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My point is that a premise that says there is an external world does not have to rely on faith but by contrast can be a reasonably held belief, and it does not have to be based on a 'proof' in order for it to be a reasonably held belief.

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I am not sure exactly what you mean by a "reasonably held belief," but I can think of two possibilities. The first is known as a justified true belief (JTB) in philosophy. The alternative is that you mean a belief whose conclusion is supported by reason. Though for different reasons, each type of belief will rest upon faith at some point. All of our beliefs are either assumed on faith or concluded, whether by rational or irrational means, from beliefs that are. Unless you are willing to redefine human epistemology to include properties normally reserved for the divine (i.e. omniscience), there is simply no way around this. The absolute best one could do is to assume only the law of non-contradiction, but at the very least one must assume that (if you don't want to start there, then you'll be taking a hell of a lot more on faith).

Scott

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What is the basis for the claim that all of our beliefs ultimately rest on faith?