I am enrolled in the BYU Idaho Pathway program. This past week as I was studying for my religion class, I watched a talk given by Elder Bednar to church educators. In his talk he presented the topic of Learning by Faith. I liked this idea and chose his talk to study because the idea made me curious. I have studied Faith and learned about faith but had never really given much thought to learning by faith.
Elder Bednar points out, by quoting 2 Nephi 33:1, that even teaching by the power of the Holy Ghost can only carry the message "unto" the hearts of the students but the message can only enter into the students heart "only if the receiver allows them to enter" and that learning by faith "opens the pathway into the heart."
"... for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth [the message] unto the hearts of the children of men."
2 Nephi 33:1
Here's the basics that I learned from his talk. There are three elements or components of faith that he presented.
- Faith as the assurance of things hoped for that are true
- Faith as the evidence of things not seen
- Faith as the principle of action in all intelligent beings
Elder Bednar describes the three components as simultaneously "facing the future, looking to the past and initiating action in the future." He gives as an example of this idea of Nephi when he returned to Jerusalem to get the brass plates. Here's how he describes it working in our lives.
Faith in Christ is tied to hope in Christ which provides us with confidence to act on inspiration, assured that the needed resources will be provided to us. In other words, evidence from past action provides us in the present with hope that allows us to act in the future with confidence which brings additional evidence that begins the cycle again. He described this as a helix coil spiraling upward in a continuous unbroken stream with each element tied to the other.