The Narrow Path Ministries

For a series I'm teaching I'm trying to define the word FAITH based on the Scriptures that use the term and I was interested in any feedback you guys/girls can offer. I listened to Steve's tape on 'faith in God' where he defined faith as "a persuasion, a conviction, and a confidence in God that is chosen as an act of the will." While I think that is a good definition of 'faith in God,' I'm looking for a more general definition of 'faith' itself. Anyways, here's my definition.

FAITH IS A VISIBLE BELIEF IN AN INVISIBLE SUPPOSITION

Explanation for my wording:
1. Visible- I believe faith is active. Faith is not simply head-knowledge, but touches one's actions. Jesus SAW their faith because they were carrying their injured friend. We actively drive because we have faith in the other drivers.
2. Belief- I think of faith & belief/believing as nearly identical terms. Faith, perhaps, is the combination of belief (head) and believing (actions). But one can believe in something visible. Faith is different in that it is directed toward something invisible. Therefore...
3. Invisible- Faith is directed toward invisible realities. As steve pointed out in his lecture, faith is either in something hoped for (a future reality) or something unseen (a spiritual reality).
4. Supposition- I tried a lot of words here (reality, fact, truth), but right now I think 'supposition' fits best because we can mis-place our faith in something/someone that we wrongfully supposed was trustworthy.

* I think if we truly understood the meaning of 'belief' and 'supposition,' I wouldn't even need the words 'visible' or 'invisible' in the definition. It seems to me a belief should naturally be accompanied by action and a supposition is, by definition, yet un-documented. But because the term 'belief' has been watered down to mean head-knowledge and because the term 'supposition' isn't used on a daily basis, I decided to keep both words in the proposed definition.

Matt,

Did you see this thread?

http://www.wvss.com/forumc/viewtopic.ph ... ght=pistis

Hebrews 11:1 seems to be accepted as the standard Biblical definition of "faith". Unhappily in some translations, this definition doesn't seem to make much sense. I believe the following translation is enlightening:

Faith is the essence of things expected, the conviction of things not experienced.

Faith is faith. Whether faith is placed in a chair with the belief that the chair will support you, of whether faith is placed in God, the meaning is identical.

If you have faith that a chair will support you, your faith is the essence of your expectation that the chair will hold you up. You may not yet have experienced ("seen") the support of this particular chair, yet you are convinced that it will hold you up.

Faith is not a belief with no evidence. That would not be faith at all. That stance is called "blind faith". For example, a mother may have this kind of "faith" in her thieving son, ("My son does not steal!") in spite of the evidence.

If you exert faith in a chair in which you have never tried to sit, this might be called "experimental faith". This is the kind of faith a non-disciple initially has when he first trusts Christ.

If you exert faith in a chair in which you have sat many times (it has always supported you), this might be called "experiental faith". Having placed our initial faith in Christ, and having experienced His work in our lives, we continue to trust in Him.

This may be the meaning of the Scriptural phrase "out of faith into faith" Romans 1:17

Notes:

1. I have translated the Greek word "hypostasis" as "essence". This is a word which has the meaning of "substructure" or "foundation". Lexicons also define the word as "the substantial quality, nature, of a person or thing", hence "essence".

2. I agree with the many translations which translate "elegchos" as "conviction". The ESV, Darby, ASV, NASB, Rotherham, RSV, NRSV and YLT translate it this way.

Thanks to both of you for your feedback. I don't remember that other thread btw. What do you think of the definition I proposed in terms of strengths/weaknesses?

mattrose wrote:Thanks to both of you for your feedback. I don't remember that other thread btw. What do you think of the definition I proposed in terms of strengths/weaknesses?

I like it. May have to "borrow" that some time. Should I send royalties?
D.

Hey, I've never turned down royalties
On the other hand, I've never gotten any

If you’re looking for biblical definitions then I agree with Paidion about using
Heb 11:1.

(ASV) Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.
(BBE) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true.
(KJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
(KJVR) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
(LITV) Now faith is the essence of things being hoped, the evidence of things not having been seen.

Some possible weaknesses:
1) Depending on your audience it could be too wordy. I like simple definitions and stories or examples that support them.
2) Visible & invisible in the same definition could be confusing. Maybe use Active instead of visible.
3) Faith is still faith even if it is misguided, so I’m not sure Supposition belongs in the definition. But you could it to show examples of faith in wrong things.

I think it really depends on your audience which you know much better than I.

tim