Depending on the religion, faith is belief in a god or gods or in the doctrines or teachings of the religion. Informal usage of faith can be quite broad, including trust or belief without proof, and "faith" is often used as a substitute for "hope", "trust" or "belief". Some critics of faith have argued that faith is opposed to reason. In contrast, some advocates of faith argue that the proper domain of faith concerns questions which cannot be settled by evidence. This is exemplified by attitudes about the future, which (by definition) has not yet occurred.
Read more about Faith: Etymology, Epistemological Validity of Faith, Faith in World Religions, Support, Criticism
Famous quotes containing the word faith:
“For by superior energies; more strict
Affiance in each other; faith more firm
In their unhallowed principles, the bad
Have fairly earned a victory o’er the weak,
The vacillating, inconsistent good.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“My life is superficial, takes no root in the deep world; I ask, When shall I die, and be relieved of the responsibility of seeing a Universe which I do not use? I wish to exchange this flash-of-lightning faith for continuous daylight, this fever-glow for a benign climate.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I have loved her all my youth,
But now old, as you see;
Love likes not the falling fruit
From the withered tree.
Know that love is a careless child
And forgets promise past;
He is blind, he is deaf when he list
And in faith never fast.”
—Sir Walter Raleigh (1552?–1618)