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A leap of faith is the act of believing in something without, or in spite of, available empirical evidence. It is an act commonly associated with religious belief as many religions consider faith to be an essential element of piety. The phrase originates with Søren Kierkegaard, a 19th century Christian philosopher who believed that the only way to accept genuine Christianity is through a leap of faith, through complete understanding that one's faith is independent of reason or evidence.
In order to fully understand what Kierkegaard meant by a 'leap of faith', one must understand what Kierkegaard means by "leap". In Kierkegaard's book The Concept of Anxiety, he describes Adam's qualitative leap into sin. Adams leap signifies a change from one quality to another, mainly the quality of possessing no sin to the quality of possessing sin. "* maintains that the transition from one quality to another can take place only by a "leap""(Thomte 232). This means that the when the transition happens, you move directly from one state to the other, never possessing both qualities.
It is important to understand that Kierkegaard felt a leap of faith was necessary in accepting Christianity due to the paradoxes that exist in Christianity. In his book Philosophical Fragments, Kierkegaard delves deep into the paradoxes that Christianity presents, one of these is the fact that there existed a being who is both 100% man and 100% god. Since neither logic nor reason can reconcile this, one must have faith that it is true in light of the paradox. So, when a person decides that he/she will have faith that it is true that a being existed who was both god and man, he/she makes a qualitative change from non-belief to belief, he/she makes a 'leap of faith' that it is true.
The implication of taking a leap of faith can, depending on the context, carry positive or negative connotations, as some feel it is a virtue to be able to believe in something without evidence, while others feel it is foolishness. It is a hotly contested theological and philosophical concept. For instance, the association with "blind faith" and religion is disputed by those with deistic principles that argue reason and logic, rather than revelation or tradition, should be the basis of belief in God.
Even some theistic realms of thought do not agree with the implications that this phrase carries. For instance C.S. Lewis argues against the ideal that Christianity requires a "leap of faith," (as the term is most commonly meant to mean). Lewis argued that supernaturalism, a basic tenet of Christianity, can be logically inferred based on a teleological argument regarding the source of human reason. Nonetheless, many Christians are not as critical of the term as Lewis, and accept that religion requires a "leap of faith."
References: Kierkegaard, Soren. * (1980). The Concept of Anxiety Edited by Reidar Thomte. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
"Leap of faith"