Why Faith?

Nice speech, Cap'n, but it sort of reminds me of one I heard earlier from Erich von Daniken. He used Jesus, Muhammad, and Joseph Smith as examples too, but von Daniken also said he believes in a god called the Spirit of the Universe, and that requires some degree of faith, yes?

thats a moronic thought. He must have been drunk at the time.

If faith is based on the level of knowledge on the subject, then how come there is so much divergence in the recoding, translation, interpretation and resulting dogmas within religions (Christian for example with all the hundreds of sects, denominations due to differences in the perceptions of the Bible) let alone between the other religious faiths themselves, as  Captainbryce pointed out?

The problem with faith therefore is that if each individual thinks their faith is correct and the one and only(let alone inter faith and religions) then at best  there is dissention and at worst religious conflict and war.

If the above is true, then what difference does it make for a religious person or a 'theophobic' (whatever that is) to analyse the points of divergence and question their veracity?  As pointed out, not ALL religions can be the truth so what makes yours so special and true?  Muslim scholars or Jewish scholars have at least as much knowledge of the topic as you, so how come you discount their version and insist on your own opinion enough, upon which to build 'faith' and apply it to the most basic and important aspects of your life? 

Where is this 'internal harmony of particular beliefs' springing from?


Surely it is a case ( in Christianity for example ) of that circular argument of' I know my faith is the true one because the Bible says so and I have studied the Bible HUGELY to re-enforce this belief?'  Therefore you don't have huge knowledge of the Bible, you just have huge knowledge of your interpretation of the Bible.   Therefore you have 'faith' because you think you are right about what you have studied and called 'knowledge'   It is , however, based on  a false premise that even the most in depth knowledge of a subject makes the content, a 'truth'.  

goz
Again, it would involve level of knowledge vs. level of opinion. The more knowledge there is of a subject the less guesswork or opinion would enter into it.

However, Bryce is not evencomparing things accurately in the first place since has never been a time that faith would ever be the constant that links all beliefs together
Well, that isn't really circular to say that one puts faith in the Bible because what it says is true unless you happen to learn enough to give an example of that.

Further, it is probably one of the dumber things theophobiacs come up with to suggest that NOTHING that has ever been written can have meaning since everything that has ever been written is a matter of interpretation.

If that isn't what theophobiacs are saying, then what exactly makes the Bible different?

Well done you.

You just completely contradicted yourself.




vs.




...WHILST confirming that the Bible, knowledge of it and interpretation of it is always opinion due to it not being based on any facts therefore ANY 'knowledge of the Bible is based on interpretation and opinion. No matter how much knowledge of the Bible you have, this can never convert to truth or facts.

You, in particular and the religious in general are seemingly totally confused about what constitutes facts, knowledge and meaning  compared to opinion and interpretation.   The fact that you base your whole life around this is alarming to people like Captainbryce and myself.

It has even led him in recent posts to attribute 'craziness'  and mental retardation to such as yourself and other religious people.  I don't go this far.  I prefer to think of you as 'misguided' and indoctrinated within your environment, upbringing and education.