If faith is a gift

[BDBoop]

If faith is a gift, then how can any fault be found in one who was not given it.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

What makes you think anyone was not given faith?

 

[BDBoop]

What makes you think anyone was not given faith?

Talking to atheists.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Doesn't mean they didn't get the gift, it just means they don't like/want/use the gift. A bit like you don't use that gift from your mother in law. You know the one I am talking about, the one you only bring out when she is visiting.

 

[BDBoop]

I don't get it. Why even bother bringing it up if we all allegedly have it, - yet some very obviously don't.

My housemate cannot make that leap. Her mother works for the Methodist Church, and you'd think she would be so blessed, but no. She felt like odd duck out of water because faith is not logical, and she is very logical. It didn't make any sense to her. Period.

Doesn't look to me like she got the gift.

 

[The Infidel]

What makes you think anyone was not given faith?

Talking to atheists.

If an Atheist really believes there in no God... then who in the Hell is going to give them 'the gift'?

A true atheist could care less about me and my God, and the gifts God gives me.... as long as I leave them alone about it. (which I do.. because my life can speak volumes of who I am and who my God is)

 

[BDBoop]

Calm down, mister.

This isn't a call to arms. I posted because I want to know if others see it as I do. It's a gift. Obviously not everybody is given said gift, or there would be no atheists.

That's logical, in my estimation.

 

[The Infidel]

Calm down, mister.

This isn't a call to arms. I posted because I want to know if others see it as I do. It's a gift. Obviously not everybody is given said gift, or there would be no atheists.

That's logical, in my estimation.

We may be asking the same thing in a different way...

I say if one is Godless, then they wouldnt recognize the gift in the 1st place. They just call it something else... like perhaps, optimism or perseverance.

 

[Sky Dancer]

If faith is a gift, then how can any fault be found in one who was not given it.

First of all, I disagree that faith is a gift. It may be a natural outcome. As a Buddhist, rather than saying I have "faith in the Buddha", I may instead saying I have "faith" or confidence that Buddhist meditation can positively affect one's mind. In my case, "faith" or confidence in meditation is a natural outcome of meditating.

As for the other part of your sentence, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. People who say they "have faith" may have just as many character flaws as the people who say the "don't have faith".

 

[BDBoop]

Okay, I'm talking about Christian faith, based on the Bible.

Ephesians 2:8-9

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

 

[Sky Dancer]

Okay, I'm talking about Christian faith, based on the Bible.

Ephesians 2:8-9

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Okily, dokily. Carry on.

 

[BDBoop]

I always thought that was a pretty cool verse, because it puts out there "Okay, well, don't go getting all cocky. Faith is a gift, this is like being born with blond hair and blue eyes." Check yourself.

 

[TrinityPower]

Faith is a gift...when I read the question I thought of the line in this song which says....faith hope and love are some good things he gave us....but the greatest is love
[ame=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fvj6zdWLUuk]YouTube - Alan Jackson-Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning[/ame]

 

[Steelplate]

I always thought that was a pretty cool verse, because it puts out there "Okay, well, don't go getting all cocky. Faith is a gift, this is like being born with blond hair and blue eyes." Check yourself.

Good passage to dissect. To me, I always thought that the grace of forgiveness was the actual gift. The gift itself is the reward for believing. Faith tends to come and go....at least for me, anyway.

I mean I always have core belief. But when it comes down to "walking the walk".....I flounder quite often.

Lastly....I sometimes think that some Christians have their own insecurities that drive them to demonize and lambaste others for their sins......so they can say..."well at least I'm not a __________"

Not judging them, mind you...we are all trying to get through this life the best we can. We all make mistakes and we all fall short of the glory of God.

Imo....faith can be cultivated, but the grace of forgiveness comes from God....not works.

 

[BDBoop]

I always thought that was a pretty cool verse, because it puts out there "Okay, well, don't go getting all cocky. Faith is a gift, this is like being born with blond hair and blue eyes." Check yourself.

Good passage to dissect. To me, I always thought that the grace of forgiveness was the actual gift. The gift itself is the reward for believing. Faith tends to come and go....at least for me, anyway.

I mean I always have core belief. But when it comes down to "walking the walk".....I flounder quite often.

Lastly....I sometimes think that some Christians have their own insecurities that drive them to demonize and lambaste others for their sins......so they can say..."well at least I'm not a __________"

Not judging them, mind you...we are all trying to get through this life the best we can. We all make mistakes and we all fall short of the glory of God.

Imo....faith can be cultivated, but the grace of forgiveness comes from God....not works.

I once got tossed out of youth group for trying to dissect "Okay, but was it like waving a porkchop in front of a vegetarian 'tempted', or did he really want to do it - tempted?"

 

[Avatar4321]

By asking for it. And hearing the Word.

 

[TrinityPower]

Many things in the bible are gifts and promises...they both require you to receive them or take them. It is what you do afterward that changes who you are because of them you can sit a gift on a shelf and look at it. Keep it in a box and store it or take it out and use it for its intended purpose. If you use it you may not have the technique down right away of doing it quite right but if you keep at it then it becomes more natural to you to use regularly....I see faith and forgiveness in the same way.

 

[BDBoop]

By asking for it. And hearing the Word.

She did both. Like I said; she was raised in church.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I don't get it. Why even bother bringing it up if we all allegedly have it, - yet some very obviously don't.

My housemate cannot make that leap. Her mother works for the Methodist Church, and you'd think she would be so blessed, but no. She felt like odd duck out of water because faith is not logical, and she is very logical. It didn't make any sense to her. Period.

Doesn't look to me like she got the gift.

I am just going to skim over this real quick because it would take a long time to go back and forth through all the arguments. There are two schools main of thought on this, and a lot of different interpolations of those schools. The first school is those who believe everyone is given a small gift of faith, and the other school believes that only certain people get faith, and the rest do not. Either way, it is still the responsibility of each individual to respond to that faith.

There are actually some very good logical arguments for faith, most people don't know them because the prefer to approach God emotionally rather than rationally. Some people even teach that the only way to get to God is by turning off the intellectual part of your being because it just gets in the way. They do God a great disservice when they do that. He created us, He can handle us asking tough questions.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I always thought that was a pretty cool verse, because it puts out there "Okay, well, don't go getting all cocky. Faith is a gift, this is like being born with blond hair and blue eyes." Check yourself.

That is exactly what that verse is about.