What Is Faith? I. Introduction A. Christianity is recognized throughout the world as a “faith” B. People end up hearing all sorts of things about “faith” 1. “Faith” is often discussed in terms of religion 2. “Faith” is contrasted with science or reason frequently in the media 3. Society and culture have bracketed faith into its own domain: the "realm of faith" as opposed to other matters that might pertain to the "realm of science" or the "realm of politics" or whatnot C. And then there is the way in which the Scriptures speak about faith, which proves critically necessary for our spiritual lives (Hebrews 11:6) 1. Christians often talk about “the faith” (cf. Jude 1:3) 2. Then there is also the matter of people’s faith 3. Many would suggest that all Christians need to do to be saved is to have faith; what would that look like anyway? D. What, then, is "faith"? 1. From where do all these various definitions and ideas derive? 2. What does it mean that Christianity is a faith, and is that a bad thing? 3. What would be “the faith” in Christianity? 4. What does it mean to have faith, or to believe? II. Belief and Faith A. We do well to first explore the range of meaning involved with “faith” B. Faith: Complete trust or confidence in someone or something; strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary) C. In Greek, faith as noun pistis; to believe as verb pisteuo 1. pistis: fidelity, faithfulness; conviction of the truth of anything, belief (Thayer’s Lexicon, the basic definitions reversed in order, the latter of which is expanded on greatly) 2. pisteuo: to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in; to entrust a thing to one (ibid.) 3. Generally, although not exclusively, the noun pistis is translated as “faith” and the verb pisteuo is translated as “to believe”; thus belief and faith are seen as quite synonymous, a thing and the adherence to the thing itself D. To believe: accept (something) as true; feel sure of the truth of; hold (something) as an opinion; think or suppose (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary) E. From these definitions we can understand why there can be a lot of confusion about “faith” and to what it may refer 1. Original, core concept: someone or thing trustworthy, reliable 2. Thus faith as trust, reliance upon 3. But trust in what or whom? “Faith” thus “expands” to speak also of the one or that which is accepted as trustworthy, often spoken of as beliefs 4. “Faith” is also looked at ontologically and philosophically a. Faith looked upon as a category: things believed upon b. In this sense contrasted with “science” based on methodology c. Within past few centuries with the secular/spiritual divide all things spiritual have been categorized under “faith,” other things keep their own category subsets within “secular,” and thus the domain of “faith” is religion while other domains explore other subjects F. Thus, when we speak of faith in modern culture, we speak of many different issues 1. The category: faith as a set of beliefs, often contrasted with science 2. The object: the faith as the set of doctrines regarding Jesus as the Christ (Jude 1:3) 3. The subject: faith as one’s personal belief and trust in the doctrines and God Himself (Hebrews 11:6) G. Let us explore “faith” by considering each in turn III. Faith as Category A. Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1) B. Far too often faith is contrasted with one of the gods of this age, Science 1. The scientific method is designed to produce results which can be replicated; this is seen as providing “proof” of a hypothesis, turning it into theory or axiom 2. Through reason and the scientific method we have ascertained many things which are true; much has been proven 3. People thus always want to see “proof”; “mere” assurance or conviction is not enough for them C. In the modern world “faith” is understood as the domain of all things which cannot be proven, generally seen as metaphysical, and derided as “less real” 1. And so many have been raised to believe that there is no real relationship between faith and evidence 2. In their minds, if there is evidence, there is no need for faith; if faith is necessary, it is because there is no evidence 3. Therefore, "faith" almost becomes a pejorative: you have "faith" when you have nothing else to go on, and faith becomes equated with "blind faith" 4. Matters of "faith" are those that are not measurable or definable through scientific methods: theology, morality, ethics, and the like 5. Thus people are able to effectively sequester their "faith life" (or lack thereof) into a few selected boxes: in the rest, other authorities are affirmed, appealed to, and cited D. And yet, in reality, there is almost no evidence without faith, and little faith without evidence! E. Evidence and Faith 1. One of the most pernicious lies that has been foisted upon people recently is this delusion that "scientific evidence" has nothing to do with the realm of "faith" 2. Let us consider two of the main theories of science and show that they still have much to do with "faith" 3. The "Big Bang" a. It is currently believed by many scientists and others that the universe began with the "Big Bang" somewhere between 13.3 and 13.9 billion years ago b. What is the evidence for this? In part, that light moves at a constant speed of around 671 million miles an hour, and thus about 6 trillion miles a year c. Using redshift analysis of the cosmic microwave background radiation in the universe, believed to be a consequence of the Big Bang, it appears to be about 13.3 to 13.9 billion light years away; thus the event took place that long ago d. Yet notice what these analyses assume: that the speed of light is constant, and that because there is a distance of 13+ billion light years, that said event took place that long ago in time e. Is the speed of light constant? All evidence we have would suggest so, but who knows what other evidence is waiting to be found? How could we be sure that the speed of light has always been constant? f. How can we be certain that the event took place in reality because the distance is there? What if it was all created at one point and made to appear older? 4. Thus, by necessity, there is "faith" in the evidence: a confidence that the speed of light is constant, a confidence that what is being perceived really took place in time, among other forms of confidence 5. That confidence can never be proven without a shadow of a doubt; thus, there is a measure of faith involved, "conviction based on probable evidence," however probable it is in reality 6. Evolution, specifically human evolution a. It is difficult to address the subject of human evolution; the model changes so frequently so as to make it impossible to say much that is definite b. What can be said is that the scientists make much of bone fragments discovered in the ground, especially from Africa c. Extrapolations are made on the basis of a handful of bones d. The dating estimates are based on carbon-14 dating and/or stratigraphic dating: the belief that sedimentation happens at a relatively uniform rate e. Thus there is always much more "interpretation" than "evidence," and the "interpretation" always fits the model somehow f. Thus there is plenty of faith here: faith that stratigraphy really is legitimate, faith in the consistency of carbon-14 dating, faith that a whole creature can be projected on the basis of a few bones, and, not least, faith that bones in the ground really do represent some moment in the past 7. Thus we can see that all kinds of things promoted by the scientific community demand a level of faith in certain principles: operating assumptions F. Faith and Evidence 1. It is lamentable that people who have faith are derided by many as simpletons, naïve, or foolish, since they are willing to believe in something that cannot be empirically "proven" 2. Bertrand Russell did this with his "celestial teapot" in 1952 3. Other examples include the "Invisible Pink Unicorn," the "Flying Spaghetti Monster," and the "Dragon in my garage" 4. Such are attempts to denigrate faith, to suggest that belief in the God of the Bible, or other divinities, is akin to believing in such creatures 5. And yet, interestingly, no one has ever seriously suggested that there is a celestial teapot, or invisible pink unicorns, flying spaghetti monsters, or anything of the sort 6. In reality, even in matters of which the secular society deems "matters of faith," if there is no evidence whatsoever, no one is going to believe it! 7. Why did so many of our ancestors worship natural forces? According to Paul, it was a perversion of the accurate understanding that there is a Power greater than ourselves: they served the manifestations, not the Source, of the Power (Romans 1:18-32) 8. People believe what they believe because it makes the best sense of all the evidence that they can find! 9. Few, if any, have blind faith: they are convicted of what they have not seen, they have assurance for their hope, in some kind of evidence 10. God has always insisted on such! 11. God proved Himself to the Israelites by delivering them from bondage in Egypt and by bringing them into the land of Canaan (Exodus-Joshua) 12. The demonstration of the new covenant is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:30-31) 13. Therefore, even faith has its basis in evidence! G. Life, therefore, cannot be segregated into boxes so easily! 1. One of the tragic consequences of the "Enlightenment" is the belief that we can specialize everything and place things in different, non-touching compartments 2. We cannot look to God for "faith" in some categories but then to politics to other answers or science or economics in their separate quarters: instead, matters of faith and evidence pervade all categories! 3. Fundamentally, however, we must decide where we will place our trust and to what level we trust before getting to any of the "categories"! H. Thus, while “faith” is categorized as it is in modern society for many reasons, we must challenge and critique modern culture’s categorical errors if we wish to understand the faith truly! IV. Faith as Object A. I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3) B. We do well to turn Hebrews 11:1 into a question: what are these things we have not seen and yet are to maintain conviction? What is our hope which provides assurance? C. That which we can accept as true about the faith delivered once for all to the saints is what is often called “the faith” D. There is a God, YHWH, God of Israel, the Creator, who is One (Genesis 1:1-2:3, Deuteronomy 6:4-6, Colossians 1:15-17, Hebrews 11:6) E. God made Himself known to Israel through the prophets, and then made Himself known to all mankind as Jesus of Nazareth, God the Son, the Son of God, who lived, ministered, died for the sins of the world, raised in power, ascended to the Father, reigns as Lord, and will return one day to judge the living and the dead (Acts 1:1-11, 2:14-36, 17:30-31, John 1:1-14, 1 Corinthians 15:1-58, Hebrews 1:1-3) F. God made Jesus both Lord and Christ; He reigns over heaven and earth; His Kingdom has been inaugurated and all those who are part of His body have been transferred into it; Christ’s body is manifest on earth as the church; Jesus empowered the Apostles to bind and loose on earth what has been bound and loosed in heaven, and they set forth the expected thoughts, feelings, and actions of those who follow the Lord Jesus and for how the church is to function in Scripture (Daniel 7:13-14, Matthew 18:18, 28:18, Acts 2:36, Ephesians 2:20, Colossians 1:13, 18) G. We could go into far greater detail about all of these matters, and gain a better understanding of all sorts of aspects of the faith, but these are sufficient to demonstrate what it is a person is to believe in so as to be a Christian and follow Jesus H. But we do well to emphasize how Jude spoke of the faith as having been “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3) 1. Jude affirmed the finality of the revelation of the faith 2. All which was to be made known about Jesus of Nazareth and His Kingdom had been made known through Jesus and the Apostles 3. Every generation since has been called upon to work out what “the faith” means for their particular time and place and how to practice that faith in their context I. And so “the faith” is a fixed quantity: it is the teachings at the core of the Gospel, that which is to be believed and accepted as true regarding God in Christ IV. Faith as Subject A. And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him (Hebrews 11:6) B. Faith as category and faith as object mean very little to a person if they do not correlate them with faith as subject: their own personal convictions and confidence C. Undeniable fact: everyone has faith 1. Each and every person maintains a host of convictions in which they trust, on which they have built the rest of their ideas about reality 2. Most such convictions cannot be proven according to the scientific method! 3. Such convictions range from the pedestrian (the sun will rise tomorrow, the rules of physics will keep working) to the profound (what is right and what is wrong, my purpose on earth, my relation to my environment) 4. The question at hand is not whether we have faith or not, but in what or whom should we place our faith! D. The Scriptures abundantly attest to our need to believe in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31, Hebrews 11:6, etc.) E. Faith as Mental Assent to Propositions 1. In Western culture belief has been systematized and philosophized, reduced to a set of propositions worthy of acceptance 2. This is faith as “mental assent to a proposition”: I believe 2+2=4, for instance 3. It is not as if we can skip over such things; we absolutely need to give mental assent to all the propositions within what we deemed “the faith” earlier 4. In fact, “our faith” should entirely comport to the substance of “the faith”; we must grow in our understanding so that “the faith” is “our faith”! F. And yet James 2:19: while we must mentally assent to the propositions of the faith, mental assent is itself insufficient, for the demons also recognize many of the truths of the Gospel, and they shudder! G. Faith as Trust 1. Such is why we reversed Thayer’s definitional order above: the primary driver of faith is not acceptance of propositions but trust 2. Throughout both covenants God has diligently worked to demonstrate His hesed, or covenant loyalty: through His saving acts in the Exodus and through Jesus He has manifested faithfulness and why He is worthy of being believed, or trusted (Psalm 44:1-8, Romans 8:31-39, etc.) 3. God has expected people to respond to what He has done for them in faith: to put their trust in God and thus to follow His ways and not their own a. Thus repentance is part of the Gospel call: to change one’s mind for the better (Matthew 4:17, 23, Acts 2:38) b. In this way God gave Israel the Law to observe (cf. Exodus 20ff); and so in Christ God expects people to prove obedient to the standard of teaching to which they are committed in the Gospel (Romans 6:14-23) 4. And so we reckon God as faithful, but are also to manifest faithfulness ourselves as part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24, 2 Timothy 2:12-13) H. In this way “faith only” is a complete distortion of not only what the Scriptures teach but even in terms of what faith means: faith without works is dead, and trust inherently demands obedience (Romans 1:5, James 2:14-26) I. Thus we are to put our trust in God in Christ by accepting as true the substance of the faith as made known in the Scriptures, trusting in God in Christ, and submitting to their will! V. Conclusion A. We have explored the nature of faith B. Our society seeks to relegate faith to an obscure metaphysical category with little in common with secular concerns; and yet “faith” as conviction without proof pervades all disciplines C. In Christ and in Scripture God has made known the faith once for all delivered to the saints, the body of teachings about God in Christ which all are to accept D. We must accept the body of teachings of the faith as true and put our trust in God in Christ and seek to follow His ways E. We do well to manifest our faith in God in Christ today! F. Invitation/songbook Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). It is hard to find a better definition of faith than what is found in Hebrews 11:1. Faith, in general, involves conviction and assurance of that for which we hope and do not see. Modern society vainly believes it can sequester faith to metaphysical disciplines and act as if everything else is on surer footing. And yet all things we accept demand a level of faith, for we cannot prove all the assumptions that go into every belief or idea. May we put our faith in God in Christ for the hope of the resurrection of life! 2: Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3). Faith is not only one’s own confidence; it can also refer to that which is held in confidence. Jude spoke of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The faith is the body of teachings regarding Jesus of Nazareth and the Kingdom of God as made known in Scripture. It is a fixed quantity; it cannot be added to or taken away from. We must all grapple with how to apply the faith to life in our present context. May we believe in the faith of God in Christ and live appropriately! 3: And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him (Hebrews 11:6). The core concept of faith involves a person’s belief system. Everyone has faith; the question is in what or whom a person has placed their faith. God has given everyone good reason in Christ to put their faith in Him according to what He has made known in Christ and in Scripture. May we believe in God and seek after Him! 4: Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder (James 2:19). Many speak of faith solely in terms of ideas or propositions. We must accept the set of propositions about God in Christ represented by “the faith.” Yet even the demons accept those propositions as true, and they shudder! We must not only mentally accept the existence of God and the Lordship of Jesus, but even trust in God in Christ and seek to do His will. May we put our faith in God in Christ and obtain the resurrection of life!