Why Defend Faith?

[starlightfound]

As you can probably guess, the subtitle of this board, "Defending The Faith" inspired this thread.

My question is this: Why does one feel the need to defend his or her faith? Isn't trust the very definition of faith? If so, isn't faith the armor and not that which needs protecting? Why would one need to protect his shield?

To have faith is to trust in the truth, whatever that truth may turn out to be; it is openness. Nothing can challenge or destroy true faith, because nothing can challenge or destroy the truth.

Belief, on the other hand, seems to me to be in opposition of faith. Belief is conviction of what one thinks is the truth, and rejection of all else. Beliefs can be shaken and destroyed, because convictions can change over time.

The more you cling to beliefs and protect them, the less open you are to other possible truths. When you let go of your convictions and instead rely on faith -- true faith -- there is no longer anything to defend.

Peace and Love be with you.

-Amanda

[Guest]

As you can probably guess, the subtitle of this board, "Defending The Faith" inspired this thread.

My question is this: Why does one feel the need to defend his or her faith? Isn't trust the very definition of faith? If so, isn't faith the armor and not that which needs protecting? Why would one need to protect his shield?

To have faith is to trust in the truth, whatever that truth may turn out to be; it is openness. Nothing can challenge or destroy true faith, because nothing can challenge or destroy the truth.

Belief, on the other hand, seems to me to be in opposition of faith. Belief is conviction of what one thinks is the truth, and rejection of all else. Beliefs can be shaken and destroyed, because convictions can change over time.

The more you cling to beliefs and protect them, the less open you are to other possible truths. When you let go of your convictions and instead rely on faith -- true faith -- there is no longer anything to defend.

Peace and Love be with you.

-Amanda

You are not defending the faith, in the sense that you are justifying your own belief, you defend the faith, for the sake of the person who does not have any. The defense of the faith, apologetics, is a sub-species of evangelism. I myself, was an athiest, it was not until a defender of the faith, shook my core beliefs and made Christianity seem plausable, that I was able to consider the faith objectably. For the next 10 years, I was a skeptic, but finally recognized my foolishness and discovered Jesus, the author and finisher of the faith.

This is what apologetics seek to do, to remove obstacle to the truth. There is no proof that the God of the bible exists, in the purest sense, nor that the Son is the saviour He sent. That will always be known by faith. Some people, will not investigate, until you make Christianity distinct from false religions and mythology.

Finally, you defend the faith, because you observe that Jesus did, Paul did, and we want to be like them, and be obedient to the bibles instructions to defend the faith. We have Jesus, as our advocate in Heaven before the Father, it is fitting that He have us, as his advocates on earth, before men.

Also, it is not faith we are defending, it is THE faith, we are making our case for the facts we accept by faith, we are attempting to reveal truth. You mentioned that belief is the convivtion of what one thinks, but remember, one can have faith in absolute lies. So, we defend THE faith, so people may be open to and have faith in the truth.

What a great question!

By the way, the verse in my signature below, where it says to give an answer, the greek word for answer there, is apologia, the word from which we get our term, apologetics. It means a defense, as one would make it a trial. Make no mistake, the faith is on trial, so, be ready!

[apothanein kerdos]

As you can probably guess, the subtitle of this board, "Defending The Faith" inspired this thread.

My question is this: Why does one feel the need to defend his or her faith? Isn't trust the very definition of faith? If so, isn't faith the armor and not that which needs protecting? Why would one need to protect his shield?

To have faith is to trust in the truth, whatever that truth may turn out to be; it is openness. Nothing can challenge or destroy true faith, because nothing can challenge or destroy the truth.

Belief, on the other hand, seems to me to be in opposition of faith. Belief is conviction of what one thinks is the truth, and rejection of all else. Beliefs can be shaken and destroyed, because convictions can change over time.

The more you cling to beliefs and protect them, the less open you are to other possible truths. When you let go of your convictions and instead rely on faith -- true faith -- there is no longer anything to defend.

Peace and Love be with you.

-Amanda

2 Peter 3:15 counters everything you're saying.

[Guest]

2 Peter 3:15 counters everything you're saying.

Uh, you probably mean 1 Peter 3:15

[apothanein kerdos]

2 Peter 3:15 counters everything you're saying.

Uh, you probably mean 1 Peter 3:15

Blasted typos.

[starlightfound]

As you can probably guess, the subtitle of this board, "Defending The Faith" inspired this thread.

My question is this: Why does one feel the need to defend his or her faith? Isn't trust the very definition of faith? If so, isn't faith the armor and not that which needs protecting? Why would one need to protect his shield?

To have faith is to trust in the truth, whatever that truth may turn out to be; it is openness. Nothing can challenge or destroy true faith, because nothing can challenge or destroy the truth.

Belief, on the other hand, seems to me to be in opposition of faith. Belief is conviction of what one thinks is the truth, and rejection of all else. Beliefs can be shaken and destroyed, because convictions can change over time.

The more you cling to beliefs and protect them, the less open you are to other possible truths. When you let go of your convictions and instead rely on faith -- true faith -- there is no longer anything to defend.

Peace and Love be with you.

-Amanda

You are not defending the faith, in the sense that you are justifying your own belief, you defend the faith, for the sake of the person who does not have any. The defense of the faith, apologetics, is a sub-species of evangelism. I myself, was an athiest, it was not until a defender of the faith, shook my core beliefs and made Christianity seem plausable, that I was able to consider the faith objectably. For the next 10 years, I was a skeptic, but finally recognized my foolishness and discovered Jesus, the author and finisher of the faith.

This is what apologetics seek to do, to remove obstacle to the truth. There is no proof that the God of the bible exists, in the purest sense, nor that the Son is the saviour He sent. That will always be known by faith. Some people, will not investigate, until you make Christianity distinct from false religions and mythology.

Finally, you defend the faith, because you observe that Jesus did, Paul did, and we want to be like them, and be obedient to the bibles instructions to defend the faith. We have Jesus, as our advocate in Heaven before the Father, it is fitting that He have us, as his advocates on earth, before men.

Also, it is not faith we are defending, it is THE faith, we are making our case for the facts we accept by faith, we are attempting to reveal truth. You mentioned that belief is the convivtion of what one thinks, but remember, one can have faith in absolute lies. So, we defend THE faith, so people may be open to and have faith in the truth.

What a great question!

By the way, the verse in my signature below, where it says to give an answer, the greek word for answer there, is apologia, the word from which we get our term, apologetics. It means a defense, as one would make it a trial. Make no mistake, the faith is on trial, so, be ready!

Hi! Thank you for the reply! (To my very first real thread, wooh! ^^)

It seems that we just have two very different ideas of faith.

I used to be an atheist myself, but it was openness and faith (as I understand faith) that led to my finding God. I held firmly to my convictions that there wasn't a God for a long time, it wasn't until I let go of my beliefs, my outside images and concepts of God that God was revealed to me. Only through absolute trust and openness does my faith endure.

By no means am I saying that there are no false beliefs; I'm sure there are many, many false beliefs out there, and I'm sure there are also beliefs that reflect the truth. But beliefs, even ones that reflect truth, are not the same thing as truth. They are merely convictions.

For me, it was the fact that so many Christians have this attitude of "my beliefs are right and yours are wrong" that kept me away from Christianity for so long. I can only speak for myself, but it was not the 'distinction from false religion and mythology' that drew me back to have another look at this path; rather, it was openness to the truth.

2 Peter 3:15 counters everything you're saying.

Thank you for replying!

8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

I mean no offense; I seek only to learn. But why does this contradict what I said? It says to stand firm in faith, not necessarily in your convictions. If you rely fully on faith, and not in beliefs, you defend yourself from being devoured by false beliefs. Faith is what protects us, not what needs protecting.

Standing firm in one's beliefs is not necessarily the same as standing firm in faith. Beliefs are dangerous things; they can limit you and hold you back from the truth. Only when I relinquished my beliefs and decided to accept the truth, no matter what it may be, only when I decided to keep my heart and mind open, did truth find me.

[None]

From here

The Wish Wand

I had a little wish wand and waved it to and fro

Whenever thoughts turned heavenward

or the other place you go.

I thought it safe to trust it with my whole eternal soul

so I wished the life I

[starlightfound]

Hello, None!

I hope I haven't been misinterpreted here... and I hope I'm not misinterpreting you, either!

To me, a belief is a hope that one's preconceptions about the world match up with the truth. Sometimes preconceptions do reflect truth, and sometimes they don't. But as that lovely poem implied: one can believe until his face turns blue, but that doesn't make his beliefs true!

When one experiences something first hand, there is no longer any need for belief; for instance, when one has a spiritual experience and finds God, one no longer has a need to believe in God, because at that point one is no longer relying on preconceptions.

Faith, as I've come to know it, doesn't try to match preconceptions with the truth; faith is having full confidence in truth... no wishing involved!

I have no reason to judge or condemn others over their religion, be they Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Islam, atheist, whatever! I don't wish that all will go to heaven, nor do I wish that anyone will go to hell. I don't have to wish, because I have faith in God's sense of justice.

Edited June 10, 2007 by starlightfound

[None]

You haven't been misinterpreted. It was a hello gift.

If you read through the whole thing, you'll notice it has a lot to do with faith

and, given the fact that her narrative perspective is in Hell at the moment, it gives good reason to "defend faith".

[Joshua-777]

Hello, None!

I hope I haven't been misinterpreted here... and I hope I'm not misinterpreting you, either!

To me, a belief is a hope that one's preconceptions about the world match up with the truth. Sometimes preconceptions do reflect truth, and sometimes they don't. But as that lovely poem implied: one can believe until his face turns blue, but that doesn't make his beliefs true!

When one experiences something first hand, there is no longer any need for belief; for instance, when one has a spiritual experience and finds God, one no longer has a need to believe in God, because at that point one is no longer relying on preconceptions.

Faith, as I've come to know it, doesn't try to match preconceptions with the truth; faith is having full confidence in truth... no wishing involved!

I have no reason to judge or condemn others over their religion, be they Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Islam, atheist, whatever! I don't wish that all will go to heaven, nor do I wish that anyone will go to hell. I don't have to wish, because I have faith in God's sense of justice.

Hola, one thing I've learned about faith, and apologetics, it is really important to know the word, and use it, By faith we know that the Lord is true, and we experience him living in our lives, our faith is solid, but what does the bible say when one contradicts the truth? some examples why apologetics are so important.

1, say your talking with someone calling themselves a Christian, yet there views are totaly wrong, say they believe in Jesus, but they twist his words, creating false doctrines, also misleading younger Christians away from the true meaning of Christ?

Apologetics has a major purpose in the church,

2. Say an Aithiest, wants to know the truth in God, and looking into it for answers, has questions about it, but wants to know, his heart is searching? So you get into a conversation with him, would you use the Word of God, and witness to him?

Apologetics has a major part in an unbelieving world.

God calls us to stand on his word, and use our faith as a shield his word as a sword, when battling against the darkness of this world.