Faithfulness and God

Paper Summary:

This research examines the concept of faithfulness as it relates to religion. The research sets forth the context for looking at the religious principles that reflect moral character and then discusses how faithfulness to God's principles reflects a commitment to moral thought and action, as well as a faith and trust in God.

From the Paper:

"The life of faith might seem to involve a simple idea about belief in God, but in fact faith is a very complex concept. The term is used in various ways in the Christian tradition. There is of course the famous statement of Jesus when he calms the storm in the sea of Galilee: "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" (Matt. 8:26). In that context, faith is to be interpreted as the equivalent of absolute trust, or more specifically, the equivalent of man's unquestioned trust in God. The spiritual experience of trust is thereby interpreted as the actual experience of faith. This idea is also in the background of Paul's injunction to the Corinthians, in his discourse about how the first-century Christian community ought to behave: "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (I Cor. 10.13). Psalm 91 makes a similar point, characterizing the Lord as "my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust . . . He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler." In The Book of Common Prayer, the latter line of the Psalm runs thus: "his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler." The slight difference in the meaning of faith conveyed in these various contexts is that faith is not a one-way street, inasmuch as those who do have faith are said to be able to rely on God's good will and/or providence in situations of moral uncertainty."

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