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Originally Posted by planets
The basis of faith is wholehearted belief, whether or not there is objective or empirical justification, so to question something before accepting it is akin to asking for evidence. Which defeats the purpose of faith.
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"Faith" is what we define it as. To me it is simply something which goes beyond that which is physically provable. What you describe I would call blind faith.
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Do you have faith in religion, even if someday the artifacts are proven to be false? Will your faith be shaken should you find out one day that the answers you have gotten through "questioning it first" are not entirely correct?
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I don't believe it is possible to "know" answers. One's faith is an emerging and evolving process which is never complete. This is part of the reason why it is necessary to consider scripture as "living" text. If one is not open to reevaluating one's understanding of it in light of historical context, it is nearly worthless.
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Of course then there would be many things to question. How does a person who was not borne into a religious family seek to 'find' his faith? Do we develop faith out of nothing? Is our capacity for faith inherent in us?
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I would argue yes. Faith is not developed out of nothing however. It is developed in the context of the world: the phenomenon of man, the beauty of science, every interaction between man and man or man and the universe.
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It is heartening that there is at least someone who believes that baptism is not a necessary rite for catholics. I would go so far as to claim that in fact, no rite is necessary for any religion.
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Indeed, this is a stance of the Catholic Church. One who rejects what one does not know is good cannot be held accountable for their ignorance. Hence, while the Catholic Church believes that it contains the fullness of Truth, it recognizes that other religions also contain Truth and that because of this one need not necessarily be Catholic or Christian for that matter to find God, or whatever one may call it, simply that the Church is a more conducive environment to this.