Choosing Faith: The Importance of Belief in Finding Purpose in Life

A belief is a judgment that we assume to be true when making life decisions. Our beliefs cannot conclusively be proven true or false. Beliefs can be as simple as our preference for food or as profound as our religious beliefs. How are beliefs different from knowledge or opinion? How do beliefs develop and change over time, and how do they become the foundation of our purpose in life?
This book is divided into three sections. The first explains how beliefs are formed in childhood and modified and adapted when we become adults. The second section explores different types of belief and introduces the notion of moral beliefs about right and wrong and religious beliefs about the existence and nature of God. The final section of the book explains how beliefs are prioritized into a faith that becomes our framework for making life decisions.
The beliefs we hold most dear form the building blocks of our purpose in life. We have the freedom to choose our beliefs, so we have the freedom to choose our purpose. The goal of this book is to help the reader think deeply about this process and explore the meaning of this freedom.

John W. Saultz, MD, is a family physician and medical school professor and lives in Portland, Oregon. He grew up in a small town in Ohio and graduated from the Ohio State University with degrees in mathematics and medicine. Dr. Saultz is the author of three previous medical books, a collection of essays, and over 150 scientific articles in a career spanning over forty years. This is his first book for a general audience.