WAYS OF KNOWING

FAITH

WHAT IS FAITH?
Complete trust or confidence in
someone or something.

EXAMPLES OF FAITH

RELIGION

Catholics find that meaning and

hope in Jesus Christ, whom God
the Father has sent into the
world for the salvation of all
peoples.

GREEKS GODS
The ancient Greeks believed
there were a great number of
gods and goddesses. These
gods had control over many
different aspects of life on
earth.

EXAMPLES OF FAITH
FAITH IN JUSTICE

FAITH IN MYSELF

Faith that everything will work

out at the end.

Faith that Ill be on the right

way in the future.

EXAMPLES OF FAITH
FAITH IN TRUTH

FAITH IN PILOT OF A PLANE

Faith that the truth will save

you, for example if you are
accused of murder.

Faith that hes a good enough

pilot not to crash unless its
inevitable.

EXAMPLES OF
FAITH
FAITH IN YOU WILL WAKE UP IN
THE MORNING

Is Faith rational?
Since you are keen to believe
that something is true, you
convince yourself, on the
basis of little or no evidence,
that it really is true.
And atheist might point out,
as our scientific knowledge of
the universe has expanded,
the role played by God has
contracted.

 Dispite Freuds belief that faith and reason are opposed to one another,
many religious traditions emphasise the rationality of faith.

God has not created

anything better than
reason - Muhammad

Reason and faith are

complementary ways of
seeking the truth
Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas claimed that once we have acquired faith we look at the world differently, and
begin to see Gods fingerprints on everthing.
If you commit yourself to atheism, you will see signs of Gods non- existence wherever you look!

IS FAITH IRATIONAL?
Some religious
believers have taken a
different approach to
the relation between
faith and reason and
have argued that faith
is indeed irrational.
Faith without evidence
is superior to faith
based on evidence.

 One way to trying to

make sense of this
appeal to the
irrationality of faith
is by seeing that
there are limits to
reason.
Also there is no way
we can prove any of
the following
beliefs, and yet we
reaming committed
to their truth

PRO AND CONS OF FAITH

PROS

CONS

A strong spiritual or faith

component can add an
additional layer of support for
someone struggling with an
addiction. Some patients find
that relying on a higher power
and being surrounded by
others who have similar
beliefs are especially helpful
when working to overcome
their addiction.

Many individuals (like humanists,

or Buddhists, or even atheist and
agnostics) are quite put off or even
offended when religion or the Bible
is pushed on them (or shoved
down their throats), which can
easily be their experience with a
faith-based program. Others may
have a religious upbringing that led
to significant conflict or problems
in their life (Catholics and
Pentecostals, among others).