Faith | Beliefs, Practices & History

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<div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/faith">faith</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link 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The black holes-which represent those detected by LIGO on Dec. 26, 2015-were 14 and 8 times the mass of the sun, until they merged," width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/how-do-black-holes-really-work" >How Do Black Holes Really Work?</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <button class="drawerToggle btn position-sticky border btn-xs btn-white btn-circle rounded-sm d-none d-lg-flex " type="button" aria-label="Toggle Drawer"> <em class="material-icons font-18 text-blue" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></em> </button> </div> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="h-100 ml-0 pr-lg-0 "> <div class="h-100 grid gx-0 gx-lg-20"> <div class="h-100 col-sm"> <div class="h-100 infinite-pagination-container d-flex flex-column position-relative"> <div class="position-absolute top-0 h-100 w-100"> <div class="toc-sticky-header d-none d-lg-none bg-gray-50 px-10 px-sm-30 position-sticky w-100 "> <div class="toc-sticky-header-inner-container align-items-center d-flex mx-auto h-100 w-100"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-sm btn-white text-blue border-2 border-gray-100 gtm-mobile-toc-header-button js-sections-button d-lg-none p-10"> <em class="material-icons my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Contents </button> <div class="header-ai-ask-button-placeholder"></div> <div class="header-ai-summarize-button-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="grey-box w-100 grey-box-top grey-box-bottom"> <div class="grey-box-content mx-auto w-100"> <script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement" : [ { "@type" : "ListItem", "position" : 1, "item" : { "@id" : "https://www.britannica.com/browse/Philosophy-Religion", "name": "Philosophy & Religion" } } , { "@type" : "ListItem", "position" : 2, "item" : { "@id" : "https://www.britannica.com/browse/Spirituality", "name": "Spirituality" } } ] } </script> <nav class="breadcrumb mt-20"> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a class="link-gray-600" href="/browse/Philosophy-Religion">Philosophy & Religion</a> </span> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a class="link-gray-600" href="/browse/Spirituality">Spirituality</a> </span> </nav> <div class="page2ref-true topic-content topic-type-REGULAR" data-student-article="false"> <script class="page-description-json" type="application/json"> { "url": "/topic/faith", "shareUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/topic/faith", "browserTitle": "Faith | Beliefs, Practices & History", "firstTopicPage": true, "topicId":200515 } </script> <div class="reading-channel"> <div class="desktop-header-image module-spacing"> <figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-20 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="13684" data-asm-type="image"> <div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"> <a style="min-height: 160px;" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/132384-050-A6A38C8A/Detail-Religion-mural-lunette-series-Charles-Sprague-1897.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/200515/129072"> <picture> <source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/132384-050-A6A38C8A/Detail-Religion-mural-lunette-series-Charles-Sprague-1897.jpg?w=300"> <img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/132384-050-A6A38C8A/Detail-Religion-mural-lunette-series-Charles-Sprague-1897.jpg?w=400&h=300&c=crop" alt="Charles Sprague Pearce: Religion" loading="eager" /> </picture> <button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"> <em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em> </button> </a> </div> <figcaption class="card-body"> <div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"> <span> <a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/132384-050-A6A38C8A/Detail-Religion-mural-lunette-series-Charles-Sprague-1897.jpg" data-href="/media/1/200515/129072">Charles Sprague Pearce: <em>Religion</em></a> <span><span>Detail of <em>Religion</em>, mural in lunette from the Family and Education series by Charles Sprague Pearce, 1897; 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Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). </div> <div class="type-menu"> <label for="feedback-type" class="label mb-10">Feedback Type</label> <select id="feedback-type" class="form-select mb-30" name="feedbackTypeId" required> <option value="" selected="selected">Select a type (Required)</option> <option value="1">Factual Correction</option> <option value="2">Spelling/Grammar Correction</option> <option value="3">Link Correction</option> <option value="4">Additional Information</option> <option value="5">Other</option> </select> </div> <label for="feedback" class="label mb-10">Your Feedback</label> <textarea id="feedback" class="form-control mb-30" name="feedback" maxlength="3000" rows="7" required></textarea> <button class="btn btn-blue" type="submit">Submit Feedback</button> </form> <div class="success-messaging d-none mt-30"> <div class="title">Thank you for your feedback</div> <p>Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-websites-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif pb-15 border-bottom font-weight-bold"> External Websites </div> <div class="pb-20"> <ul class="list-unstyled mt-20 lh-lg"> <li><a class="external" href="http://www.adherents.com/classify.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Adherents.com - Levels of Classification of Faith Groups</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05752c.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">The Catholic Encyclopedia - Faith</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://iep.utm.edu/faith-re/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Faith: Historical Perspectives</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="toc-header-marker"></div> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 js-header-ai-ask-button d-none btn-sm btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 mr-0 mr-lg-10 ml-5 ml-sm-10 ml-lg-0 p-10"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> <div class="md-byline module-spacing "> <div class="font-serif font-12"> <span class="written-by text-gray-700"> Written and fact-checked by </span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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In religious traditions stressing divine <span id="ref24824"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/grace-religion" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">grace</a>, it is the inner certainty or attitude of love granted by God himself. In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Christian</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/theology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">theology</a>, faith is the divinely inspired human response to God’s historical <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/revelation" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">revelation</a> through <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jesus Christ</a> and, consequently, is of crucial significance.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">No definition allows for identification of “faith” with “religion.” Some inner attitude has its part in all religious traditions, but it is not always of central significance. For example, words in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Egypt" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">ancient Egypt</a> or Vedic India that can be roughly rendered by the general term “religion” do not allow for “faith” as a translation but rather connote cultic duties and acts. In <span id="ref24825"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hindu</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Buddhist</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yoga-philosophy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Yoga</a> traditions, inner attitudes recommended are primarily attitudes of trust in the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="guru" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/guru" data-type="EB">guru</a>, or spiritual preceptor, and not, or not primarily, in God. Hindu and Buddhist concepts of devotion (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sanskrit-language" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sanskrit</a> <em><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/bhakti" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">bhakti</a></em>) and love or compassion (Sanskrit <em><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/karuna" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">karuna</a></em>) are more comparable to the Christian notions of love (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-language" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Greek</a> <em>agapē</em>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Latin-language" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Latin</a> <em>caritas</em>) than to faith. Devotional forms of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mahayana" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mahayana</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Buddhism</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vaishnavism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Vaishnavism</a> show religious expressions not wholly dissimilar to faith in Christian and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jewish</a> traditions.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In biblical <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hebrew-language" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hebrew</a>, “faith” is principally juridical: it is the faithfulness or truthfulness with which persons adhere to a treaty or promise and with which God and Israel adhere to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/covenant-religion" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Covenant</a> between them. In <span id="ref239745"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Islam</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Christianity</a>, both rooted in this tradition, the notion of faith reflects that view. In Islam, faith (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arabic-language" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Arabic</a> <em>īmān</em>) is what sets the believer apart from others; at the same time, it is <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ascertained" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ascertained" data-type="MW">ascertained</a> that “None can have faith except by the will of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Allah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Allah</a>” (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Quran" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Qurʾān</a> sura 10, verse 100). The <span id="ref239747"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Letter-of-Paul-to-the-Corinthians" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">First Letter to the Corinthians</a> in the Christian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Testament" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">New Testament</a> similarly asserts that faith is a gift of God (12:8–9), while the <span id="ref751201"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Letter-to-the-Hebrews" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Letter to the Hebrews</a> (11:1) defines faith (<em>pistis</em>) as “the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="assurance" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assurance" data-type="MW">assurance</a> of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Some scholars think that <span id="ref239748"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zoroastrianism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Zoroastrianism</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Judaism</a>, may have had some importance in the development of the notion of faith in Western religion; the prophet <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zarathustra" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Zoroaster</a> (before the 7th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>) may have been the first founder of a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/religion" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">religion</a> to speak of a new, conscious religious choice on the part of man for truth (<em>asha</em>).</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-read-more-module" href="/topic/Christianity/Faith-and-reason#ref301356" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/10/58810-050-09BA4000/Christ-Ruler-Apostles-Evangelists-figures-Santa-Pudenziana-417-ce.jpg" alt="mosaic: Christianity" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-navy-dark">More From Britannica</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Christianity: Faith and reason</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In Christianity the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intellectual" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual" data-type="MW">intellectual</a> component of faith is stressed by <span id="ref239749"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Thomas-Aquinas" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">St. Thomas Aquinas</a>. One of the major issues of the <span id="ref239750"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Protestantism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Protestant movement</a> was the theological problem of <span id="ref239751"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/justification-Christianity" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">justification</a> by faith alone. <span id="ref239752"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Martin Luther</a> stressed the element of trust, while <span id="ref239753"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Calvin" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">John Calvin</a> emphasized faith as a gift freely bestowed by God. A 19th-century German theologian, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Schleiermacher" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Friedrich Schleiermacher</a>, wrote of the subjective nature of faith. In the 20th century, theologians, led by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karl-Barth" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Karl Barth</a>, made conscious efforts to turn away from Schleiermacher’s subjective interpretation.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Notions of religious trust in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/India" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">India</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/China" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">China</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Japan</a> are as a rule different from the notion of faith in Christianity. The “trust” (Pali <em>saddha</em>, Sanskrit <em>shraddha</em>) described in the Buddhist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eightfold-Path" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Eightfold Path</a> is <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="comparable" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/comparable" data-type="EB">comparable</a> to the confidence with which a sick person entrusts himself to a physician. In Chinese traditions <em>xin</em> (“fidelity” or “trustfulness”; the character depicts a person standing by his spoken word) is considered to be an important <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/virtue-in-Christianity" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">virtue</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Matt-Stefon/6763">Matt Stefon</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":200515,"pageLength":538,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","adLeg":"D","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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