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  2. Belief that is not based on proof.
  5. A system of religious belief.

All are legitimate definitions, possessing thematic inter-relation.



This is similar to Nietzsche's definition:

"Faith means not wanting to know what is true."

Many atheists regard faith as the act of coming to a conclusion first, and then filtering the facts to match preconceived expectations. In a sense, this is the opposite of science.

While useful for illustrating the problems associated with faith, this derisive use of the term sometimes hinders discussion of the topic, and thus, hinders intellectual growth.



Religions typically assert a number of positions in which they have faith, and do not typically differentiate between positions which can and cannot have facts applied to them. Since most religions do not have formal vetting processes, there is not typically a need for them to do so. This can lead to miscommunication when secular atheists vocalize a rejection of faith. For instance, most religions assert (explicitly or not) the central tenet of humanism: Human beings are morally valuable. As this is a factually-neutral stance, it is an article of faith. Secular atheists (like most people) typically do not reject factually-neutral ideas as fallacies, and (like most people) do not typically reject the idea that humans have moral value. A religious person hearing someone reject faith in general may well misunderstand this statement as a rejection of all moral values, as all moral values are eventually based on factually-neutral premises. This helps lead to the characterization that atheists have no morals.


John 20:29 Bible-icon.png


Faith in the Bible

God gave Abraham a loyalty test: sacrifice your only son. An angel stops it at the last second.


This anecdote demonstrates the view of faith that belief in the claim without requiring evidence is righteous, compared with requiring evidence for belief.

In Hebrews 11:1 Bible-icon.png, it says: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," it also says "[e]xamine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" in 2 Corinthians 13:5 Bible-icon.png. Clearly the writer of Hebrews is simply stating the obvious, that faith is complimentary to a lack of omniscience. The writer goes on to make examples of other Biblical characters who demonstrate faith. Each have faith in something yet unseen, but not necessarily without reason; Noah has the promise of protection; Abraham, the Covenant; Joseph, his father's blessing; the list goes on. They are able to maintain faith because of a lifetime of evidence that God will fulfill His promises. Furthermore, Paul's account in 2 Corinthians 13:5 Bible-icon.png shows that indeed faith is to be tested and not dogmatically held.

Arguments for faith

A number of arguments exist in defense of faith.

    • The idea that a premise should be accepted without evidence and that the premise is better without evidence can be used to justify any claim. One could just as easily believe that God wants people to love their neighbors as one could believe that God wants people to kill their neighbors for working on the Sabbath. For example, faith is often used as a justification for suicide bombers.

Arguments exist within the Christian community (as well as in other religious communities) as to whether faith, when spoken of as a virtue, should apply to all believed premises or only some. For instance, there are those who believe that faith, in this sense, means something closer to optimism, and not a blatant disregard for reality. It has often been argued by linguists that the terms 'faith' and 'hope' are not distinct in the language of the Bible.

Belief in belief

Rather than directly justifying faith, some would argue for belief in belief in a god. Daniel Dennett posits that belief in god may be less common than belief in belief in god. This would allow doubters to act as if they believed in what a true believer believed in. Belief in belief in god would allow them to feel comforted in the knowledge that they adhere to common moral and ethical norms. In addition, this would allow doubters to benefit from accessing all the ready-made social support and acceptance embedded within a religious community.

It would be prudent to also include mention of a more secular, popular meme of "belief" currently in use, especially in the United States. This can be defined by equating its use under the category of “self-help,” or “positive-thinking.” Belief in the notion that “one can do anything one puts one’s mind to” can be very powerful. Belief in this belief has sold many a self-help book, (This is not to denigrate any sincere effort on anyone’s part to strive for personal growth.) and it is just another variable one might add to the amorphous nature of the study of faith and belief.

See also



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