Don’t tell me there’s no difference between superstition and faith. Because the sad reality is that many people, especially skeptics, like to brand faith as just another representation of superstitious belief. So, in this post, my goal is to outline the difference between superstition and faith to clear up all the confusion within our minds. And if you have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section.
Superstition
What is superstition? Because if we’re going to discuss the difference between two things, we need to know what the two things are.
Superstition is the belief in the supernatural out of ignorance or fear. An example of superstition is when one carves a wooden humanoid figure and then prays to it for prosperity.
Isaiah 44:17-19 World English Bible (WEB)
17 The rest of it he makes into a god,
even his engraved image.
He bows down to it and worships,
and prays to it, and says, “Deliver me; for you are my god!”
18 They don’t know, neither do they consider:
for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see;
and their hearts, that they can’t understand.
19 No one thinks,
neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned part of it in the fire.
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals.
I have roasted meat and eaten it.
Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination?
Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?”
Why is that superstition? It’s because the wooden figure is something someone makes which cannot hear their words, thus, being an ignorant belief.
Another example of superstition is the sacrifice of human beings to avoid the wrath of deities. This is superstitious because the person who practises such superstition is jeopardizing someone else out of fear that disobedience to their deities will incur punishment.
Now, the million dollar question is… does Biblical Christianity follow the path of superstition?
My answer to that is “no, quite the contrary.” And I’m going to explain how instead, the God of the Bible forges a new path to follow Him, a path called “faith.”
It’s not superstition, because the God of the Bible does not want you to believe in Him out of fear or ignorance. Let me prove this in the next section.
The Difference Between Superstition and Faith
Firstly, He does not want you to believe Him out of fear. That’s why He almost always says “fear not,” whenever He approaches a person in the Bible.
I mean, look at the verse below, the first thing God told Abraham in his vision was to not be afraid. God always makes it clear that He is the last person in the world to associate with worldly fear.
Genesis 15:1 World English Bible (WEB)
15 After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
Secondly, the God of Abraham does not force you to believe Him out of ignorance, although, He does expect you to trust Him when things don’t make sense. And I’ll explain the latter part of what I said in the next section, but, for now, here’s an example of Him warning us of ignorant superstition.
Jeremiah 7:31 World English Bible (WEB)
31 They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn’t command, nor did it come into my mind.
God was so upset with the people who burned their own children as a sacrifice to idols, and He even admitted that such a deed had never presented itself as a thought within the omniscient mind of God!
Ignorant human beings thought that by murdering their own children, they would please deities of their own making, this is something God cannot stand.
Faith
So, how does God want you to believe in Him? It’s quite simple. And we better not muddle it with our theories, laws, and superstitions. We better see it as He depicts it in His Word.
He wants us to believe in Him by faith.
Ephesians 2:8 King James Version (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
What’s faith? It’s the belief in the God of the Bible where you trust Him through what He said in His Word (the Bible), and you know His grace and love.
His grace was revealed when God came down to Earth in the form of a human being as Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross so that instead of God punishing you for your blunders, He would be sacrificed for you.
John 3:16 King James Version (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Lord Jesus Christ healed the sick, delivered the spiritually oppressed and blessed so many people during His ministry, but the religious leaders out of jealousy and fear, decided to crucify Him. Yet, this was all part of God’s plan to make the sacrifice for those who trust Him as their Lord and Saviour. I talk more about it in this post.
Therefore, put your faith in Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour to enter a relationship with God Almighty.
Faith is not superstition. It is the trust you put in God that He will do what He said He would do. It’s the acceptance of the creator who designed you and formed you in your mother’s womb. It is the realization that you’re significant and that you hold value in the eyes of your Heavenly Father.
This faith in Christ Jesus does not depend on your circumstances. If things aren’t going well for you, you must still trust God because He will make all things turn out for your good.
Faith is just another way of saying that God wants you to trust Him just like how you would trust someone in any other relationship. The difference between superstition and faith is tremendous so trust God; place your faith in Lord Jesus Christ.
