Faith cannot be intellectually defined; faith is the inborn capacity to see God behind everything, the wonder that keeps you an eternal child. What is your faith to you--a wonderful thing or a bandbox thing? Satisfaction is too often the peace of death; wonder is the very essence of life. Beware always of losing the wonder, and the first thing that stops wonder is religious conviction.* Whenever you give a trite testimony, the wonder is gone. The only evidence of salvation or sanctification is that the sense of wonder is developing; not at things as they are, but at the One who made them as they are. There is no set definition of faith* into which you can fit these men and women [viz., from Hebrews 11]; they were heroes of faith because they "endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.
*This is because religious conviction (i.e., "trite testimony") cause you to cease focusing on God and instead focus on yourself and your experiences. Focusing on yourself always leads to death.
*i.e., there is no way to rationally categorize their experiences of faith, no way to make them the 'cookie cutter' standard by which all other experiences of faith mimic and are measured. The only sure fact of their faith is that, though varied in their circumstances, they all saw and focused on the "God behind everything." Ultimately, it is definable and defined ("inborn capacity to see God behind everything," "wonder," Hebrews 11:1-3, etc.); existentially, your experience of faith will be different from others.
(P.S. I have been rather busy and distracted as of late, so I have taken an official/unofficial sabbatical from posting my journal entries. I shall return, though; as for now, expect more post that are quotations of others)
