What is Faith?

A quick google search will tell you the following about Faith.

• It is complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
• It is a strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof

All humans since the creation of the world, the Iron age, the middle ages, to the Industrial ages and to Information age we live in today, all have expressed faith in one way or another.
Faith in a supreme being, faith in another individual, faith in an object, faith in science, faith in an idea /concept, faith in nature, faith in an institution, faith in humanity, faith in celestial beings, faith in money and wealth, even faith in oneself. This is something that has been around for a long while and isn’t about to disappear into thin air.

It proves ultimately that it’s just the way we are wired. Humans were created to have faith; we simply cannot do without it. What differentiates us is what we choose to have faith in and how we live as a result of that.

Science even proves the fact that we are just wired that way. An article from the American Psychological Association quoted Jordan Grafman, PhD, director of the cognitive neuroscience section at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
“Neuroscience research supports the idea that the brain is primed to believe. This tendency is spread throughout the brain, and probably arose from neural circuits developed for other uses”.
Faith today is in some cases used to describe one’s religion or irreligion. It is also seen as the foundation of one’s values and how to make sense of life altogether, hence everyone has some form of faith, only that they vary in what  they believe and how much they believe.

Global representation of various faiths

There has been in depth research done that indicate the various faiths(religion and irreligion) that exist in the world.  
The global map below indicates the main religion in each country in the world.

Another detailed study  provides the list of religious populations in the world including those who are agnostic or atheist. Click here to view list of religious populations

So, going by the above data, it shows that 15.2% of the global population of 7.79 Billion are non-religious/atheist, while the rest, 84.8% prescribe to at least one religion. Faith is not going to be extinct any time soon. I bet that even for the non-religious, they most certainly have something they put their trust in only its not a supreme being or deity. This proves the point I alluded to earlier that humans are wired to have faith in one form or another, and will continue to have faith until the end of time. If you got a heartbeat, then you do have faith and when your heart is “tested” then the true essence of your faith is determined.

Stages of Faith

James William Fowler III, American Author and Theologian in his book Stages of Faith created the idea of developmental process in human faith. These stages were along the lines of Jean Piaget‘s theory of cognitive development and Lawrence Kohlberg‘s stages of moral development.

Fowler identified 7 stages of faith, with stage 0 being the primal stage that mirrors early learning in childhood development and concludes at stage 6 the universalizing stage that is the highest achievable state.
In my lay man’s understanding, I can conclude that those in stage 0 have little faith compared to the folks in stage 6 and that faith is dynamic, meaning that it can change and grow. One can thus develop from having little faith to having a stronger faith, and as they do should they find they are not convinced by what the faith represents they can adopt a whole new faith altogether.

Testing of One’s Faith

The stages of faith made sense to me as I recall going through somewhat similar changes in my life. The “angst and struggle”, as Fowler put is aptly describes Stage 4 “Individuative-Reflective”.

This affirms my belief that every individual at a certain point in their lives would question what they believe and why they believe it. Certain challenges come our way that shake us to the core and leave us reeling and we look for something to hold us down, to anchor us on a solid foundation. That “thing” is faith. The “shaking” is the testing of our faith to see if we will fall or will stand. This process causes one to reflect deeply and at times embark on rigorous research to understand why they believe what they do especially if what they thought was a solid foundation gave way when they least expected it.

Gold has to undergo various tests ascertain its true value. It is refined by fire at a temperature of over 1000 degrees Celsius, the impurities float to the top and the pure gold, now molten metal, remains at the bottom. Acid test is also used to distinguish gold from other metals.

Just as gold is refined by fire, so must we go through challenges and take the heat – trials, temptations, obstacles and if our faith is true, we too shall remain.
My next post will cover the common aspects of faith, do share your feedback on this article, I’d be happy to hear your thoughts.