Welcome to the Faith Section
Hello! Glad you could come to this section! If you're curious about why I bother getting up and going to church on Sundays, or want to explore part of what makes me tick, you're in the right place. Faith. It's what keeps me going when I'm sad, keeps me rejoicing when I'm happy. I'm no politician, who has to hide his beliefs for fear of losing votes. Think of me what you will for believing what I believe, but please don't dismiss it - I can't, despite all my scientific training and life experience so far.
What then is faith? Well, it is said that 'faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we cannot see' *. So I guess the first thing you should ask yourself is what you hope for? Do you hope for a happy life, loads of money, 2.4 kids and the occasional lottery win? The answer I am sure is yes; even I do (although I'd have to find the lottery ticket as I don't buy them by principle). The usual argument that you will be expecting now is that worldly wealth doesn't count for anything so what's the point of it all....well, sure, it's true, but the church has got all the people we're going to get from that argument. Fact is that worldly wealth is pretty distracting and it takes big jolts of experience (for example seeing happy people in extreme poverty), to make you realise that you can in fact be happy without your iPods.
Hope, in the faith definition, refers to something else then. So what can you hope for that isn't material? Well, the next part of the definition gives you a clue. Being certain of what you cannot see. Ok, we do this all the time. I'm certain that air exists because I'm breathing and living. But certain about God? That's where most people fall away. How can I be certain about this concept when everything today tells me I need scientific proof before I can accept anything? Is it worth devoting time and energy to this when I can live my life perfectly happily without it? From experience (and that is perhaps the only information source that is reliable) it is worth it. I know God exists and I can see him. Not as an apparition for the Ghostbusters to tackle, but in what happens around me every day. In people like you and me, who try and make a difference to the world for the better. Being selfless just does not compute for science. It shouldn't happen. We should be fighting to the death all the time for superiority (and in some places we do, it seems).
Why then do I see God like this? Well, ask yourself: what kind of people generally try and do good? No, the answer is not Christians. Loads of people do. Based on what though? Usually, you'll find it's a religious code of morals that has been embedded in society for a long time. People may not be conscious of it, but will do stuff anyway due to their ingrained societal values. I'd therefore like to think that there's something in these morals, if people have been following them blindly and if 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' to adopt these laws. What 'doing good' comes down to is essentially a search for something other than the latest phone or gadget to make us feel better. I believe that this is part of the search to be closer to God, who we cannot see, visually, as an entity. This, then, is what we as Christians are sure that we hope for. To be closer to God. This is faith.
So, feel free to explore the different sections of 'faith' here. I hope that you will not just dismiss the God thing as irrelevant. Maybe you've been to sunday school as a child. Maybe you've not been to church at all. Maybe you've had a bad experience as a Christian and you've drifted away. My advice to everyone is that God still wants you, no matter who you are, and if you want to explore, he will open the necessary doors for you to do so.
*FYI: This is from Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 1