by Pat Frownfelter

Created on: May 02, 2009

Hebrews 11:1; "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Though one would rather not have this argument boil down to semantics, there is somewhat of a certainty that it will, so let's take the steps to define what faith and belief actually are. Though I may be speaking from my own bias, I hope I can be as objective as possible in my search. There are several questions that come to mind in considering the question posed:

1) What is faith?

2) What is belief?

3) Is there a distinction between the two?

As you can see above, Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as being "sure what we hope for" and "certain of what we do not see." Faith, therefore, is merely certainty in what God has planned for our lives and the lives of others.The person who has faith can walk his/her path unhampered, certain that God above will care for and watch over Him as he walks, giving him exactly what he needs to continue walking. Whether the walk slows or quickens is of no concern to him/her, as faith provides strength to slow down or speed up accordingly. Faith, in one light, is God's presence in an individual's life, despite lack of clarity. Faith, therefore, stands to more than just confidence in one's own ability, but that of an intangible God. Faith suspends the need for empiricism and rationality, though does not reject either concept. Faith can use both empiricism and rationality well, but also functions just fine without either of them. We also know that faith is not something one can attain out of one's own will. We cannot will ourselves to have faith, but God can will us to have it, and he alone grants it unto us. Faith acts more than an emotion, as it is not swayed by happiness or sorrow or anger. It remains as a sound foundation for one's life.

Belief is defined by Webster's dictionary as " a state or habit of mind in which confidence or trust is placed in a person or thing." By Webster's definition, therefore, belief is simply accepting what one knows in the matter. Belief can easily be linked to a matter of simple head knowledge one acquires. Every denomination the church has a statement of beliefs of one kind or another, be it The Apostles Creed (which many denominations recite) or the Sixteen Fundamental Truths (linked with the Assemblies of God), etc. Beliefs can be obtained by human effort. If a man wants to know about war and pacifism, he need only read a few books or perhaps some articles to determinewhetheror not he should join the army or not.

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