On 4/25/2011 14:10, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:09:12 -0700, Darren New wrote:
>
>> On 4/25/2011 10:35, Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> On Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:31:09 -0700, Darren New wrote:
>>>
>>>> If it doesn't stop being
>>>> faith just because you're right, it doesn't stop being belief just
>>>> because you have justification for the belief.
>>>
>>> But it does stop being faith when you have knowledge that you are
>>> correct.  Faith is by definition trusting rather than knowing.
>>
>> Right. Just like you can have faith in something that turns out to be
>> true, you can have a belief in something of which you are certain.
>
> But it's not necessary - because you are certain, right?

Certainty is a measure of the strength of your belief. Your belief doesn't 
stop being a belief when you're certain, any more than a fact stops being 
true when you obtain evidence to support it.

I believe the sun is up *because* I have evidence. If I didn't have evidence 
(or I had evidence to the contrary) I would believe the sun is up because I 
have faith. I might have that faith and belief that the sun is up even if I 
was in a closed room, and regardless of whether the sun actually was above 
my horizon or not.

Belief and faith describe mental states. Those descriptions don't speak 
about the truth of the belief. The difference between belief and faith is 
not whether it's correct, but whether there's evidence available to the one 
doing the believing to support of contradict the belief or faith.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Coding without comments is like
    driving without turn signals."

Post a reply to this message