All the arguments for God's existence that was examined by philosophers have been subject to

criticism. These criticism are not necessarily conclusive. You may be able to find counter-criticism. But
if you can't find suitable counter-criticisms, does this mean that you should reject belief in God
altogether? Atheists would say that you should. Agnostics would return a verdict of ”not proven.”
Religious believers, however, might argue that the philosophical approach, weighing up different
arguments, is inappropriate. Belief in God, they might say, is not a matter for abstract intellectual
speculation, but rather for personal commitment. It is a matter of faith, not of clever employment of
reason.
Faith involves trust, If I'm climbing a mountain and I put my faith in the strength of my rope, then I
trust that it will hold me if I should lose my footing and fall, though I can't be absolutely certain that it
will hold me until I put it to the test. For some people, faith in God is like in the strength of the rope:
there is no established proof that God exists and cares for every individual, but the believer trusts that
God does indeed exist and lives his or her life accordingly.
An attitude of religious faith is attractive to many people. It makes the kind of arguments we have been
considering irrelevant, Yet at its most extreme, religious faith can make people completely blind to the
evidence against their views: it can become more like stubbornness than a rational attitude. What are
the dangers of adopting such an attitude of faith towards God's existence if you have an inclination to
do so?
Faith, as I have described it, is based on insufficient evidence. If there were sufficient evidence to
declare that God exists, then there would be less need for faith: we would then have knowledge that
God exists. Because is insufficient evidence to be certain of God's existence, there is always the
possibility that the faithful are mistaken in their faith. And, as with the belief that miracles have
occurred, there are a number of psychological factors which can lead people to put their faith in God.
For instance, the security that comes from believing that an all-powerful being is looking after us is
undeniably attractive. Belief in life after death is a good antidote to the fear of death. These factors can
be incentives for some to commit themselves to a faith in God. Of course, this doesn't necessarily make
their faith misplaced, it simply shows that the causes of their faith may be a combination of insecurity
and wishful thinking.
Also, as Hume argued, human beings get a great deal of pleasure from the feelings o wonder and
amazement that come from believing in paranormal occurrences. In the case of putting one faith in
God, it is important to distinguish a genuine faith from the pleasure derived from entertaining the belief
that God exists.    These psychological factors should make us wary about committing ourselves to faith
in God: it is so easy to be mistaken about one's motivation in this area. In the end, each believer must
judge whether or not his or her faith is appropriate and genuine.

In the Creeed we do not say, ”I believe that there is a God”; we say, ”I believe in one God.” Between
belief that and belief in, there is a crucial distinction. It is possible for me to believe that some one or
something exists, and yet for this belief to have no practical effect upon my life. I can open the
telephone directory for Wigan and scan the names recorded on its pages; and, as I read, I am prepared
to believe that some (or even most) of these people actually exist. But I know none of them personally,
I have never even visited Wigan, and so my belief that they exist makes no particular difference to me.
When, on the other hand, I say to a much-loved friend, ”I believe in you”, I am doing far more than
expressing a belief that this person exists. ”I believe in you” means: I turn to you, I rely upon you, I put
my full trust in you and I hope in you. And that is what we are saying to God in the Creed.
Faith in God, then, is not at all the same as the kind of logical certainty that we attain in Euclidean
geometry. God is not the conclusion to a process of reasoning, the solution to a mathematical problem.
To believe in God is not to accept the possibility of his existence because it has been ”proved” to us by
some theoretical argument, but it is to put our trust in One whom we know and love. Faith is not the
supposition that something might be true, but the assurance that someone is true.
Because faith is not logical certainty but a personal relationship, and because this personal relationship
is as yet very incomplete in each of us and needs continually to develop further, it is by no means
impossible for faith to coexist with doubt. The two are not mutually exclusive.

To change the taste of a glass of water, you must pour into something that tastes good. If you want to
change your heart so that ”your heart of stone becomes a heart of flesh,” it must be touched by a new
presence. Saint John tells us that ”God is love” and ”love is God” (1 Jn 4:16,7). To love our enemies, or
simply those whom we dislike, we must accept the love of Him who is Love. We must address
ourselves to Him with confidence and faith, for faith leads us to love: ”we know and believe that God
has for us” (1 Jn 4:16). ”In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only
Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of
God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 Jn 4:9,15). It is by believing in Jesus Christ that we
discover that God loved us so much, that He gave us His only Son. When we discover that we are
loved, we ourselves begin to love: ”We love, because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19).
Faith leads us to love. The reverse is also true: love leads us to faith, for it is through true love that we
discover God. ”He who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know
God; for God is love” (1 Jn 4:7-8).
To believe and to love are one and the same thing. This is God's commandment, that we should cleave
to His Son Jesus Christ and love one another. Then we are truly ”born of God”: ”We know that anyone
born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God (that is, the Son Jesus Christ) keeps him, and
the evil one does not touch him” (1 Jn 5:18-19). ”He does not come into judgement but has passed from
death to life” (Jn 5:24). Thus we are able to overcome Judgement through love. ((1989), The Living
God. A Catechism for the Christian Faith, Volume 2, (New York, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press), pp.
376-377)
When the thief, nailed to a cross next to Jesus, recognised Him as King and the Christ of Israel who
was about to enter through death into His Divine Kingdom, he cried out with confidence and faith:
”Remember me when You come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered ”Today you will be with me in
paradise.” Faith has served the murder from death; in dying, he entered into true life: ”He who believes
in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (Jn
11:25-26).
How the faith of good thief saved him from death? There are two lives. This is the old , the one which
we receive when we come into the world. Saint Paul calls this the life of the ”man of dust” (1 Cor
15:47-49). Sooner or later this life is lost, for it is of short duration. For the thief, it ended upon a cross.
And then there is a new life, the true life, the one which God Himself lives. This is an eternal, divine
life which we recieve through faith and baptism while we are living in this world: this is what Jesus
calls being ”born anew” (Jn 3:3). This life has no end; it is the eternal life which the Lord Jesus gives to
those who believe in Him. When the thief believed in Jesus and said to Him, ”Remember me when You
come into Your Kingdom,” he was born into this new life which is not affected by the death of our
earthly body. He was born into the life of the citizens of the Kingdom of God. In this world, true life
begins with faith and continues beyond death into the Kingdom of God. It is this life which Jesus
promises to His people in the New Covenant.    (140)
When one believes in Jesus Christ, He sends His Holy spirit upon him, and with the Spirit, Christ
bestows the very Life of God. Human life is united to the divine. The first step was taken by God, who
became part of humanity: it was God who became man. The second step is taken by man, who
participates in the divine through the gift of God which Jesus gives to those who believe in Him. Jesus
Christ brings God to man; thereby man can become a partaker of divine life; he can become god. (141)