Leap of Faith (Steve Martin)
example · film: Leap of Faith ·
retold in 3 talks
A con-artist preacher in Steve Martin's film breaks down when his fake healing becomes a real miracle, illustrating the shock of having one's belief confirmed too brutally.
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026
As told 3
“He totally breaks down. It's a shock. So things are here much more refined... what does it mean to believe?”
“the greatest shock for a religious person is to discover that it really works.”
“once but he does something which he thinks is treating, but it's a true miracle. he totally breaks down. it's a shock.”
What it carries
one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)
Its cast and sources
populated by
Ágnes Heller3Jerry Falwell2James Bond / Goldfinger1Truman Capote1Steve Martin1Britney Spears1Paul Greengrass1Pat Robertson2
alongside works
Every retelling 3
A con-artist preacher in Steve Martin's film breaks down when his fake healing becomes a real miracle, illustrating the shock of having one's belief confirmed too brutally., illustrating believe without believing,direct immersion into our life world
In the film Leap of Faith, a con-artist faith healer performs tricks, but at the end actually performs a miracle and is shattered. Žižek prefers this to Graham Greene's naive treatment: the greatest shock for a religious person is to discover it really works., illustrating objectified belief,de-centered belief,belief's traumatic real
Martin plays a con-artist faith healer; when a genuine miracle occurs, he totally breaks down. This illustrates that believers often believe 'with a distance', the direct confirmation of belief is more terrifying than the absence of the miracle., illustrating belief without belief,subjective vs. objective belief