As C. S. Lewis observes in his book, Mere Christianity, there are two contexts in which people typically use the word faith. The first is to describe the set of beliefs a person holds. In this sense, the faith a person has might refer to the religion they follow. But when we consider faith as a virtue, it seems strange to think that holding one set of beliefs over another can be a virtue. In fact, when we talk about faith being a virtue, we’re talking about faith in the second context. To understand what we mean by faith in this context, we need to understand how that set of beliefs is formed.
When you evaluate the truth of any statement, you look at the evidence for and against the statement. If you are more convinced by the evidence for it, you will likely accept that statement as true. Of course, while considering the evidence on both sides, you need to set aside any preconceived notions that might interfere with your judgement. If you are evaluating the claims made by Christianity, for example, this means setting aside almost everything you think you know about the world – everything from the history of Earth to the physical laws that are thought to direct our universe. You need to be prepared to accept the supernatural, for if Christianity is the real deal, there is more to the world than what we perceive.
Once you have cleared your mind of bias to the best of your ability, you look at the evidence for both sides of the statement and make an informed decision whether to accept or reject it. Of course, by rejecting a statement you are really just accepting a different one – there is no middle ground, no compromise between two opposing ideas. Either the Earth is round or it is not; either we orbit the Sun or we do not; either God is real or he is not.
Having accepted a statement, it is faith that keeps you convicted of that statement. I believe that the Earth is round and that we orbit the Sun – I have faith that these ideas are true. What that means is that if some alleged discovery was publicised saying that the Earth is actually cube-shaped, I’d disregard that conflicting idea because of my faith in a round Earth. However well-presented and convincing the discovery may be, I do not suddenly decide to drop my former belief – at least, not without re-evaluating all of the evidence.
When Peter saw Jesus walking on the turbulent water (in Matthew 14:22-33), he realised that Jesus was divine and had authority over the physical laws governing the wind and waves. He saw the evidence – Jesus walking on water – and believed in Jesus’ divinity. But after he stepped out of the boat to join Jesus, it transpired that his faith was lacking – he saw the raging winds and momentarily doubted, sinking into the water. Peter had formed the belief that Jesus had power over the waves, but when that belief was challenged by the ferocity of the storm, his faith was put to the test and found lacking.
When we form beliefs, we need to develop the faith to keep those beliefs. That is, we need to be faithful to those beliefs. And not blindly: blind faith is no faith at all, for you are simply ignoring each alternative rather than examining it and accepting or dismissing it. If we understand faithfulness to be a virtue, like goodness, patience, or kindness, then like other virtues it is something we develop over time as we commit to godliness. Except it is not us who makes the change, but God, whose character we begin to reflect as we follow his Son’s example.
Another key to developing faith, in any belief, is to revisit that belief on a regular basis. Don’t just accept it and forget about it – that’s only going to make you more likely to change beliefs like you change clothes. Instead you need daily reinforcements to build up your faith in that belief. It is largely for this reason that Christians regularly read the Bible, pray, and attend church with other Christians – to grow their faith and the faith of those they spend time with.
I’ll finish with this paragraph from Mere Christianity.
Now Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods ‘where they get off,’ you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith.
Observations 