'''Faith'''<ref>1200–50; Middle English feith < Anglo-French fed, Old French feid, feit < Latin fidem, accusative of fidēs trust, akin to fīdere to trust.</ref> extends beyond belief to include confidence about something unseen, such as the achievement of [[God]]'s will. Faith goes beyond materialism to include a realization of the underlying reality, for the goal of achieving good.
Jesus's definition The entire Chapter 11 of '''faith''' was this: "Faith is the foundation of our hopes, the evidence of the unseen." ([[Epistle to the Hebrews (Translated)#11:1|His Epistle to the Hebrews]]), possibly written by [[Jesus]], is devoted to explaining faith, which is unique to [[Christianity]].
Faith embodies more than belief, requiring more than mere thought or emotion. Faith elevates one's being, while belief is limited to a mental state or emotion. Faith implies a [[causation|causal]] role by the believer in an outcome<ref>For example, the Biblical [[Peter]]'s walking on water based on his faith.</ref> or in overcoming a personal fear. Faith also implies advancement or accomplishment rather than wrongdoing, while belief implies neither.
''See also:'' [[Ineffectivness of counseling psychology]]
The Christian group [[Teen Challenge]] reportedFile:{{Cquote|Teen Challenge claims of a 70% cure rate for the drug addicts graduating from their program attracted the attention of the U.S. Federal Government in 1973. Most secular drug rehabilitation programs only experienced a cure rate of 1-15% of their graduates. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part Conversion of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, funded the first year of this study to evaluate the long term results of the Teen Challenge program.<ref>http://teenchallengeusa.com/studies2.php</ref>}} Teen Challenge has a number of studies that indicate the high effectiveness of their drug treatment program compared to other programs.<ref>http://teenchallengeusa.com/studies.php</ref> Studies indicate that consumers of secular counseling [[psychology]] for [[alcoholism]] receive hardly any benefit at all.<ref>http://www.spring.org.uk/2005/07/psychological-treatments-for-alcoholism.php</ref><ref>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/5/75/abstract</ref> The [[Apostle St Paul]] in a letter to the church of [[Corinth]] indicated that [[Christianity|Christians]] were able to overcome being drunkards through the power of [[Jesus Christ]] (I Corinthians 6:9by Nicolas-11)Bernard Lepicie, 1767. [[Image:St Paul Preaching.jpg|rightJPG|thumb|200px|St. The Conversion of [[St Paul]] defends his preaching (Giovanni Ricco)by Nicolas-Bernard Lepicie, 1767.]]
The [[Apostle Paul]] wrote:
{{cquote|Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were [[Justification (theology)|justified]] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the [[Holy Spirit|Spirit of our God]]." - I Corinthians 6:9-11 (NIV)}}
The website ''The Berean Call'' has a number of articles on various false claims and unbiblical notions that many practitioners of counseling psychology promote.<ref>http://www.thebereancall.org/topic/psychology</ref>
Perhaps the greatest description of faith is Hebrews 11:1. It states: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."<ref>Hebrews 11:1 (NIV).</ref>
[[File:St Paul Preaching.jpg|thumb|left|The [[painting]] by Giovanni Ricco (1817-1873) shows Paulus before that "high priest and the advice of the oldest" in Jerusalem where he defends its theology for the moors.]]
The King James Version expresses this passage as: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The Greek word translated as "substance" is `hupostasis', meaning setting under (support). The Greek word for "evidence"`elegchos' meaning proof.,<ref>J. Strong, 1890, <i>Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible</i>, Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN.</ref> The Bible thus distinguishes clearly between the <i>leap of faith</i> of Kirkegaard and a faith based on acknowledgement of the evidence presented by God within our own experiences in this world. Paul, in Romans 1:17-20 explains that faith has its basis in the observed expression of God's existence in this universe: "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen...."
==Faith as a virtue==
[[Image:Konrad Witz – Petri fiskafänge.jpg|thumb|right|210px280px|The 'walking on water' episode, which both showed and tested St Peter's faith ([[painting ]] by Konrad Witz).]]
[[St Paul]] identified faith, [[hope]] and [[love]] (or [[charity]]) as the three greatest [[virtue]]s that are central to Christianity, and this idea is repeated and elaborated upon throughout Christian tradition. Faith is put first because it provides the foundation upon which the other two are built: a faithful heart and mind cause one to have hope, and hope causes one to have love for God and one's fellow man.
*[[Salvation]]
*[[Atheism]]
*[[Witnessing]]
*[[Divine faith]]
==References==