The following questions need to be answered with regard to faith:
- What is faith?
- Is faith a rational quantifiable phenomenon, or is faith an abstract human experience?
- Is faith a) a wish/ hope for something to be true b) an affirmation of something we know to be true or c) something that is completely unrelated to truth, and in fact, I can have faith in something that I know to be false
Based on the above:
- Is faith a “place holder” for truth, ie we will have faith until I no longer need it, because I know now that that statement x is true?
- Is there an “expiry date” on faith? Ie I will only have faith for y amount of time, where after if the statement is not known to be true I will declare that statement to be false?
These questions will serve as a background for the real purpose of these posts, examining the Jewish tradition and its relationship to faith.
To be continued…