THE QUESTION

Defining Your Faith

What passage or verse in scripture or literature best defines your own faith or beliefs? Why?

Posted by Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on August 15, 2007 5:28 AM
FROM THE PANEL

We All Are Chosen People

My favourite verse- or perhaps verses- are Isaiah chapter 42 verses 6-7. It's really verse 7 I love: I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will support you, and set you as a...

Posted by Julia Neuberger, on September 5, 2007 6:52 AM

"You Shall Be Holy"

There is no more exalted formulation of the human condition and our role in the universe than these words of Lev.19:2.

Posted by David Saperstein, on August 21, 2007 2:14 PM

Why I Try to Serve God and Others

The message is simple, the path is plain: serve others. It is what we were created for.

Posted by Eboo Patel, on August 21, 2007 9:37 AM

"God...commanded light...."

What’s wrong with me? “Not a problem,” some “On Faith” commenters would say and without hesitation have told me. More thoughtful, a cognitive therapist would muck about in my ideas to find the one labeled “Mail System Error: This message...

Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on August 21, 2007 8:11 AM

Meeting God with a Sound Heart

The Quranic verse that best defines my faith is the one where God rhetorically asks, “Did you really think that we created you in vain and that you would not return to Us?” (23:115). "أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا...

Posted by Hadia Mubarak, on August 21, 2007 7:11 AM

In Art, Truth in Part

I doubt I'm alone in saying my beliefs can be inspired, magnified, by what I read, often in unlikely places.

Posted by Gustav Niebuhr, on August 21, 2007 6:58 AM

Ar-Rahman, the All Merciful

Scripture, it seems to me, ought to reflect the beauty of God's love and grace as much as nature.

Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on August 20, 2007 10:27 AM

A Doctor's Prescription

“Take two pills and call me in the morning”, said the Doctor. Today’s moral, political and social climate demands a more viable prescription in order to address the ills inundating humanity today. Regardless of one’s faith experience or lack thereof,...

Posted by Samuel Rodriguez, on August 20, 2007 8:48 AM

A New Creation

I have seen the process that the Apostle Paul described repeated hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of times.

Posted by Charles "Chuck" Colson, on August 20, 2007 7:16 AM

Only One Verse is Necessary

Were all else lost forever from the Christian Bible, that single verse would be more than enough as surviving remnant to start over again from scratch.

Posted by John Dominic Crossan, on August 17, 2007 10:17 AM

Mary's Magnificent Magnificat

I pray every day to the Blessed Mother to help me live my life in the spirit of her Magnificat.

Posted by Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, on August 17, 2007 9:07 AM

"Thou Shall Not Stand By"

Leviticus 19:16: “Thou shall not stand by.” It expresses the need to intervene on behalf of those in danger or need – in other words: we must never be indifferent....

Posted by Elie Wiesel, on August 17, 2007 8:40 AM

An Inexhaustibe Treasure

This is the kind of question that could be asked once a month and we’d never run out of things to say. It also calls for a very personal answer....

Posted by Michael Otterson, on August 17, 2007 7:18 AM

Words of the Living God, even When I disagree

“These and These are both the words of the living God.”

Posted by Irwin Kula, on August 16, 2007 9:44 AM

"I Love This Poor Earth, For I Have Not Seen Another"

I derive comfort and inspiration from voices -- these great, fallible human voices -- raised in praise of mortal life.

Posted by Susan Jacoby, on August 16, 2007 8:32 AM

A Faith Journey

No single passage can sum up God or our relation to him.

Posted by Thomas J. Reese, S.J., on August 16, 2007 7:13 AM

More than a Sign at a Football Game

For the Christian, the classic and central verse is John 3:16, because in that one sentence encapsulates the essence of the Gospel message: God loves us so much He sent his only Son so that whoever believes in Him should...

Posted by Cal Thomas, on August 16, 2007 6:06 AM

The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5-7 puts into words what Jesus lived in deed, and it keeps surprising me with new levels of meaning - and challenge.

Posted by Brian D. McLaren, on August 15, 2007 9:12 AM

"Blessed Are the Peacemakers"

The duty to be a peacemaker ended up being the reason I left the Lutheran Church and joined the United Church of Christ at age 18.

Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on August 15, 2007 8:22 AM

"O Mankind, God Created You . . ."

As a musician I've always been fascinated by the creative process and how it relates to music, God and the Universe. Innate talent, hard work and intuition seem to guide this magical, mysterious and musical manifestation of our thoughts and...

Posted by Salman Ahmad, on August 15, 2007 7:04 AM

"All Things" in One

It's amazing what one can get out of one verse from one letter in one book.

Posted by Martin Marty, on August 15, 2007 6:51 AM

My Favorite Bible Verse

God so loved (extent) the world (all) that He gave (donated) His only begotten Son (all that He had) that whosoever believeth on Him (no exception) should have everlasting life (endless joy in His presence). I favor this verse because...

Posted by Gardner Calvin Taylor, on August 15, 2007 6:29 AM

FEATURED COMMENTS

lepidopteryx: Since I don't have my book with me, I'll try to reconstruct as best I can from memory: In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth...

Chip: Some of my favorite Robert Ingersoll quotes, whose words have always inspired me. "When I became convinced that the universe is natural – t...

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