Difference Between To have Faith and to have a Belief

The two words are almost the same in meaning.  One can define “Faith” as strong trust in someone or something, strong religious feelings or a system of religious practices.

To have faith is to believe in an idea or person, even though there may be no concrete proof of it. Faith can be applied to a religion, doctrine or even an individual person. Faith may motivate you to do something out of the ordinary, even though there is no evidence that you can do it or have done it earlier.  Faith is a form of trust and loyalty to someone.

Examples:

• I have faith in God that my life will get better.  (Trust)
• He belongs to the Christian faith. (Religion)
• We elected our Prime Minister because we had faith in his promises. (Trust)
• Our faith in the government has been shaken by its failure to keep promises. (Broken trust).
• I have faith in your ability to pass the exam. (Trust and loyalty)
• Faith can move mountains.  (Even the impossible can be done if you have faith).
• Martha has faith that her husband will return to her some day. (Unreasonable and blind trust)
• Gavin has faith that his handicapped child will be completely normal one day.(Unreasonable trust)
• Faith in God will help you face problems in life. (Trust)
• I have faith in your talent.  Go out there and win the competition.  (Trust and loyalty)
• I have lent him a large sum of money and I have full faith that he will return it shortly.  (Trust)
• You have cheated me so many times that I no longer have faith in you. (Lack of trust)

Belief is an acceptance that something exists or is true, especially something without proof. Belief is when you accept an idea or a proposition as true and valid, even though it might not be logical.  Your reasons for fully believing in the idea or proposition may not be valid, even faulty, but you firmly believe in it. You believe in something called destiny and you believe in fate, even though there is no proof why bad luck hits you for no fault of yours.  See examples given below all of which display a kind of opinion which is not backed up by proof and may not necessarily be true.

• He has a strong belief that there is human life on Mars.  (Opinion)
• The Taliban will fight for their beliefs (ideology) till they succeed.  (Opinion)
• Not all human beliefs are worthy of respect and tolerance.  (Practices which have no logical reason)

• My belief is that the ruling party will be re-elected next year.  (Opinion)
• Belief in re-incarnation exists in certain religions.  (No proof of re-incarnation)
• Not everyone follows the belief that the cow is sacred and therefore beef must not be eaten.  (A practice without any logical reason)
• My belief is that despite very little rain this season, there will be no drought. (Opinion)
• My firm belief is that every human being has some good qualities, even murderers.  (Opinion)
• The director of the company had a firm belief that only a new product could change its profits for the better.  (Opinion)
• His belief is that the government will fall within two years.  (Opinion)
• My belief is that a rapist should get the death penalty.  (Opinion)
• In the belief that Brian would marry her, Maria quit her job.  (No proof for this belief merely an assumption)

To sum up, faith is trust while belief is an opinion or practice which is not backed by proof nor by logic.

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