Abstract

The problem of understanding the concept of faith is simple--faith is a diverse phenomenon. The problem is important because: faith is not well understood; misunderstandings concerning faith have significant ramifications, and; technology brings individuals of different faiths closer together. Yet, this inquiry faces obstacles including the myriad conceptions of faith, the fervency of faith and the occasional irrationality of faith. Sessions argues against any univocal Platonic concept of faith. Instead, various concepts of faith are analogous; they share a Wittgensteinian "family resemblance." But how does an analogous concept of faith comprehend faith's diversity? To answer, Sessions proposes examining six models of faith. Models serve as heuristic devices to help understand the many conceptions of faith, which in turn will elucidate the one, analogous concept of faith which gathers "together a 'family' of variously resembling and differing conceptions of faith".