William K. Clifford sets out to show in “The Ethics of Belief” that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence…” In this paper, I will show that his argument lacks key definitions needed in order to found his inference upon and that it begs the question as to what qualifies as “insufficient” evidence. Furthermore, I will show that the primary issue is not the belief but the results of the belief that is important and that all judgment and interpretation should be based upon said results.…
This essay is mostly defending the rationality of religious faith with evidence of religious truth lacking. In section X William James says, “In truths dependent on our personal action, then, faith based on desire is certainly a lawful and possibly an indispensable thing.” William James defends that religious beliefs depend on ones personal actions and can also be justified through ones faith based on desire. He states that the evidence of religion ultimately depends on our belief. James concludes that whether we choose to believe or not we decide our own…
Locke values reason over faith, because it provides the foundation for our consciousness. If man could not trust his reason he wouldn’t have any grounding of truth whatsoever “there would be left no difference between truth and falsehood, no measures of credible and incredible in the world” (Chapter 18 Book 4). As a result of this, Locke believes that faith can…
Faith is a private matter and by definition is not based on proof . We don’t live in a theocracy and our legal system is governed by empirical evidence, by proof, and it is one in which actions have consequences. So the argument that “It isn’t morally right for us to decide whether a guilty person lives or dies, that’s up to god” isn’t a valid argument, for if one chooses not to decide, one has still made a choice. Furthermore God has not been proven, so god need not be considered in our application of law and justice. And for that matter, why don’t the religiously faithful see jurors, judges, prosecution, and defense as being instruments of God’s will? Indeed it could be argued that true unadulterated faith would require precisely this…
How did thinkers from the late antiquity to the renaissance explore the relationship between faith and reason?…
Justification means that God declares us righteous by his grace.[1] Historically, this issue was started when Martin Luther separated from the Roman Catholic Church.[2] Martin Luther 's understanding of justification was one of the main dividing points in the record of Christian theology. In his production of the German New Testament in 1521 his translation of Romans 3:28 was, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith alone without the deeds of the law.”[3] This interpretation and the emphasis on the word “alone” was to cause a conflict with Catholic doctrinal views on the issue and an essential rift in doctrine. The reaction to the doctrine of “faith alone” or Sola fide from the Catholic Church was in the extreme. “Great abuse was piled upon both Luther and his doctrine because of this single word, alone. He was accused of falsifying the Scriptures, of adding to the Bible, and of destroying the historic faith of the Catholic Church. For Rome and its authoritative magisterium this settled it—Martin Luther was a heretic! He plainly added to the dogma of Christ!”[4]…
Faith can be defined as two things really: the first, as having complete trust in someone or something, and the second, as having strong belief in God or the doctrines of a religion (Dictionary.com). Although the definitions may appear as two seemingly detached possibilities, in essence they are much the same – at least for Piscine Molitor Patel. With a scientifically advancing world however, faith is a quality which has undoubtedly dwindled from the mindsets of many individuals; so-called factual evidence, numbers and statistics are all what replace it in order to build the…
Two subjects are key to understanding Catholic faith: the preambles of faith and the motivation of faith. The preambles of faith include those rational steps through which the believer reaches the conclusion that belief in God is reasonable. The freedom of faith is respected by affirming that such a conclusion is as far as the preambles can take one. That is, the preambles show that there is good evidence for the existence of God and that belief in God is reasonable, but they cannot establish God’s existence with absolute certainty or beyond rational doubt. Thus, the preambles leave one free to accept faith or to reject it.…
I will support my claim that faith alone and nothing else justifies humans by arguing that humans in the natural world are inherently flawed and therefore incapable of justifying oneself without a higher power and also by contending that good works don’t provide anything in one’s justification because good works are often not done out of good intentions but rather ulterior…
The capacity for reasoning is compared against religious faith frequently, no mores so than when Pi is drifting through the Pacific ocean and his faith, not logic, that enables him to survive: “I was giving up. I would have given up – if a voice hadn't made itself heard in my heart. The voice said, ‘I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. [...] The amazing will be seen every day. [...] Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen.’” (148) Pi’s refusal to accept his fate allows for room for god to re-flourish, and his new-found faith comforts him even in the darkest of times, as evidenced by the quote, “It was natural that, bereft and desperate as I was, in the throes of unremitting suffering, I should turn to God.” (283-284). From the carnivorous algae island, “By the time morning came, my grim decision was taken. I preferred to set off and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life of physical comfort and spiritual death on this murderous island,” (282-283) to when he goes blind and has a gruesome conversation with another blind castaway. In this way, Pi allows his faith to prevent or block his fears, regardless of which religion embodies that…
I believe that by definition faith and reason contradict each other, causing them to be incompatible. A person who relies on reason to interpret reality is using logic, probability, and induction to arrive at conclusions about the world. The use of faith, by definition, is to go against these principles. It is to believe in or arrive at a conclusion that is not the most reasonable option, thus why it is an act of faith.…
Faith is not mistrust or doubt. So although you may believe someone is telling the truth, the fact of the matter is that you really do not have faith in them if you have the slightest doubt in the back of your head that they are lying. Another example of what faith isn’t is shown in today’s U.S. court systems. The jury has to believe without a shadow of a doubt or have complete faith that the person on trial did not commit the crime. Discovering what faith is not was somewhat easy, but there are plenty of examples of what faith truly is.…
individual is going to have their own answer to this question. It can differ so…
Explaining how important faith is, is very hard than explaining how much you love food. Isn’t it? Because faith is something we do consciously or unconsciously. It is something we do to feed our spiritual needs. Things that may not stuff our stomachs, but things that fulfills our hearts. It is more of gratitude rather than satisfaction.…
The pursuit of truth has never been a small undertaking, and simply developing a workable sense of what constitutes truth can be difficult in and of itself. The issue is further compounded upon recognizing that some people, those of religious persuasion, approach the quest for truth solely through faith while others, like scientists and philosophers utilize reason to varying degrees. Around the 11th century, both the economy and population of Europe began to expand and increasing contact with other cultures, especially the Islamic, leading to a more varied intellectual life. Greek philosophy became a renewed interest because of the recovery of certain Greek texts. This presented a comprehensive and coherent world-view based on reason, rather than faith. Such a powerful rationalist account of the Universe clearly posed a significant challenge to the Christian interpretation. And while some framed this issue in terms of a conflict, others sought to reconcile the two, believing that both could lead to Truth. Faith and reason have standing issues in the theory of the ultimate truth and take different approaches to the question; however, a reason approach seems to be more superior.…