Oleg Cherne

Faith

In the world today faith has become a universal concept that has passed from the phase of objectivity into the phase of subjectivity. On the one hand, faith is a personal matter of each and everyone, and no one should dictate or determine the faith of others. On the other hand, faith is also a condition Man encounters before he’s even able to determine, analyze or evaluate this concept.

Today the reaction to faith has already become something larger than faith itself, which in fact makes the issue unconstructive. Faith should not depend on emotions or feelings, its should be a meaningful and deeply personal act. If we really believe in something, it becomes, first and foremost, our responsibility. The problem arises when people operate with the concept of faith yet they do not in fact represent themselves. In this case it is generally difficult to determine who this believer is and why does he need this faith.

Faith is a very important concept for each and every person. In our lives we are often forced to make certain decisions based on faith since we do not fully and objectively understand what is going on and why. Faith is the most important condition for our existence, however if our behavior in faith does not strengthen our understanding, we fall victims to beliefs and thus deprive ourselves of the conscious evaluation of what faith actually gives us and why we need it.

By faith people often understand certain religious principles where knowledge is not important; what is important is above all to live in faith. In this case, actually, there’s nothing to discuss: everyone has the right to decide what he should be. Faith however is not a narrow concept. Even the phrase ‘to believe in oneself’ (which means to represent oneself) is important not only for ourselves but also for our understanding of faith as a certain effort. Even if this effort is a willful one, this is already a condition for the next step.

I suggest we examine faith in broader terms, imparting to it at least the meaning of reasoning, and not of reaction, into which we devolve when we lose faith in ourselves.