Once again, I am tasked to write an expository on another topic, so here I decided to write about FAITH. By faith I mean things like Buddhism, Christianity, or any religion anybody may have. There exist many doubts and myths about each faith, and there are many believers out there that such a thing cannot exist. However, I shall attempt at answering some of the many questions that I have heard of.
I am sure the biggest question many people have in their hearts is most probably “Does god exist?” I recently read an article posted on a blog written by one of my seniors, talking about the relative proof of god. http://yongology.wordpress.com/2008/04/ . I would suggest a look at the linked page, as many interesting questions are dealt with in the thesis, and also it did conclude with the fact that god does indeed exist in this world. Here is the main point put forth from the proof. God does indeed exist, and this can be proved through logic and reasoning. As to how it is done, interested readers can take a look at this interesting proof.
An important point in the proof of god is the truth of the bible. There is convincing proof about the existence of religious text like the bible, and how these texts are actually real. I agree with the above point totally. Firstly, taking the bible as an example, it was written in many languages by many people around the world, consisting of many books. However, when put together, these books tell us a complete story about the savior. Also, the actual written date the bible was written is closest to the oldest known copy of the bible. Much shorter than Homer or Caesars works at that time. Another point is how the prophecies projected with the bible have been fulfilled, leading us to the belief that the bible is the word of god. As such, we can establish that such religious texts do have a high degree of truth to them.
Now that we have established the existence of god, we shall now talk about the existence of faith. Since we have concluded that there is a god, then we should therefore follow a faith, believing in this god that we have. However, a common disagreement is that faith actually does not, and need not exist. Placing faith in such a position as that it is a simply fictitious, an intangible feeling that humans use to blindly “love “ a god. However, this is my stand.
Faith is a strong belief and trust in something that has been proven, over and over again to be true. Of course, some people may say that faith in god does not fit the bill. However, as we have already shown that there is a god, then we should have faith in the miracles god has given to us Now, to answer the question about the true existence of faith, I shall use a common everyday example, which is, the sitting on a chair. Why are we able to sit on the chair without fear that it will collapse? The fact is that, as this chair has supported you for so long, you have the belief that it will hold you, and will not give way. That is faith. It is the same with religion, as the believers have seen for themselves what miracles that god has done, they believe in him, and hold his faith. Therefore, faith does exist within each of us, its just that some have a weaker belief than others.
Now that we have decided that religious faith is a reality, we shall deal with the topic on why we should hold a religious faith. Faith is something that gives the human soul a resting place, somewhere to hide and hold still. This feeling is mainly due to the fact that faith is dependable. It is like how when a baby is scared it wants its mother. Faith is just a mother to us lonely and afraid human beings. Believers in god seek this faith to enable themselves to feel safe. So where is the problem with believing in any religion, and how can this be of any harm? Since god exists and faith is not some mental problem, believing in a religion is nothing to be scorned at.
Of course, there pops up the question of “Which faith should I accept?” To this question, I have the following answer. Go with your heart. Since faith is something that is decided upon by YOURSELF, trust in YOUR feelings. Nobody can make you have a strong faith in something YOU don’t believe in. Of course carrying faith to the extremes can be damaging (terrorists), a faith will help you out when you are feeling down, or just need somebody or something to depend on.
To conclude my points in the above piece, I feel that there is nothing wrong or unholy about believing in a god, be it god or Buddha or the prophet. After all, faith is something that we all need and depend on, and the method of which you derive faith makes no difference to what it does to your life. I hope that any non-believers have learnt that god and faith are actually important and very real in today’s world.
