Doesn't intelligence defy faith?
490604
That I absolutely have to disagree with. There are many scientists, including particle physicists, who believe in God. The web site below has articles by a number of them.\n\nMany of them argue against the evangelical 6000-year-old earth proposition. They maintain that the Evangelicals are driving people away from Christianity by insisting that people ignore the evidence of their own eyes.
675946
It takes more faith to believe in evolution.
392137
Yes. That's the trouble with BELIEF. You accept something on faith, whether it makes sense or whether there's any proof at all.
131193
Acting on faith strengthens it. Testing God might not be the same thing
1085572
No the ability and depth of belief or faith is the same among the worshippers in different religions. \n\nThe opposite of demonstrated truth or empirical science, is revealed truth or faith.\n\nAll the devotees of a religion have a belief in something greater than themselves and their community. This greater being is normally their god or gods. The believers' faith shapes their actions and their society. Most believers are so convinced that only their group knows the truth that they will kill others who disagree.\n\nBlaise Pascal said: "There is a God-shaped hole in the heart of every man that only God can fill." From the number of different religions around it seems that the ability to believe in something unprovable or abstract is inherent in every human. \n\nThe only religion that I can think of that differed slightly from the others was the Ancient Romans who had contracts with their deities. If the deity did not perform according to their contract with Rome then the malfactors temple would be closed and a new god installed.\n\nThomas Aquinas in his  "On Sacred Doctrine" said something along the lines that the object of belief must be true because the faithful can believe in their god.\n\nHe splits up acceptance of a faith into:\nknowledge that reason affords\nRevelation  of the supernatural end\nSalvation which they must tend by their voluntary acts\n\nThe different faiths start off with a basic knowledge, which is built up into a theology. Whether the starting knowledge is:\na "holy" book like the Koran, Bible, Book of Mormon etc. , or a "holy" spot like a Sacred Grove, or \nobservations of the seasons and astronomical events, or\nOnastic revelations to a mystic\n the end result is that a religion develops.\n\nMost political systems are not formally recognised as religions but have believers without the trappings of a central godhead.
594805
No, I believe that Faith is a belief.  We are given the information, some more than others, if fortunate.  Then Everyone makes their own decisions.  Faith is a belief in something We can not see, but We Know Exists.  It is hard for Me to Believe that out of Everyone on this site, that No One has ever asked GOD for Help, and not witnessed it arrive very quickly?  I have never read of it.  I hope many, many have.\n\nGood Luck, and GOD Bless
691414
Maybe God isn't as smart as you...
397672
I think some people seek a higher purpose or reason for living. Others just think religion is stupid.\n\nPeople with more education tend to be less religious. Is there a relationship with intelligence? Who knows?\n\nMy guess is "hard wired", but upbringing is part of it.
261878
Faith is not enough to sustain us and make us believe in God. There will be moments when we have doubts.\n\nAll of us wish to have proof. This is the demand of the intellect.\n\nBut there are some things which cannot be proved like in scientific labs.\n\nJust as in science, first we have a hypothesis, we work upon it to prove our theory, similarly first we have to begin with FAITH. but like I said, faith will not help us progress in spirituality. Faith has to change to KNOWLEDGE.\n\nKnowledge about God is a matter of EXPERIENCE. It is difficult to express in many many words to any other person. For example If I have eaten a certain fruit and try to explain the taste to you, I would fail. Similarly no one can explain to someone inexperienced about the pleasure of sex.\n\nEach of us has to create our own personal relationship with God and live according to how he wants us to live caring for our virtues and morality and the outcome of leading such an innocent life is that God reveals Himself to you. for it is not we who have the power to find God until He Himself wishes to make Himself known to a person.
797136
I like the spirit of your philosophy, but as to the exact wording, it seems backwards to me. Try this: We don't know how, but faith allows us to know that everything is going to work out, somehow. Faith is a way of knowing, we can not know everything, but we can understand almost everything if we know the subject matter. More and more facts are coming to light for us everyday that we live if we live in faith, with one small exception. Death always catches us flatfooted. Unless, we are very old and or very wise and courious, and ready to find out.
1017172
Spirituality transcends reasoning. Hence the term "leap of faith"? So don't bother with semantics. You should be flattered there are people praying for you here, jim. I know I would if I were in your shoes. lol.
1081345
I don't know.\n\nI've learned more about what other's think and why they believe as they do.  I've been challenged to think about and answer questions I hadn't considered.  But my faith remains.
445739
No. Absolutely not. The fact that I have a strong faith is a personal decision. What anyone else chooses to believe in is entirely up to them, and I do respect that. I wouldn't be living the way my faith requires if I were to push it onto someone else. I respect their beliefs the same way that I would want someone to respect mine. (Lutheran)
365242
i'm not that comfortble with some rules... such as polygamy etc. i believe faith is not measured in actions but how you believe in the creator
613752
The law does not save us, faith does. Faith does not make the law invalid. We obey the law because of our faith.
1175357
No.\n\nTo accept faith is to distribute the logic behind reason.\n\nReason is merely taking what lies before us and describing how it got there correct?  \n\nAll we can know is what we know.\n\nBut what about what we cannot know?\n\nIf reason suggets that all things arrived from something. faith is accepting that you didn't put it there.  Someone else did.\n\nUsing reason and faith, always that element of faith, we find hope and aspiration.  Contentment.\n\nReason always leads to more questions. \nFaith brings you to a solution.
1083261
They have been brained washed from birth just like people from many other religions.  I think it takes a certian amount of IQ to step back and see these things for what they really are.  They are a growing number of people however that can keep there faith but at the same time remain open minded about other posssibilities.  OH yea the bible quoteing thing ......... thats really annoying