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Faith is simply a belief that what someone says is true, whether it's implied, or said explicitly. Faith is not evidence for what was said, or implied.

Faith and belief are two different things entirely. Faith is spiritual, whereas belief is temporal. You can believe in Christ, yet have no faith in him at all. The world may acknowledge Christ's existence and as such the world may believe in Christ, but there are but few who have faith in Christ.

Certainly you must have a belief in Christ to have faith in Christ, but there is no corollary conclusion that all who believe in Christ have faith in him. Just as not all people who believe in Airplanes are willing to fly on them.

Faith and belief are two different things entirely. Faith is spiritual, whereas belief is temporal. You can believe in Christ, yet have no faith in him at all.

Fascinating distinction, P-Marlowe! "Faith" has additional connotations which "belief" lacks: the idea of trust. So I agree with your observation, "You can believe in Christ, yet have no faith in him at all." If you believe in Him, but do not put your trust in Him, then you have no faith in Him.

Faith comes from the Latin word fides — which, in English, in addition to "faith" carries the meanings: trust; loyalty; honesty; credit; confidence.

Thank you so very much for your outstanding insights, P-Marlowe!

Re: Faith is simply a belief that what someone says is true, whether it's implied, or said explicitly. Faith is not evidence for what was said, or implied.

"Faith and belief are two different things entirely. Faith is spiritual, whereas belief is temporal."

Faith is a type of belief and it is not limited to spiritual claims. An example is a sergeant that has faith in his general and vice versa. In the example, the details of the sergent's belief is implied. As far as religeous faith goes, it is solely dependent on believing what someone has told, heard, or read.

"The world may acknowledge Christ's existence and as such the world may believe in Christ, but there are but few who have faith in Christ."

The sergeant may believe the general exists and at the same time have no faith in him and vice versa. Usually though, the world simply does not believe what someone has told them about Christ.

spunkets: Faith is simply a belief that what someone says is true, whether it's implied, or said explicitly. Faith is not evidence for what was said, or implied.

P-Marlowe: Faith and belief are two different things entirely. Faith is spiritual, whereas belief is temporal.

First, spiritual and temporal are unrelated. Spiritual and non-spiritual and temporal and non-temporal are related, so you are comparing apples and oranges.

Second, faith (trust) and belief are two faces of the same coin. If you have faith in something you believe in it. If you believe something you have faith in it. What spunkets was asserting, correctly in my opinion, is that faith, as in the biblical verse you posted, it is an a priori (blind) acceptance.

But even this is questionable, because I seriously doubt people would have faith in God if there was no promise of rewards in heaven but just plain nothing after death. So, I think the faith people have is conditional on the hope that God will deliver his promise. It's rather selfish if you think about it. It seems people don't love God for being God but for what he will do for them, sort of like "what's in it for me" thing.

So very true, dear brother in Christ, thank you for your insights!

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. - James 2:19