Religious faith and human faith Faith as trusting

Religious faith and human faith Faith as trusting in God Faith as believing God--believing what God says Faith as trusting other human beings and believing what they say because you trust them The importance of trusting others and believing what they say What you presuppose when you trust another and believe such and so on their word: --That the other exists. --That the other has told you something. --that they have told you such and so.

The difference between religious faith and human faith Human faith Existence of the person believed in is usually obvious. That the other is telling you something is usually obvious. What the other is telling you is usually obvious. Religious faith Existence of the person believed in is not immediately evident. That God is telling you something is not evident. What God is telling you is not evident.

Is religious faith rational? Anthony Flew, “The Presumption of Atheism” (can easily be found on the web by Googling the title) “The Presumption of Atheism” is a misleading title for the proposition that one ought not believe that God exists without “sufficient evidence”. If one ought not believe that God exists without sufficient evidence then one ought not presuppose that God exists without sufficient evidence. The major weakness in Flew’s position: There is no way to specify what counts as sufficient evidence.

“Spirituality without Religion”? Ed Mc. Queen’s essay as typical of a fairly common attitude: “I’ll leave you with these last words. I am not religious, but I am spiritual. I see beauty in the natural world; sunsets and the starspeckled sky at night, mountains and oceans. . . These are things that prove for me that God exists, not the threat of Hell or the promise of Heaven, and for sure not some greedy cult leader with a pulpit and a congregation. Church is where you share your beliefs, not where you find them. You find belief and its cousin, faith, in Life itself. ”