Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept.[1] In the context of religion, faith is "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".[2] According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, including "something that is believed especially with strong conviction", "complete trust", "belief and trust in and loyalty to God", as well as "a firm belief in something for which there is no proof".[3]
This article is about religious belief. For trust in people or other things, see Trust (social science). For other uses of faith, see Faith (disambiguation).
Religious people often think of faith as confidence based on a perceived degree of warrant, or evidence,[4][5] while others who are more skeptical of religion tend to think of faith as simply belief without evidence.[6][7]
In the Roman world, 'faith' (Latin: fides) was understood without particular association with gods or beliefs. Instead, it was understood as a paradoxical set of reciprocal ideas: voluntary will and voluntary restraint in the sense of father over family or host over guest, whereby one party willfully surrenders to a party who could harm but chooses not to, thereby entrusting or confiding in them.[8]
Accordingly to Thomas Aquinas, faith is "an act of the intellect assenting to the truth at the command of the will".[9]
Religion has a long tradition, since the ancient world, of analyzing divine questions using common human experiences such as sensation, reason, science, and history that do not rely on revelation—called Natural theology.[10]
Etymology[edit]
The English word faith finds its roots in the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root *bheidh-, signifying concepts of trust, confidence, and persuasion. This root has given rise to various terms across different languages, such as Greek πίστις (pístis), meaning "faith", and Latin fidēs, meaning "trust", "faith", "confidence".[11]
Furthermore, the Proto-Indo-European root *were-o- adds another layer to the word's etymology, emphasizing the notions of truth and trustworthiness. This root is evident in English words like veracity, verity, and verify, as well as in Latin with verus, meaning "true".[11]
The term faith in English emerged in the mid-13th century, evolving from Anglo-French and Old French forms like feid and feit, ultimately tracing back to the Latin fidēs. This Latin term, rooted in the PIE root *bheidh-, encompassed meanings such as trust, confidence, and belief.[11]
Religious faith[edit]
Extent of religious faith[edit]
Referring to "religions" (plural), Pope Francis claims that "the majority of people living on our planet profess to be believers".[15]