Subject: Saved by belief or belief and baptism? |
Bible Note: Doc, while I agree by and large with the definitions of faith set forth in your post, I do not agree with your statement that "belief and faith could not be interchangeable." I'm keenly aware that in common English usage belief and faith are often used interchangeably, but I'm also knowledgeable of a certain distinction between belief and faith: Belief may or may not imply certitude in the believer whereas faith always does. But this is not to say that Scripture never uses the word 'belief' in such a way that it cannot be interchanged with 'faith' without corrupting the meaning of certain passages. As two cases in point, I submit the verb form of belief (believe) in John 3:16. The 'belief' spoken of in this passage is no less than saving 'faith.' A second example of the same argument comes from Acts 16:31, in Paul's and Silas' answer to the Philippian jailer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." ...... Our English word "faith" comes from the Latin "fides." In Middle English "faith" replaced a word that eventually evolved into "belief." The verb form of "faith" dropped out of English usage toward the end of the 16th century. "Faith" came to mean loyalty to a person by whom one is bound by promise or duty. Faith was fidelity. "Belief" came to be distinguished from faith as an intellectual process having to do with acceptance of a proposition. ....... It is worthy to note that the Greek noun pistis (faith) is related to the verb pisteuo (I have faith, trust, believe). The noun and verb are found virtually everywhere in the New Testament. In the two passages that I have cited (and there are a number of others), there is no meaningful difference between belief and faith and hence the context renders them interchangeable. ..... Calvin, may he rest in peace, was, in the interest of striving for precise diction, particularly fond of parsing words and locutions until they squealed for mercy. He left behind a legacy of this proclivity to certain of his disciples who, along with Calvin, even until the present day, are known to parse their way in the vineyard of letters so vigorously that they at times make obscure and arcane what they had hoped to amplify. ..... Incidentally, I make it a practice to keep a book or two written by a couple of my pet hyper-Calvinists by my nightstand. In all the world I know of no better soporific than these. --Hank |