Is faith, however you define it, a virtue?

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   Steve Orionposted 12 years ago

   Is faith, however you define it, a virtue?
   
   Whether this applies to God, moral judgements, or other aspects of your life, if faith a good thing to have?

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   Sooner28posted 12 years ago

   It's one of the highest vices a human being can have.

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   Lady Guinevereposted 12 years ago

   Jesus talked about FAITH lots in that Bible and when I studied what he was saying it was having FAITH in your self.  If you have no faith in yourself then you will not be able to move those mountains. It doesn't matter weather they be goals for sports, writing, living, buying a house or getting anything that you would need in life.  You must have faith in yourself.

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      Steve Orionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Don't you mean confidence, though? I have confidence when I begin a presentation for school, given I've studied hours, checked sources, and practiced. If I did none of those things, yet feel the same, isn't that faith?

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      Lady Guinevereposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      In my Thesaurus other words for FAITH are:  assurance, belief, certitude, confidence reliance and trust.

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   manatita44posted 12 years ago

   Most certainly.
   Perhaps its opposite is paranoia. Seen in a Higher perspective, it is impossible to find the divine without it. Seen in everyday situation, if we did not have it, we would hesitate when we cross the road, we will mistrust our friends, and turn up to interviews believing that the job is already lost.
   
   Our whole lives will be on edge stressing out for the salary or child that may never come, and our doubts will be too strong, thus overpowering our faith in the system or organisation. It is impossible to live without faith. See how the atheist feels about his son, daughter or motorcar.

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   MountainManJakeposted 12 years ago

   Without spiritual balance in life, one can become unstable in times of great stress.  Having an underlying belief in something greater than yourself can be a calming asset in times of need.

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      Steve Orionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Comfort and utility speak nothing of validity.

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   connorjposted 12 years ago

   If you read some of C.S. Lewis' books (i.e. Mere Christianity) you will learn about this connection...

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   conradofontanillaposted 12 years ago

   It is a good thing if you define it as faith in yourself. Or if you define it as faith that you have your own judgement. It is not a virtue if you define it as: Faith in something you do not know, or in something verifiable but had not been verified. Or faith in what somebody says because he calls himself god.
   Psychological terms are malleable or variable unlike terms in physics or biology. It is a good practice to define a term in psychology or ethics before you use it or as you use it and stick to that definition. This is important if you are using deductive definitions, like "A cat is an animal." Most deductive definitions are correct grammatically but unverifiable. Functional definition is based on function or observation and sometimes serves better than deductive definitions.

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   Seek-n-Findposted 12 years ago

   Faith alone is not good or bad--it is the object of our faith that defines us.  I can have faith in this couch I'm sitting on (faith is belief plus action) because its never let me down--but in this case its not a virtue.  A person can have faith (again, a belief that leads to action) that all people are liars and therefore not trust anybody, ever, no matter what.  This kind of faith is destructive.  It is what/who we put our faith in that matters most!  Good question.

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   Borsiaposted 12 years ago

   It depends on how you define it.
   Belief in something without any solid reasoning, especially something with a shaky past or no proven track record (IE; religious faith) not good IMHO.
   Belief that something will happen (good or bad) based on past experience, good.
   Belief that you can do something based on past performance and reasonable expectations, a good thing.
   Relying on your gut instinct when other information is absent, good.

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    JThomp42posted 12 years ago

    Absolutely, without having faith in God, your family, friends, etc. You are going to be a very miserable person.

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       Steve Orionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I have no faith in God, and am understanding of my family and friends as human beings. I'm not all that miserable, though even if i was I could point you to studies showing no link between atheism and depression.

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