We Westerners learned about Faith from the Catholic and Protestant traditions. It is something akin to an act of Will. Belief in something despite external proof.
In the Catholic Tradition, perhaps the most developed one out there, we find these concepts from Wikipedia, quoting Thomas Aquinas, "It is "the act of the intellect assenting to a Divine truth owing to the movement of the will, which is itself moved by the grace of God"
As I get more Zen in my middle age, practicing meditative techniques, and integrating more spiritual rituals into my days and weeks, this statement by Aquinas just seems weird. Then, there is the classic scripture reference from Hebrews (quoting from my memory), "Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." Perhaps the Authorized Version of the translation is bad, which is quite common in English translations. (When I looked up the Greek terms of this passage, it seems to me to be more in line with Faith being "Intuitive Truth" as the Eastern brothers claim, just by the mentioning of the word "hypostasis" in the original passage. Some of the English translations are very bad, using the word assurance as a translation of the word hypostasis!)
Now, what do our Eastern brothers have to say about Faith? Faith is one of the energies of the Divine, it is one of the Gifts (Charisma) given from the divine. It is Intuitive Truth. Yes! This actually resonates as closer to the intent of the concept.
Those who are involved in creating things know what this is. After days, weeks, months, or years of struggling with a particular problem, issue, or concept, suddenly, out of nowhere, the entire Path Forward appears in our imaginations, and we know the path to pursue to completion. (If you get the term hypostasis, this will resonate with you also.)
Intuitive Truth is like this.
You may also be in a situation, and suddenly, you are consumed with a Revelation that goes like this, "Something is wrong with this picture." And, at that moment, you know something is going on or something has to change. The strange thing is that you will know this with Absolute Certainty.
So after a few years of meditative practices getting to the state of Zen (use your own term here!), we come to know things with absolute certainty, but that are not provable in a materialistic sense of the term. It is an Intuitive Truth. Only those with the Gift (Charisma) of receiving the Truth know this, and only they can communicate among themselves about this Intuitive Truth.
Thus is the Gift (Charisma) of Faith!
Now, tell me, my dear reader, if this makes more sense than what local churches teach. Also, our crazy adversaries called New Atheists typically harp on the non-issue of Faith being the absence of proof.
No! Faith has the fundamental quality of hypostasis! Intuitive Truth!
In the Catholic Tradition, perhaps the most developed one out there, we find these concepts from Wikipedia, quoting Thomas Aquinas, "It is "the act of the intellect assenting to a Divine truth owing to the movement of the will, which is itself moved by the grace of God"
As I get more Zen in my middle age, practicing meditative techniques, and integrating more spiritual rituals into my days and weeks, this statement by Aquinas just seems weird. Then, there is the classic scripture reference from Hebrews (quoting from my memory), "Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." Perhaps the Authorized Version of the translation is bad, which is quite common in English translations. (When I looked up the Greek terms of this passage, it seems to me to be more in line with Faith being "Intuitive Truth" as the Eastern brothers claim, just by the mentioning of the word "hypostasis" in the original passage. Some of the English translations are very bad, using the word assurance as a translation of the word hypostasis!)
Now, what do our Eastern brothers have to say about Faith? Faith is one of the energies of the Divine, it is one of the Gifts (Charisma) given from the divine. It is Intuitive Truth. Yes! This actually resonates as closer to the intent of the concept.
Those who are involved in creating things know what this is. After days, weeks, months, or years of struggling with a particular problem, issue, or concept, suddenly, out of nowhere, the entire Path Forward appears in our imaginations, and we know the path to pursue to completion. (If you get the term hypostasis, this will resonate with you also.)
Intuitive Truth is like this.
You may also be in a situation, and suddenly, you are consumed with a Revelation that goes like this, "Something is wrong with this picture." And, at that moment, you know something is going on or something has to change. The strange thing is that you will know this with Absolute Certainty.
So after a few years of meditative practices getting to the state of Zen (use your own term here!), we come to know things with absolute certainty, but that are not provable in a materialistic sense of the term. It is an Intuitive Truth. Only those with the Gift (Charisma) of receiving the Truth know this, and only they can communicate among themselves about this Intuitive Truth.
Thus is the Gift (Charisma) of Faith!
Now, tell me, my dear reader, if this makes more sense than what local churches teach. Also, our crazy adversaries called New Atheists typically harp on the non-issue of Faith being the absence of proof.
No! Faith has the fundamental quality of hypostasis! Intuitive Truth!
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