Arguments on W.C. Smith

Wilfred Cantell metalworker a much respected Canadian pietism academic died in 2000 solely as other great thinkers the likes of him his work outs continue to live after his passing.metalworker has dealt extensively with the matter of assurance and how we as people interpret or understand it on a daily basis. Faith according to smith is the essence of humanity and it is for this tenability that much of his work has delved largely on this matter.Before we go any move on it is important to appreciate that Smith is a world class bookman who spent sometime teaching a Christian mission college in the Indian subcontinent before and after it was divided to create Pakistan.While there he developed an appreciation for the Muslim trust and on his return to Canada he helped set up the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University. He by and by on moved to Harvard where he became the Director of the Center for the Study of human being Religions.Never one to be held down by convention s, his biggest aim was to move out-of-door from the Christian theology he had long dealt with, as a pupil and teacher, to a much broader way in which a better perceptiveness of religion can be attained. Smith once described his work as the search for conceptual clarification of mans relation to transcendence. (Jagger, 2004).Religion obviously has both depots that go hand in hand, persuasion and doctrine, as far as many people are concerned. Smith mat that faith is not only feature that defines religious life (Smith, 1998) but more what fully defines the human life.Faith according to Smith is different from belief. not the matter that in Christianity the two terms represent the same fiber and have therefore been used interchangeably as was used in the New Testament to in the translation of the word pistis (Smith, 1997).Smiths beef, if you will, with belief today is that belief seemed to have acquired different meanings in English everyplace time and it has brought about muc h confusion.In Believing An Historical Perspective, Smith asserts that faith is concerned with persons and on the other hand belief refers to pro impersonates (Smith,1997). This led to his expression that belief has come to simply mean a lack of certainty, i.e. believe in something that may not have f stand forual truths.Belief is an horizon or conviction (Random House Dictionary, 1996). This definition is one that made Smith discount belief as something that can influence religion. Smith has dealt win with this matter in another one of his works, Faith and Belief.He felt that the changes that have occurred the terms faith and belief are his reasons for the position he holds that religion is not about belief. About religion itself, Smith argues that the terms faith and cumulative tradition are more smart terms for it.Smith points out that faith, though also very diverse, does not lure manifold interpretations as the term belief does. He also sees faith as cutting across all the religions of the world and it is what compels people to act in accordance to what their religion teaches.This point is what has won me over to Smiths idea that religion is not about belief. I am in total agreement with Smiths view of things here.In particular many people have followed Smiths point of persuasion and today the term transcendence is gaining ground around the religious circles. And whenever the term transcendence is invoked what comes to mind is Buddhism, so its clear why Smiths observation takes all the religions under its his wing, so to speak.