Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!seismo!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: davidbu@loowit.wr.tek.com (David E. Buxton) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: FAITH - A question for Greek and Hebrew scholars/amateurs Message-ID: Date: 26 Jun 91 03:57:01 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 35 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Supersedes: A friend of mine, a student of Greek and Hebrew, commented that Faith from the Greek is a strongly active verb that means to "Trust and Obey". That is in full agreement with the texts that say, in various forms, "If you love Me keep my Commandments". And "Faith without works is dead". That is Faith without action is not faith at all. Faith without repentance is hardly faith. Biblical faith is a Faith that works. I looked up the Greek in my Strongs. It did not use the words "Trust and Obey". What do some of the other Bible Hebrew/Greek dictionaries have to say? Paul is the one who said "The Just shall live by Faith", and Martin Luther was very much changed by this text. Paul was quoting from the Old Testament and I forget the text. From the Hebrew it translates that the Just shall live by "Faithfulness". This would be a faith that is far more than simply a one time proclamation of belief in Jesus - a "once saved always saved" event. Rather a faith that is faithful to the end. And there are those who define "once saved always saved" in exactly that way and I'll not argue with that. My "Young's Concordance" offers terminology more suggestive of "Faithfulness" thatn "Trust and Obey". But perhaps "Faithfulness" and "Trust and Obey" can be equated? So, what is "FAITH"? I'd like to see some students of Greek and/or Hebrew offer their scholarly or amateur comments on what Faith means. Perhaps you could open with some comments as to your credentials or the lack there of and then tell us what you find the word to mean from your study. Perhaps you could quote from some authoritive references. Thanks, Dave (David E. Buxton) [My reference books are at home, so I'm not going to give you a treatise (to everyone's relief, no doubt). But the answer may be 'all of the above'. This word is one of those critical words that captures the essense of our relationship with God in one word, which is why it has lots of implications, different ones of which are emphasized in different contexts. Certainly faith means more than intellectual assent. Particularly in the OT, the word is often used of God, and means his faithfulness to his promises. In the NT, trust, reliance on God, and obedience seem part of it. --clh]