Whenever someone uses the term faith in the context of the phrase “a leap of faith,” they are most often referring to its original usage. The root word that makes up faith is the Latin word fides. As it turns out, this was also the name for the pagan goddess of trust. Which also turns out to be the original usage of the term faith. It had historically been used in reference to trust. I would say that I have faith in someone, and that would mean that I trust them. Likewise, if I said I had faith in God, it would mean that I trust him.

Faith used as a means to convey trust is not blind or without evidence, as some may suggest but instead occurs only after sufficient data has been collected. In the case of a personal relationship, you may have specific criteria for trusting an individual, albeit those criteria may be unspoken and unknown to you. Nevertheless, you likely have it, and if you do not have any requirements, whether known or unknown, you soon will. A Life spent giving your trust to all who walk in will leave you with more scars than anyone would care to admit. It is this personal criterion for trust that is met by the accumulation of data over time. This process goes by many different names, such as getting to know them, dating, hanging out, or working together. Typically by spending time and learning about another person, you will come to make certain judgments about their character as revealed by their persistent behavior. The longer you are around them, the more likely you are to verify specific patterns of behavior. It is the patterned behavior that will lead you to trust or distrust the individual.

Let us consider the following example. Imagine you have been working with someone for six months, and over the course of those six months, your co-worker has left you with the majority of the workload on 8 of 12 projects and missed 4 out of 7 meetings, all the while spreading rumors about your marriage. You have confronted them and asked them, on at least four separate occasions to change their behavior, and they have been apologetic but unchanging. It is safe to say that you have accumulated enough data and could conclude that they are not faithful. It would be best if you did not put your faith in them.

Would you consider the suspension of faith as concluded in the previously laid out example to be without evidence? Likewise, if the story was inverted to display the positive characteristics of your co-worker, and as a result, you placed your faith in them, would your faith be blind? No rational person would make that conclusion. Therefore, faith is the placement of trust in a person, institution, idea, choice, or deity, only after much reflection.