Faith and Acts of Charity
Senior 4 · General and Religious Studies
Faith and Acts of Charity
Lesson 1 of 4
40 min
Jews, Christians and Muslims all look to one man as a model of faith: Abraham. The Letter to the Hebrews says: "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went" (Hebrews 11:8). The Qur'an praises him too: "Lo! Abraham was a nation obedient to Allah, by nature upright, and he was not of the idolaters" (Surah 16:120, Pickthall).
Abraham did not have proof of where he was going. He had a promise, and he trusted the one who made it enough to change his whole life. That is what this unit means by faith: not a vague feeling, but a decision that moves a person's feet. This lesson defines faith carefully and describes the "act of faith" step by step.
Definition
Faith: trust in God and in what God has revealed, accepted as true and lived out, even where it cannot be proved by the senses. In the Bible: "Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
Belief: holding something to be true. Faith includes belief but goes further, to trust and commitment.
Trust: relying on someone, especially when you cannot check everything yourself.
Act of faith: the free response of the whole person to God: accepting God's word and committing one's life to it. (Catholics also give this name to a short prayer that states the faith.)
Iman: faith in Islam; in a hadith the Prophet described it as "an acknowledgement in the heart, a voicing with the tongue, and an activity with the limbs".
Doubt: uncertainty about whether something is true. Many believers see honest doubt as part of the journey of faith, not its end.
Christian theologians since the Reformation have described faith in three parts; the Islamic description of iman covers similar ground.
| Part | Meaning | Christian teaching | Islamic teaching |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | Knowing what God has revealed | Hearing the gospel and the scriptures | Knowing the six articles of faith (Unit 10) |
| Assent | Accepting it as true | "He who comes to God must believe that he exists" (Hebrews 11:6) | "Acknowledgement in the heart" |
| Trust and commitment | Relying on God and living by his word | Abraham "believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6) | "Voicing with the tongue" and "activity with the limbs" |
The Qur'an makes the difference between outward religion and inner faith very sharp: "The wandering Arabs say: We believe. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Ye believe not, but rather say 'We submit,' for the faith hath not yet entered into your hearts" (Surah 49:14). It then describes true believers as "those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah" (49:15). Faith, in both traditions, lives in the heart and shows in life.
A person may stop on any step. A student can know the creed by heart without accepting it; a person can assent that God exists yet never pray; another can trust God in a crisis but not live by his commands. In the full act of faith, all four steps join.
Is faith the opposite of thinking? Neither tradition says so. The medieval theologian Anselm of Canterbury described theology as "faith seeking understanding": believers use reason to understand what they believe. The Qur'an invites believers to think: "Will they not then ponder on the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein much incongruity" (Surah 4:82).
| View | Claim | A weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Faith without reason | Believe without asking questions | Leaves believers open to manipulation by false teachers |
| Reason without faith | Accept only what can be proved | Many things we rely on daily (love, trust in others) cannot be proved |
| Faith seeking understanding | Faith and reason work together | Requires effort: study, prayer and honest questions |
Worked example: analysing an act of faith
Illustrative case. Uwase's mother is in hospital. Uwase prays every night, keeps attending classes and helps her younger brothers with homework. Apply Figure 1:
Her faith is not a denial of the danger: she also supports the doctors' treatment. Faith here is trust that gives strength to act, not a replacement for action.
Warning
Common mistakes
Important
Discuss. Hebrews 11:1 calls faith "proof of things not seen". Can something unseen have proof? Think of everyday trust, for example in a doctor or a friend, and compare it with faith in God. Where is the comparison helpful, and where does it break down?
BibleProject: "The Reason You Can Trust God (Even When It Seems Risky)", about 5 minutes. Listen for how faith is described as trust and loyalty, not only belief.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the opening, Figure 1, the tables, the worked example and the exercises.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
Put the steps of the act of faith in order.
Tap the cards in the right order.
