what must we do to exercise sufficient faith in God to gain salvation and eternal life? First we must have faith that He actually exists. Second, we must have a correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes. And third, we must have a knowledge that the course of life we are pursuing is according to His will. If we do this, we will most certainly find that salvation and eternal life we are (hopefully) looking for.

Now, how do we find what things we should have faith in? The same Alma quoted earlier explains how we can do just that. I strongly encourage you to read what he says, which you can find in Alma 32:26-33. As he teaches us, to see if something is true, we must put it to the test. We must give it a try and see if it brings true results. And if we hold onto doubt, we won't really be giving it a fair try, so we must approach this test with an open mind, willing to accept whatever the truth may be. If it does bring true results then it's a true principle, and if it doesn't then maybe not. Basically, faith leads to action, and action on true principles brings true results.

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