Philosophers discovered that faith is not so much a mystical property of religion as it is a conceptual framework of the mind. Such thinkers saw the connection between the things we believe and how we perceive, feel, consider, and act concerning ourselves and the world around us. In short, they concluded that faith helps us make sense out of the world and respond to it in a decisive and personally meaningful way. How this actually happens in each of us was a mystery until scientists discovered the role of the human brain in regards to faith.
It turns out that the human brain appears to be hard-wired for faith. Just as in a computer, our brains contain structural hardware that allows each of us to install and run faith software programs. One need only open a Judeo-Christen bible to Romans 10:17 to find how Judeo-Christen faith software programs are installed in the mind: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Read Proverbs 23:7 and you will find the mind’s running of the faith software program: “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Of course, without the brain/computer, no programming will run.
The usefulness of faith is that it is both directive and interactive. Install program A and you end up with one set of benefits; Install program B and end up with another. The program you enter determines how you see and interact with the world. For example, a person with strict faith healing programming will not seek medical attention for an illness, but will rely on such things as prayer, fasting, and casting out the demon of death: as the illness is believed to be caused by sin and a poor connection to God. However, a person with faith support programming will seek medical attention and pray for God to positively influence the Dr.s’ decisions, skills and the success of the prescribed treatment: as illness is primarily believed to be a biological problem.
There exists a multitude of studies from various fields that demonstrate that what we believe will impact our experience. For example, give a person a pill with absolutely no medicinal properties and tell them it will stop their pain, help their diabetes or cure their headache and, if they believe it, that is what will happen. And now that “the pill made” the problem better, their faith in the pill’s power increases. Yet, it was not the pill that made the problem better, but their faith in the pill which caused the problem to improve.
Ones belief has such a measurable impact on outcomes that researchers must go to great lengths to ensure it is not a factor in their experiments. At this point in time the strength of the faith effect is not yet large enough to be considered as a primary treatment in and of itself. Perhaps this is due to the brain’s faith hardware being different in each person (some people may only be able to run faith version 3.1 and others version 31.6). It may also be that multiple faith programs are running and interfering with each other. Conceivably, once science discovers a method for locating those with advanced hardware and controlling the impact of competing software, faith may become a viable treatment option for certain individuals.
Some investigations are now centering on how one’s faith contributes to a happier, healthier life. Thus far, the direct impact of faith on one’s health has been more difficult to measure than the impact of taking an aspirin; however, the indirect impact of faith is showing more tangible results. The picture of how faith influences our choices helps us maintain hope, and cope with distress is becoming increasingly clear. We see that a person’s faith will impact to what extent she or he seeks treatments, remains engaged and invested in them, and, takes responsibility for them.
It appears that a person who believes that “God will take care of me” will not fare as well as one who believes that the path to recovery is a joint partnership. On the other hand, when there are no options left, the “God will take care of me” belief provides an increased ability to cope with and accept one’s circumstances.
Contact Bierdz
Thomas Bierdz is located in Chicago, IL. USA
His services are available in person, by phone, and through secure E-mail.
He is also available for presentations.
Get a printable 1 page version of this article
Read Next Article
Return to home page