Faith

Faith is one of the most frequently used word in the Christian vocabulary, as it is in both the Old and New Testament as well. But what is faith? If one wishes for a formal definition then one of the most robust is provided by W. H. Griffith-Thomas (1861-1924); he says,

[Faith] affects the whole of man's nature. It commences with the conviction of the mind based on adequate evidence; it continues in the confidence of the heart or emotions based on conviction, and it is crowned in the consent of the will, by means of which the conviction and confidence are expressed in conduct.

Robust but also too cut and dry perhaps. The fundamental meaning of the term is 'trust.' To have faith in someone is to trust him/her to do what is right and proper. Faith is, therefore, essential to all human relations. Without faith in other people, even if only at a 'minimum need for survival,' life in society would be impossible. Certainly no society in which there is no meaningful quantum of faith among its members would have gone on to develop anything that counts in terms of cultural significance. But faith gains its special connotations from the interaction of God with humanity, His reliability and our response of trust in Him. "So fundamental is faith," to the Christian faith, says Leon Morris," that the term may be used to categorize the whole Christian way, and the expression 'the faith' comes into being, not simply as a way of referring to the trust in Christ that is so basic, but as a means of drawing attention to the whole body of teaching and practice that characterizes the Christian group." (Leon Morris).

The demand to exercise faith in God is, of course, not unique to the NT. Though the Israelites and Jews more and more came to associate their relationship with God in terms of an obedience centered on the law (and its various interpretations), the constancy of the prophetic voice in throughout the OT is a reminder to trust in Yahweh, who alone could be trusted to deliver the people from their predicament. Faith—trusting Yahweh to do what is right and proper, and that He had one's welfare in mind at all times—was the constant theme from Noah to Abraham to Moses to David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, to Haggai to Malachi. Perhaps the clearest view of what is faith is to be seen in Jesus's relationship with his disciples. Jesus's call to the early disciples to "come follow after me" was a promise that he would trust them and that they could trust him. This reciprocity of promise and assumption are, therefore, the two ways, the two definitions, of Christian faith: faith in Jesus means they could and would trust him (i.e., our faith in Him), and that he could and would trust them (i.e., our faithfulness in Him). This faith—the Christian faith—is not, however, a leap into the dark. To say that the Christain faith is a leap in the dark is to fail in a very ultimate sense to understand the gospel message. Jesus proved, by his ways with the disciples, but ultimately by his death on the cross and his resurrection (which is what makes these events so central and vital to Christianity), that he could be trusted. No other human decision is more solidly grounded in a historic act than the decision to believe in Jesus. The survival and growth of the Christian church against impossible odds is additional proof of Jesus's promise that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." At a personal level, millions of Christian believers through all of the last two millennium can attest to God's faithfulness to His promises. There is no leap at all, and certainly not into darkness. Many people, of course, come to faith in Jesus through emotionally dramatic ways. But underlining them all is a core of hard historical foundation no honest sceptic has ever been able to make the slightest dint (see also Faith in Science).

Now, to say that millions of Christian believers can (and have) attest to God's faithfulness is not to say that they have never been dissappointed in terms real human terms. Only an aberrant understanding of the Christian faith, such as found in the Prosperity Gospel and Health and Wealth Gospel, would try. Those same millions can also affirm that their attestations come often at the cost of great deprivation and suffering, even death. For those who have come to know Jesus and, therefore, trust him—i.e., have faith in him—also know his presence and, through the Holy Spirit, "the peace that surpasses all understanding" of that presence. In that peace they discover that God does not act like men who can only think within the box of human possibilities (or, more often, limitations). They discover that the all powerful God in Christ can afford to be, and is often, paradoxical, bringing good and renewing out of what is otherwise intransigent and distructive chaos and madness. They discover they can sing, like the psalmists and the prophets, as well as Horatio Spafford "all is well with my soul," even when struck with the worst possible loss a father has to endure (many versions of the story exist, see Youtube for one of the more reliable versions, and a rendition of the song by Wintley Phipps on Youtube).

Further Reading & Resources:

Herbert L. Swartz, Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology.
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