Faith Vs. Fact

Essay Fact Vs. Faith

The difference between fact vs. faith has been puzzling man for since the encyclopedic century or maybe even earlier. It is a topic that has created a lot of controversy. Religious topics always do. Faith and Fact are very much different yet they come together in a way. To me faith is what you know may not be true but believing in it anyway. To explain it better it is "firm belief in something for which there is no proof". Merriam Webster. Faith is kind of like a family heirloom, it was passed down to one's kids. The only reason I believe in what I do is because of my parents. If my parents were Muslim I would would be praising Allah and not God. As I grow up I think more and more for myself and do actually believe in God for myself and not just because of my parents. Faith is questioned on a constant basis but sometimes you have to believe in somethings or you will be confused beyond humanly possible. Fact is a whole different thing. To me fact is something that can be backed up by more than a few sources. Fact defined by Merriam Webster is "a piece of information presented as having objective reality". Fact is what I normally go on. I like for stuff that I believe in to be factual even if sometimes it cannot be. Fact and faith have changed substantially over time. Before anyone questioned the pope or the bible, faith was fact. Whatever was said in the bible was true and if you disputed that then you were prosecuted. Around the time of the encyclopedic century people started to question what was said in the bible. Galileo found that the universe did not revolve around the earth. Once people found that the universe actually did not revolve around the earth they started to question other things in the bible.
There are many differences between fact and faith. Fact can be backed up by any sources. Faith is not usually that factual. Usually faith is centered in one piece of text. Yes, some things in the bible can be backed up by other sources but information like the creation of man cannot be backed up. Fact and faith usually clash. Webster makes a good point "faith is firm belief in something for which there is no proof". One huge topic up for debate is evolution. Fact believes in evolution and faith believes in creationism. There are many pieces of information that back up evolution but there is only one text that backs up creationism and that is the bible. Many people center their life on fact rather than faith because you can not really discriminate against fact. What is real is real and you cannot change that. Fact can be used by all countries and religions and it will still hold true. The dominant faith in an area changes from country to country and even from state to state. Science will always be at "war" with religion. Its a given that scientific fact is revolutionary but people will always have that underlying aspect of God or Allah or whatever they believe in because they have been brought up to just believe what is they know to be true.
Even though faith and fact conflict with each other in so many ways there are some similarities. Many times what is in the Bible is actually true. In many countries people only believe in their faith. So in a way faith is actually fact. In these countries there are multiple texts that back up what is said about their faith. What is said in these pieces of information may not be true in the American sense of the word but in their culture their faith is their truth.
Well this may be taboo to some people that are reading this right now but im going to come out and say it, I believe in God. I may believe in God but I also believe in evolution. I may believe in science but I need something to explain stuff that just can't be explained such as the creation of man. I am torn between two forces. One force tells me to belive in logic and one tells me to believe in faith. It is like the little angel and little devil on one's shoulder. Even though I have faith, science will always be the the driving force behind what I think and what I say.

The Encyclopedic Century: Questions

Questions to consider about content:
1. Encyclopedias are circles of information that did not come about until the 18th century.
2. The history of the Church and the teachings that were in the bible.
3. As time went on more people bought and accepted information that was not only stored in the bible.
4. After time went on the State did not have as much power over what poeple wrote. It is similar to the first amendment.
5. Voltaire seemed to not care what other people thought of his work. He almost seemed like a criminal because of all of the warrants he was charged with.

Questions about vocabulary:
1. Emblem means a general view of what people thought of what a encyclopedia was.
2. philosophe means people who knew a lot about the "circle of teachings".
3. techne means the craft of given person. It may be baker or carpenter.
4. ancien regime was the laws and system of government that was in place during the days of the uprising of the encyclopedia.
5. abstraction means the difference in the culture, or simply diversity.