Introduction to Christian Faith and Philosophy Essay

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Philosophical challenges to religious understandings of the concept faith

Philosophy of religion is the philosophical learning of the meaning and nature of different religions. It can include the analysis of spiritual concepts, their beliefs and terms, arguments and practices of religious adherents. It is related with various theistic religions. Philosophy of religion can have various aspects which are present in it. For example: it involves all the main areas of philosophy like metaphysics, epistemology, logic, ethics and value theory, the philosophy of language, philosophy of science, law, sociology, politics and history. The range of those engaged in field of philosophy of religion is broad and diverse as well as include philosophers from analytic and continental traditions, Eastern and Western thinkers, religious believers and agnostics as well as atheists. Philosophy of religion draws on all the major areas of belief as well as other relevant fields including theology, history, sociology, psychology and the natural sciences (Baker, James and Reader, 2016). In philosophy, there are various categories which can be included in this like diversity in religion, concept of God and arguments for and against the existence of God, religious language and belief along with the problems of evil and suffering, miracles, etc.

Faith is considered as a source for the justification of person's religious belief for their God according to The Bible. It is a central concept for Judaism and Christianity. The challenges which modern culture provides is the belief in concept of Faith. In other words, it helps the individuals in donating trust, belief or confidence. It is believed that the dynamics of faith is determined more by its object, i.e., the one who believed in, than its subject, i.e., the one who believes. In Christian religion, the importance and dynamics of faith is determined by the One we believe in i.e. God, Holy Spirit, Creator of universe and Saviour of humanity (Baker, James and Reader, 2016). For the people who believe in God has a strong faith as compared to one who does not believe in them. Philosophy and faith are both interrelated to each other.

There are various philosophical challenges which can be presented in context of religious understandings of concept faith which can affect the thinking pattern of any individual. For example: there are many people who have a strong faith on the existence of God or who believes in Deity. These types of people are known as Theist (Edwards, 2016). It can become a big issue as there are many other people also who do not believe in the existence of God known as Atheist. Christians are heavily influenced by the practice and procedures of our non-Christian peers. There are so many chances to have issues in between these two groups based on their faith or belief. "It is not enough to condemn philosophy; we must have a truly Christian philosophy in its place" (Seres, Vass, and Mirnics, 2017: pp. 263-269). In many cases, their assumptions and presumptions do not easily match with Christian philosophy which is a great challenge for them to manage.

Another issue which can arise is that sometimes, it becomes very difficult for the person to make everyone to believe in their faith. Philosophy of religion addresses social and personal practices of an individual (Ellis, 2018). Therefore, it is relevant to practical concerns. In Christianity, faith plays an important role because they consider faith as a belief in Jesus which will bring them eternal life. Regardless of which approach of faith a Christian take, all agree that the Christian faith is aligned with the ideals and the example of the life of Jesus. To a Christian, faith is not static but causes one to learn more of God and to grow individually. Christian faith has its origin in God that is mentioned in The Bible. In Christianity, they must understand the meaning of this before applying it in their life (Philosophy and Christian Theology, 2014).

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The primary challenge which philosophy offers to the concept of faith is that it is itself the part of a historic-cultural process which is influenced by Christian faith. Philosophical challenge can have a huge negative impact on the belief of an individual. There has been lot of debate and logic which is to try to absolve God from the responsibility for choosing state for the majority of his human creation (McGrath, 2016). Existence of God is itself the biggest problem to resolve as it is very difficult to prove his existence since it can neither be seen, hear, taste or smell by anyone. Faith and philosophy have been considered to be the source of justification for religious belief because both serves the same function.

Based on the fact that there are two different categories on the principle of faith, some have held that there can be no conflict in between the two if faith is properly understood and will never produce contradictory or competing claims whereas, others have maintained that faith and reason can be in genuine contention over certain propositions or methodologies which reject this concept of believing in God (McIntosh, 2017). Many Protestants and Roman Catholic theologians in the twentieth century responded to the criticisms of religious belief based on a new understanding of Christian revelation. Nowadays, there are majority of groups who do not believe in the existence of God without any proof which can give them a strong reason to believe in. So, it is difficult to make them understand in the religious value of faith (Migliore, 2014).

Most philosophy of religion in the west is focusing on different versions of theism. It is purely based on the thinking pattern of an individual which can affect the overall impact of his living. According to the people, religion is superior to everything and for them, it has to be maintained properly. Another philosophical challenge which can questioning the religious understanding of concept faith can be related to the classical and contemporary arguments for specific views on God (McGrath, 2016). There are various arguments related to this topic like for example cosmological argument which is given to understand the concept of God or proof of God. This argument helps to build a religious faith in an individual.

There are various models which can be used to understand the reasons behind these philosophical challenges which is occurring nowadays, such as The Psychological Model. This model deals with the human mind or psyche to find out the explanation of their opinion related to their preferences (Faith and Reason, 2014). This will help them to better understand their faith towards the belief which will be very useful to minimize the effect of philosophical challenges. This model is very useful in understanding concept of the term ‘faith’. Another model which can be studied to understand this challenge is the social model which can help them to understand the philosophical challenges which is affecting the social life of an individual. These models play an important role in the upliftment of an individual without affecting their faith or belief in God.

To avoid such challenges, scientific thinking can play a huge role in understanding the term ‘faith’ more precisely. According to this, there are some beliefs or faith that are simply more apt to be adopted or rejected in certain situations than others.  It can be changed according to the time and place as well as situations "Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful" (Gioia, L., 2018: pp. 52). It is very crucial to emphasis on the importance of religious experience and the individual interpretation of beliefs to understand it well and which can help any individual to have a strong faith in his/her belief. It can only be achieved by implementing all these qualities (Novak, 2017). There are many books and articles which are related to this topic and have arguments related to the existence of God and represent it as a superficial power.

The main reason behind this for and against case of the god's existence are mostly cumulative because of the concept of foundationalism. It is a process which concerns philosophical theories of knowledge resting upon justified belief, or some secure foundation of certainty. It is very important for every person to understand the nature of all individual and should respect their belief and faith (Ormerod, 2017). This will help in reducing the challenges which is arising in understanding each other's religious faith. This has to be done carefully in order to live in harmony and pea

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