Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

Faith in the Bible

Published by

Matt Stone

2008-09-20

Sometimes I find it interesting to do keyword searches on the Bible and today I focussed on faith. The results were very thought provoking.

I found faith was mentioned 256 times in the NIV translation of the Bible, but only 15 of those mentions were in the Old Testament. Intrigued, I did another search on faithfulness and found that of the 60 mentions to be found in the Bible, only 6 were in the New Testament.

So I did some digging and found some interesting comments in the Manual of Christian Doctrine, which stated:

The Old Testament really has no word for faith, though there are especially three words which denote various aspects of the activity of faith. The most common word for “to believe” (he’emin) stresses the intellectual element and signifies the acceptance of something as true on the testimony of another. The other two words (batach and chasah) emphasize rather the element of confident reliance on or trust in someone else. The New Testament has one very important word for faith (pistis), which denotes (1) general confidence in a person (2), the ready acceptance of his testimony on the basis of this confidence, and (3) trust reposed in him for the future. As a designation of saving faith it denotes a conviction respecting the veracity of God, a believing acceptance of his word, and a heartfelt trust in him for the salvation of the soul. The corresponding word for “to believe” is used with various shades meaning, in some cases stressing the element of knowledge, and in others the element of trust.

So I did a further search on believe, and found 151 mentions, only 20 of which were in the Old Testament. The variant, belief, was mentioned only once in the entire Bible, in 2 Thessalonians 2:13. Trust was mentioned 87 times, 78 of which were in the Old Testament, and many of those in the Psalms.

Now this was not an exhaustive study of course, but I found it interesting to observe that the NIV translators had used faith and believe more commonly in association with the New Testament and faithfulness and trust more commonly in association with the Old Testament.

Tags Bible, Faith

4 responses to “Faith in the Bible”

Peggy

2008-09-20

Hehehe, Matt!
The Abbess would say that this is because most do not have a robust understanding of the multifaceted concept of hesed within the context of covenant! (I know this does not surprise you!)
And, of course, the big challenges come in faithfully keeping Hebrew context within Greek culture and language! Hebrew emphasis on relational “being” (with its focus on action) is supposed to (but too frequently does not) trump Greek emphasis on “thinking” (with its focus on ideas).
A bit simplified, yes…but I think you get my drift.

LikeLike

Reply
Matt Stone

2008-09-20

Yes, I get your drift. I particularly liked the end of the quote, “…in some cases stressing the element of knowledge, and in others the element of trust.” It hints at Greek-Hebrew synergy. We need to remember that even though the apostles used Greek language in their New Testament writings, they were often doing so in deeply Hebraic ways. So we need to keep our eyes out for shades of meaning. In many ways these words are mere pointers to reality, they are not the reality in and of themselves. We must go beyond the words to the Word behind them.

LikeLike

Reply
Peggy

2008-09-20

Yes, beyond the words…through The Word, eh?
I can’t tell you how much time I spent teaching about the primacy of Hebrew context for the Christian experience. But once the break through to the “ah ha!” moment arrives, it absolutely transforms one’s perspective. Hence, the Abbesses fixation on her cHesed glasses. 🙂

LikeLike

Reply
Lucy J

2008-09-23

This is quite a timely thread for me. I’ve been asked to preach next Sunday at R****** and the topic I have been given is FAITH! But the “trick” is that the newly-formed little group (only 2 weeks old) is gearing up for what they are referring to as a “miracle night” in a few weeks time, God help me!
Automatically, I went into the Hebrew/Greek spin, and wondered how I could navigate a path in an intelligently sensible way, but with sufficient room for signs and wonders to join us on the journey!
So thank you both for your comments so far, as I have found them very helpful. I have been reminded of a rather simple little book I have on my library shelf, called “Twelve Words Jesus Knew”, and chesed is one of them.
Matt, I’m a bit surprised you didn’t mention the the Hebrew word “emunah” and where it figures in the picture of faith… apparently it means “active trust” and is a good concept to ponder in consideration of the great Book of Hebrews faith chapter listing all the OT heroic people.
Once again, thanks and I’ll see what eventuates for next Sunday… of course I’ll include some kind of dance and congregational interactive participation!!!

LikeLike

Reply