Gunnar G�llmo <gunnargallmo@...> wrote: > I would like some commentaries=
from native

> English-speakers.

As a native speaker of English, "faith" has a strong teleological--otherwor=
ldly--hopeful --
sense to it. Eg: "Keep the faith" is a current expression conveying another=
's circumstance is
gloomy and painful >>but<< by keeping one's eye on the future all will be j=
ust fine. Its
also widely known that due to the notion of not being able to prove God's e=
xistence, many

>>then<< posit that one's just got to have faith that god exists.

Confidence is the opposite of faith. "Keep the confidence" is odd, not syno=
nymic, not used
colloquially. Confidence has an immediate, co-operative, and rational sense=
to it. If some
says "be confident", it conveys to that one should immediately trust what i=
s at hand due to
an understanding of it.

NB: In the OED, "faith" has a theological section (below i.e. "pertaining t=
o the word of God,
i.e. the Bible") with a number of references.

Confidence has no such section and thus no such references.


hth,


tl


3. Theol. in various specific applications.    a. Belief in the truths =
of religion; belief in the
authenticity of divine revelation (whether viewed as contained in Holy Scri=
pture or in the
teaching of the Church), and acceptance of the revealed doctrines.    b=
. That kind of faith
(distinctively called saving or justifying faith) by which, in the teaching=
of the N.T., a sinner
is justified in the sight of God. This is very variously defined by theolog=
ians (see quots.),
but there is general agreement in regarding it as a conviction practically =
operative on the
character and will, and thus opposed to the mere intellectual assent to rel=
igious truth
(sometimes called speculative faith).    c. The spiritual apprehension =
of divine truths, or of
realities beyond the reach of sensible experience or logical proof. By Chri=
stian writers
often identified with the preceding; but not exclusively confined to Christ=
ian use. Often
viewed as the exercise of a special faculty in the soul of man, or as the r=
esult of
supernatural illumination.