1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief. See Synonyms at trust.
3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters.
4. often Faith Christianity. The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.
5. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.
6. A set of principles or beliefs.
1. Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony.
2. The assent of the mind to the statement or proposition of another, on the ground of the manifest truth of what he utters; firm and earnest belief, on probable evidence of any kind, especially in regard to important moral truth.
3. (Theol.)
(a) The belief in the historic truthfulness of the Scripture narrative, and the supernatural origin of its teachings, sometimes called historical and speculative faith.
(b) The belief in the facts and truth of the Scriptures, with a practical love of them; especially, that confiding and affectionate belief in the person and work of Christ, which affects the character and life, and makes a man a true Christian, -- called a practical, evangelical, or saving faith.
4. That which is believed on any subject, whether in science, politics, or religion; especially (Theol.), a system of religious belief of any kind; as, the Jewish or Mohammedan faith; and especially, the system of truth taught by Christ; as, the Christian faith; also, the creed or belief of a Christian society or church.
otseng wrote:Faith is an often used word here that means many things to many people. I'd like to explore here some definitions of how people define faith.
My personal definition:
- A belief that does not have a proof.
I second that--though it will be problematic to say what "proof" (or related words such as "evidence") mean. The closest I've come is something like: "a belief that does not have reasons that can be shared with others," but that's still sloppy, since (as discussed here) one could have a personal revelation of something miraculous, but that doesn't seem like belief by faith.
1. Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony.
That's awful, Webster's! So my belief that there was a tsunami is on faith, since I read about it in the New York Times?
Faith is an often used word here that means many things to many people. I'd like to explore here some definitions of how people define faith.
My personal definition:
- A belief that does not have a proof.
Faith like Salvation is a subject that can be discussed / debated for time immemorial.
As you stated: Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Personally, I feel that True Christian Faith is taking God at His word.
Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
I have found in my 30 years as a Born-Again Baptized in the Holy Spirit Pentecostal that God has three answers to prayer - all of which rely upon our belief in Him and our Faith that He has our best interests at heart. They are - Yes, No and Wait.
Further, True Christian Faith is a belief that does not "require" proof to be put into action, however, the longer an individual is with the Lord, their individual faith is strengthed by seeing God's mighty hand at work in their life and the lives of their family. So then God being faithful to His word, causes us to become more steadfast in our belief and faith in Him.
DAV - USAF
For God & Country
To Serve, Defend & Protect
American, Republican, Conservative, HAWK
Pentecostal wrote:Faith like Salvation is a subject that can be discussed / debated for time immemorial.
As you [otseng] stated: Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Personally, I feel that True Christian Faith is taking God at His word. Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
This passage, I think, describes the process whereby faith comes, but I don't think that it defines faith. But I think that otseng missed an important aspect of faith as well. To start off with, faith certainly is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is a belief in something without proof. But as James points out, the demons believe and shudder. I think that Pentecostal has it right, that for a belief to cross the line to becoming faith, there must be as well an element of reliance, of confidence in the object of the faith being discussed.
My definition of faith comes from studying what Scripture has to say about faith.
So what does the Bible teach?
This study focuses on “what is faith” and “how do we get faith”. The issue of how we use our faith is not addressed by this study.
May the Lord grant me the wisdom to correctly interpret His Word. May the Holy Spirit be my ever present guide and helper.
Scripture references were taken from the Authorized King James of 1611 (AKJ) or the New King James (NKJV).
First, God says He gives each individual a “measure of faith”.
(Rom 12:3 NKJV) For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Strong’s concordance says the definition of “measure” is literally or figuratively a limited portion (or degree). Thus substituting the definition could result in stating the verse as “….. God has dealt to each one a limited portion of faith”.
It seems to me that a fair interpretation of this verse is that “faith” is something that is individually distributed by God and is something that is personal to each individual.
A logical question that could be asked is does this mean that each individual gets a different measure of faith from God, since the definition of “measure” is a limited portion?
We will see in this study circumstances where the Bible describes “faith” as being small, great, none, and able to be increased.
I believe the meaning of Rom 12:3 is that every man gets the SAME measure of “faith”.
It’s just that as each individual grows or diminishes in knowledge and trust in the Lord, their “faith” increases or decreases. Therefore in the end, each individuals “faith” will be different than what was originally given them.
By way of example. Let’s say someone receives Christ and over the years grows and grows in the knowledge, love, and faith. In the end, this person has much more in the way of “faith” than the “faith” with which they started. So in this sense, the “faith” God gave them, initially, was a “measure” of what they eventually possessed.
By way of example. Let’s say someone receives Christ and then backslides. I think it would be fair to say their “faith” has decreased (maybe to the point of having none). So in this sense, the “faith” God gave them initially, was a “measure” of more than what they eventually possessed.
Now why do I believe each man receives the SAME measure of “faith”?
Scripture teaches us that God has no favorites (Luk 20:21 Gal 2:6). Also we know that it is not the Lord’s will that any perish (2 Pet 3:9). Therefore I believe each man receives the SAME measure of “faith” so that God’s will and purpose for His creation can be carried out. What we do with our “measure of faith” is our choice.
Second, faith comes by hearing.
(Rom 10:17 NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We each must hear the word of God. This is critical to both the development of our faith and keeping our faith strong.
Third, God gives us a gift:
(Eph 2:8 NKJV) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
I believe the gift is the “grace” of God. But the Scripture seems to be saying that in the absence of faith we are not able to receive the gift of God (grace).
Noteworthy is that “faith” is essential to receiving this gift.
Also noteworthy is that “faith” is also a gift of God (see previous point). Thus “grace” and “faith” are both gifts from God.
Fourth God tells us what it is that He has given us:
(Heb 11:1 AKJ) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The Greek word for faith means one of the following (according to Strong’s concordance):
• Persuasion (that is credence)
• moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation;)
• abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
The following interpretations I believe would be fair, substituting the various meanings:
Now I am fully persuaded of things hoped for……
Now I have moral conviction of things hoped for …..
Now I show fidelity in things hoped for
Now I am believing of things hoped for ….
Now my personal belief is in things hoped for
The “faith” this verse is talking about is something personally held by an individual (see Rom 12:3).
(Deu 32:20 NKJV) And He said: 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith.
I believe this verse shows that faith is something individually held. Faith is an integral part of each one of us and our relationship with our Abba Father. But, apparently there are those with “no faith”.
(Hab 2:4 NKJV) "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
I take note that this verse says “by his” faith. So once again “faith” is unique to an individual.
(Mat 6:30 NKJV) Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
I take note that it is the “you” in this verse that is expected to have faith. I also take note that this individual is described as having “little” faith.
(Mat 8:10 NKJV) When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!
Similar comment as preceding verse except now the faith is being described as “great”.
(Mat 9:2 NKJV) Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."
Jesus saw “their” faith, thus an individual’s faith is visible to our Abba Father.
(Act 6:5 NKJV) And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,
Stephen was a man “full” of faith. I take note that in this verse “faith” and the Holy Spirit are two different entities and thus they are not the same thing. The Holy Spirit is of course part of the Godhead.
(Luk 17:5 NKJV) And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
It appears that an individual’s faith can grow (and as previous verses show diminish).
(Heb 12:2 NKJV) looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Our individually held faith is an on-going work of the Lord to be completed. I believe this is part of the sanctification process.
(Mar 11:22 NKJV) So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.
So how is our “faith” to be directed. It is to be directly directed to God.
Simply put, we go directly to God (no middle man needed).
What is the law of faith?
Is the “law of faith” a spiritual law similar to gravity? Gravity affects all men and it effects each of them the same way although each man is an individual (big, small, black, white, married, single, young, old, just, unjust, etc.). Of particular note is that no man can opt out of being affected by gravity.
(Rom 3:27 NKJV) Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Strong’s concordance give the following definitions for “law”:
To parcel out
Law (through the idea of prescriptive usage)
Regulation
Or figuratively a principle
I submit to you that the interpretation of Rom 3:27 should be based on the following Scripture verse snippets/paraphrases which show “the idea of prescriptive usage”.
Please note that these verses are an example of directions to individuals (which collectively, I believe, would combine to form the “law of faith”).
(This list is not exhaustive.)
The just shall live by faith
Without faith it is impossible to please God
Salvation is by faith
We walk by faith, not by sight
We are to do good to those of the household of faith
Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith
Faith without works is dead
Building yourselves up on your most holy faith
So what we see from this study is:
(1) That “law of faith” is not something universal and unchanging like gravity which applies to all men
(2) That “faith” is in fact unique to an individual
(3) Different individuals are at different places in their walk of faith at a given point in time
(4) The “law of faith” is applicable to all who have accepted Christ Jesus as their Saviour.
Miscellaneous
We know that man is comprised of spirit, body, and soul. I believe that “faith” comes from our spirit (the spirit God puts in us when we are created). I don’t know when, but at some point God puts into our spirits “the measure of faith” that He has for us. And then our spirit, using the measure of faith He has given us, drawn by the Holy Spirit persuades our mind. Thus I believe that “faith” is in fact a spiritual force, but one which our spirit man uses to worship and trust in God. This would be appropriate based on John 4:24.
(Joh 4:24 NKJV) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Then when we accept the Lord as our Saviour, the Holy Spirit also comes and takes up residence in us.
Although not the Word of God, the Easton Bible Dictionary defines faith as:
Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true (Phil 1:27; 2th 2:13). Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust. It admits of many degrees up to full assurance of faith, in accordance with the evidence on which it rests.
The thing that is noteworthy about this definition is “Its primary idea is trust”. I believe this is consistent with what Scripture teaches.
(Mat 12:21 NKJV) AND IN HIS NAME GENTILES WILL TRUST."
(2Co 1:10 NKJV) who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,
(2Co 3:4 NKJV) And we have such trust through Christ toward God.
(1Ti 4:10 NKJV) For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
The Greek definition for faith (Strong’s concordance G4102) includes “trust” in that the definition allows for one who has moral conviction of the truthfulness of God. Simply put, too believe God requires that you trust God.
i.e. One can not have a moral conviction about something if they do not believe it is true (it can be trusted)
My definition of faith comes from studying what Scripture has to say about faith.
. Faith is nothing but a generic beliefs programmed to an individual upon his/her birth … by their parents depending on what religious environment they all belong…. e.g.
certain indigenous household in the hinterland of Afghanistan is impossible to bring up their siblings into a Christian religion without risking their very lives.
So what does the Bible teach?
. Bible teaches dominations
This study focuses on “what is faith” and “how do we get faith”. The issue of how we use our faith is not addressed by this study. .
See above
May the Lord grant me the wisdom to correctly interpret His Word. May the Holy Spirit be my ever present guide and helper.
. Who’s the Lord? … Holy spirit is a mythical-origin used by religious sects as tool for anathema and scaring its members for submission in the preservation of their traditional faith.
Scripture references were taken from the Authorized King James of 1611 (AKJ) or the New King James (NKJV).
. In year 325 AD, Constantine the Great called the Council of Nicaea. He ordered the first fifty copies of cordices to be undertaken by Bishop Eusebius from the works of a theologian named Origen before circa 231 AD, from the compilations of available records of the known Political Sanhedrin written by Josephus and convened by Romans in 57 B.C.E. (Taken from the Greek word for council (synedrion), the term was apparently applied to various bodies but became especially the designation for the supreme Jewish legislative and judicial court) Indeed the main theme was an excerpt from the surviving records of the Great Political Sanhedrin as the old Roman Constitution for Palestine during the reigned of Hasmonean dynasty and it should be understand that some thoughts and events were reconciliation of Origen and the rational knowledge of Eusebius suitable for that respective period.
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Copies were distributed as far as Great Britain. During the reign of Henry VIII, he ordered the English translation and was printed by Tyndale and Miles Covedale. The monarch then ordered the book to be set up on churches and be read. When James I was enthroned, he authorized the revision and clarification for Bishop Bible those appeared in 1568. During the renaissance age, Queen Victoria came into the throne and the general belief of World creation was 08th day of October 4004 BC, but later was disputed for it was a Sunday. Some scholars that era suggested an adjustment and proposed to be 27 years earlier. Those calculated guesses are irreconcilable on our time.
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Reckoning the contents of the Old Testament, after the great exodus Moses revived that covenant into stone tablets as “Jehovah’s Law”. Again there was ambiguity on the word Jehovah as adapted in our time. In cordices, some appeared to be “J” and some “E” as Elohim and interpreted by Greeks as JHVH. It must be understand that JHVH also appeared in Mithraism religious-cult as one of the gods. Hebrews transcribed it later to Yahweh and further erroneously translated by Elizabethan English into Jehovah. So Jehovah Law was established by the Renaissance Age which means Covenant to the Hebrews and later called Bible
First, God says He gives each individual a “measure of faith”.
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Rationale
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Even Jesus had not substantiated the true description of God (where, what, how & when was the true origin) - in the sense that future generation shall no longer argue its ambiguous description. He left us open and circular phrases as the battle cry of religion. And unfortunately, was the free for all interpretation of later generations. Some entities had more influenced and authority (anathema) over the others and had the sole accessed in literature and later the formation of the most ambiguous faith back-up by literary heresy integrated in some lines of the bible. Truly ... it was the later generation intervention that strengthened the ambiguous belief. If Jesus of Nazareth was truly God as Christian had conceived ... World had no chaos today.
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The point is, God has the qualities that Man doesn't have . . . qualities that Man himself knows he cannot have . . .omnipotence, omniscience et al.
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Man dies. But he fears death and wants to live longer, he then created God in order for him to look up to something after death. God now is immortal.
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Man cannot do everything. He feels inadequate he cannot fulfill bigger tasks, he then created God so that he can let God do the 'impossible' things for him. God now is omnipotent.
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Man (so far) cannot understand everything. He thinks he cannot explain everything around him, he then created God so that he can get short-cut answers to his inquiries. God now is omniscient.
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Man is alone. He distrusts his fellow for they've done awful things to him, he then made God his companion and he won't be needing anyone anymore. He also wants God to watch over him wherever he is. God now is selfless and omnipresent.
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God is Man's model. It has become so powerful that he fears his creation already. So in order for him to get everybody else to appreciate his creation, God had 'perfect human qualities' -- sincere, loving, faithful et al. No one should want to praise a frightening God right? Now it has become Man's perfect model to emulate.
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God is the manifestation of Man's need for perfection. He created God to compensate his flaws.
(Rom 12:3 NKJV) For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Strong’s concordance says the definition of “measure” is literally or figuratively a limited portion (or degree). Thus substituting the definition could result in stating the verse as “….. God has dealt to each one a limited portion of faith”.
It seems to me that a fair interpretation of this verse is that “faith” is something that is individually distributed by God and is something that is personal to each individual.
A logical question that could be asked is does this mean that each individual gets a different measure of faith from God, since the definition of “measure” is a limited portion? .
See the above Rational
We will see in this study circumstances where the Bible describes “faith” as being small, great, none, and able to be increased.
I believe the meaning of Rom 12:3 is that every man gets the SAME measure of “faith”.
It’s just that as each individual grows or diminishes in knowledge and trust in the Lord, their “faith” increases or decreases. Therefore in the end, each individuals “faith” will be different than what was originally given them.
By way of example. Let’s say someone receives Christ and over the years grows and grows in the knowledge, love, and faith. In the end, this person has much more in the way of “faith” than the “faith” with which they started. So in this sense, the “faith” God gave them, initially, was a “measure” of what they eventually possessed.
Now why do I believe each man receives the SAME measure of “faith”?
Scripture teaches us that God has no favorites (Luk 20:21 Gal 2:6). Also we know that it is not the Lord’s will that any perish (2 Pet 3:9). Therefore I believe each man receives the SAME measure of “faith” so that God’s will and purpose for His creation can be carried out. What we do with our “measure of faith” is our choice.
Second, faith comes by hearing.
(Rom 10:17 NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We each must hear the word of God. This is critical to both the development of our faith and keeping our faith strong.
Third, God gives us a gift:
(Eph 2:8 NKJV) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
I believe the gift is the “grace” of God. But the Scripture seems to be saying that in the absence of faith we are not able to receive the gift of God (grace).
Noteworthy is that “faith” is essential to receiving this gift.
Also noteworthy is that “faith” is also a gift of God (see previous point). Thus “grace” and “faith” are both gifts from God.
Fourth God tells us what it is that He has given us:
(Heb 11:1 AKJ) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The Greek word for faith means one of the following (according to Strong’s concordance):
• Persuasion (that is credence)
• moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation;)
• abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
The following interpretations I believe would be fair, substituting the various meanings:
Now I am fully persuaded of things hoped for……
Now I have moral conviction of things hoped for …..
Now I show fidelity in things hoped for
Now I am believing of things hoped for ….
Now my personal belief is in things hoped for
The “faith” this verse is talking about is something personally held by an individual (see Rom 12:3).
(Deu 32:20 NKJV) And He said: 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith.
I believe this verse shows that faith is something individually held. Faith is an integral part of each one of us and our relationship with our Abba Father. But, apparently there are those with “no faith”.
(Hab 2:4 NKJV) "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
I take note that this verse says “by his” faith. So once again “faith” is unique to an individual.
(Mat 6:30 NKJV) Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
I take note that it is the “you” in this verse that is expected to have faith. I also take note that this individual is described as having “little” faith.
(Mat 8:10 NKJV) When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!
Similar comment as preceding verse except now the faith is being described as “great”.
(Mat 9:2 NKJV) Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."
Jesus saw “their” faith, thus an individual’s faith is visible to our Abba Father.
(Act 6:5 NKJV) And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,
Stephen was a man “full” of faith. I take note that in this verse “faith” and the Holy Spirit are two different entities and thus they are not the same thing. The Holy Spirit is of course part of the Godhead.
(Luk 17:5 NKJV) And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
It appears that an individual’s faith can grow (and as previous verses show diminish).
(Heb 12:2 NKJV) looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Our individually held faith is an on-going work of the Lord to be completed. I believe this is part of the sanctification process.
(Mar 11:22 NKJV) So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.
So how is our “faith” to be directed. It is to be directly directed to God.
Simply put, we go directly to God (no middle man needed).
. All the above bible quotes are continuous blunder of generations should no one initiate to amend the obsolate visions of the Josephus, Origen, the Council of Nicea, Trent and the likes … that shall be compatible to our present and incoming generations.
What is the law of faith?
. The law of faith is the very religious anathema… depending on what sect does a person belong.
Is the “law of faith” a spiritual law similar to gravity? Gravity affects all men and it effects each of them the same way although each man is an individual (big, small, black, white, married, single, young, old, just, unjust, etc.). Of particular note is that no man can opt out of being affected by gravity.
. The law of faith belong to the principle of dominations … whereas, gravity and the likes evolved from science theories until proven to be the principle of nature… and admitted to be the law of nature.
(Rom 3:27 NKJV) Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
. No need of boasting … for the nature of learning is continuous towards the grave.
.
Strong’s concordance give the following definitions for “law”:
To parcel out
Law (through the idea of prescriptive usage)
Regulation
Or figuratively a principle
I submit to you that the interpretation of Rom 3:27 should be based on the following Scripture verse snippets/paraphrases which show “the idea of prescriptive usage”.
Please note that these verses are an example of directions to individuals (which collectively, I believe, would combine to form the “law of faith”).
(This list is not exhaustive.)
The just shall live by faith
Without faith it is impossible to please God
Salvation is by faith
We walk by faith, not by sight
We are to do good to those of the household of faith
Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith
Faith without works is dead
Building yourselves up on your most holy faith
So what we see from this study is:
(1) That “law of faith” is not something universal and unchanging like gravity which applies to all men
(2) That “faith” is in fact unique to an individual
(3) Different individuals are at different places in their walk of faith at a given point in time
(4) The “law of faith” is applicable to all who have accepted Christ Jesus as their Saviour.
Miscellaneous
We know that man is comprised of spirit, body, and soul. I believe that “faith” comes from our spirit (the spirit God puts in us when we are created). I don’t know when, but at some point God puts into our spirits “the measure of faith” that He has for us. And then our spirit, using the measure of faith He has given us, drawn by the Holy Spirit persuades our mind. Thus I believe that “faith” is in fact a spiritual force, but one which our spirit man uses to worship and trust in God. This would be appropriate based on John 4:24.
(Joh 4:24 NKJV) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Then when we accept the Lord as our Saviour, the Holy Spirit also comes and takes up residence in us.
Although not the Word of God, the Easton Bible Dictionary defines faith as:
Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true (Phil 1:27; 2th 2:13). Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust. It admits of many degrees up to full assurance of faith, in accordance with the evidence on which it rests.
The thing that is noteworthy about this definition is “Its primary idea is trust”. I believe this is consistent with what Scripture teaches.
(Mat 12:21 NKJV) AND IN HIS NAME GENTILES WILL TRUST."
(2Co 1:10 NKJV) who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,
(2Co 3:4 NKJV) And we have such trust through Christ toward God.
(1Ti 4:10 NKJV) For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
The Greek definition for faith (Strong’s concordance G4102) includes “trust” in that the definition allows for one who has moral conviction of the truthfulness of God. Simply put, too believe God requires that you trust God.
i.e. One can not have a moral conviction about something if they do not believe it is true (it can be trusted)
. Religion came from Greek root word: relig – to tie or bind. Indeed true … religion bind humanity into certain dogma for domination through the ambiguous faith reinforced by anathema.
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So Gentiles nowadays are people who are fanatics to their ambiguous dogmas and let moronic faith dominates their well-being.
Hugh, thank you for taking the time to share your views.
Please allow me to share a few thoughts about faith.
Faith is nothing but a generic beliefs programmed to an individual upon his/her birth … by their parents depending on what religious environment they all belong…
I certainly concur that parents teach children their faith regardless of their culture. However, the children reach a point where they have to examine their parents faith and decide for themselves the validity of that faith (or the validity of any other faith or being an agnostic or being an atheist, etc.)
In my own family, I have a child (now a mature adult) who has rejected the faith of his parents.
In regards to Christianity. To the best of my knowledge this is the only religion whose God is not dead. Who was seen alive by hundreds of eye witnesses after being slain on the cross. Who had eleven disciples that willingly suffered painful deaths.
Is it logical that hundreds of witnesses would all lie about seeing him alive after being killed?
Is it logical that the disciples would suffer tragic and painful deaths (all except one) to promote something which is not true?
Would you die, painfully, to promote something you don't believe to be true?
Jesus had many witnesses to the miracle healings He performed.
In regards to Christianity. To the best of my knowledge this is the only religion whose God is not dead. Who was seen alive by hundreds of eye witnesses after being slain on the cross. Who had eleven disciples that willingly suffered painful deaths.
Indeed God could never be dead … for God is an intangible man’s creation that became greater than the creator … and was being used as tool for the domination of mankind…… that generations engaged in the battle of faith for the exact definition of such creation.
Is it logical that hundreds of witnesses would all lie about seeing him alive after being killed?
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It is also logical that witnesses were added to the lines to reinforced stories as basis for the traditional faith. Let it be known that tantamount gap of time had transpired before the bible was created and we don’t exactly knew what really happened in the printing that latter the printers were persecuted.
Is it logical that the disciples would suffer tragic and painful deaths (all except one) to promote something which is not true?
. It is also logical that the printers committed errors or conspiracy about the truth. If not … why did the empire latter persecuted them?
Would you die, painfully, to promote something you don't believe to be true?
Depending on the missions and faith….some blew themselves, some poured kerosene and burn to incur painful death, some went on hunger to maximize their suffering. So it really depends on an individual motive.
Jesus had many witnesses to the miracle healings He performed.
There are lots of people nowadays performing healing around the world. I don’t think it’s a big deal.
And there are other evidences of who was Jesus.
Going back to the years when this greatly contested areas was occupied by the Roman Empire, Essene Society and Qumran Monastery already existed. It was founded as School of Thoughts including Pythagoras Mathematics, Natural Science and Astronomy. The mission of which was to reconcile the World existence through the investigation of phenomena. Here, 365 days calendar was calibrated and applied hence after.
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The time when Jesus was already member of the celibate at the age of 17 years old, Essence Society became a Nationalist in character where both Pharisees and Sadducees were members. There was a disparity in the age of Jesus. During His age of 12 in the temple, the actual must be about 16 for His birthday was about 5 BC. Religious and political issues were undertaken which greatly influenced the formation of the New Testament. Now, if they had partially amended the Covenant for the suitability of that time, why not further amend for the essence of our generation.
- It appears in the “Dead Sea Scroll” translation that some events were not accorded to or scrapped from the translations of the New Testament. Most likely for some sensitivities that shall harm the current dogma.
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One crucial event was the crucifixion of the three Nationalists, namely Simon Magus, Judas Escariot and Jesus, where the chronology were not fully discussed. It appeared that only Judas died in the tomb through suffocation after taken down from the cross. The near-death of Jesus and the later involvement in the mission. It also appears in the translation that Jesus did not experienced death in that particular moment but was revived by Simon Magus inside the tomb and was later taken to heaven and stayed there until the age of 36. Luke 24:50&51; Mathew 28:11-15 and Mark 16:42-46; Experienced those time were someone took three days to die on the cross. Heaven is the holiest place on Essene Hierarchy inside the ascetic monastery of Qumran.
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Jesus later was a shadow figure in the mission using the pseudonym “X” and Maranatha, for it was already reported in Rome that the three nationalists were executed and those relieved the political pressure. It also appears in the translation that Jesus was physically present during the Council of Ephesus in 70 AD and His last appearance was recorded in the Book of Revelation using the title “ The Lamb”. In the translation also appears that Jesus traveled with Paul to Rome.
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The only hint of today’s theology is when Jesus declared to Peter; “ On this Rock, You will build my Church,” for Rome that time was so formidable and powerful empire, as comparison to a rock. No more was stated about Jesus but in 73 AD during the wedding of His son Jesus Justus in Rome, was accompanied by a coronation showing that his Father had died.
Jesus as the Hypothetical God
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Jesus was crucified in the middle of the day or afternoon. He was taken down before sunset. It means his time on the cross may have been anywhere from one to five hours. Victims of crucifixion often lingered an agonizing death on the cross for up to three days. Death in a couple of hours is fishy.
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So he was supposedly placed in a tomb/cave much like Mithra had been placed. If sundown was 7 pm, and he was in the tomb, at that time, then he spent 5 hours on Friday, 24 hours on Saturday, and 7 hours on Sunday when he walked out. That is 36 hours. Three days, or Three nights is misleading. The number three was picked because it is a magic number and applied to Jonah, Mithra, Apollonius, and most of the other virgin born god-man resurrecting redeemers.
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If the couple hours on the cross produced hypoxia, and brain ischaemia, with acidosis so severe as to kill Jesus then we have a different scenario. He may have dropped his blood pressure so low or suffered cardiac arrest to lose consciousness. In this case his brain was getting no oxygen and no blood flow. He not only had anoxia. He had lack of blood perfusion with O2 and glucose. There was no venous blood removing CO2 and other toxins of metabolism. The build-up of neurotransmitter amines and glutamate plus the destruction of calcium channels in the neurons led to Calcium influx, potassium out flux, water permeation and cell swelling and bursting.
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After a couple hours in this severe state the neuronal nuclei would break up. Mitochondria would burst and cease cellular metabolism. Swelling cells would rupture. In a few more hours his brain, axons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes would necrose. His capillary network would fragment with clots in the stasis of blood flow.
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Then the brain would turn into a semi-liquid mush. All fibre circuits would be erased. All memories, language functions, learned motor skills (walking), cognitive processing, emotional circuits, vision, hearing, and autonomic regulation. That rather multi-modal autonomic network would control temperature regulation, sweating, cardiac rate regulation, blood pressure control systems, sexual accessory sequence programmes, and the conscious on-off ARAS switch. All of this would have already been lost.
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In such a body, the necrotic brain can produce no electrical saltatory transmission. No synapses would be left anyway. This is "Brain Death" which are compelled to determine to my great sadness in patients about once per week. Once true Brain Death is determined by:
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1. Loss of pupillary reflexes;
2. Loss of reflexive eye movements (Doll’s eyes and caloric responses);
3. Loss of corneal responses;
4. Absence of any spontaneous breathing trigger with measured hypoxial hypercabia;
5. Loss of patterned motor responses (flaccid paralysis);
6. Flat lined EEG done twice 24 hours apart, or non-flow on MRAngiography;
7. In the 24-hour period, blood tests showing zero sedative drug levels;
8. Then that is the final form of death, irreversible Brain Death/necrosis.
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None have ever recovered if all 8 criteria are met, in multiple different studies. Since there are no shortages of people dying, the numbers in studies summated are 5 digits. Unfortunately the gospel writers never mentioned the following;
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1. No one noted a carotid, radial or femoral pulse of Jesus;
2. No one noted pupillary reactions, (size, symmetry, light and accommodation);
3. No one noted his ocular motor reflexes (Doll’s eye, Cold water calorics);
4. No one checked his patterned motor responses that may persist in some reversible comas;
5. No one recorded total flaccid paralysis, decerebrate or decorticate rigidity, myoclonus;
6. No one noted listening to his heart according to the gospels;
7. No one noted listening to his lungs with an ear or stethoscope;
8. No one oted presence or absence of corneal reflexes;
9. No one noted muscle tone.
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Naturally no EEG was done. So we don’t know if he was flat-lined. All of the above minus the EEG are very specific easy tests for brain death. Roman soldiers may have known those reactions, especially their medics.
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So we can’t say with certainty if he died…on the cross or later of senile dementia or other cause. Until very recent times and in many substandard medical care facilities, determinations of death or brain death prove to be incorrect when the patient awakens screaming in the Morgue. Did Jesus actually die based on the written narrative? We may never know. And if did not die, the rest of the story would be different. There would not have been a resurrection. It would have be recovery from reversible coma not death. And we would be celebrating Mithra’s birth on December 25, as Mithramas.
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So if Jesus really died, and was dead 36 or 39 hours, his brain was a featureless mush. No blood flow meant no oxygen, no removal of glutamate, no prevention of open Calcium ion channels, and no maintenance of membrane stability of neurones. Then apoptosis (cell death) occurred. There was nothing with which to activate the cortex for consciousness, no perception, no awareness, no vision, no hearing, no tactile sensation, no motor neuronal firing along axons to activate muscles, no circuits to think, or circuits to talk. There would be no neurons, no axons, and no synapses to transmit data.
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To truly resurrect as the person Jesus, his entire brain would have to be remade from scratch with intact neurons, axons, myelin sheathes, synapses, ample concentrations of neurotransmitters at pre-synaptic nerve endings, and normal transmitter receptors on healthy dendrites of neurons. The new brain would have to be an exact copy of his original brain down to each synapse in the right place. And the trillions of circuits (and million billion synapses) of the individual person would have to be exactly re-duplicated in the pre-death patterns. His entire life memories would have to be reinstalled into the circuitry of his brain, the most complex computer in history.
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That has never been known to occur. One must postulate very special magic, and magic has yet to be proven to exist. The burden of proof that Jesus died and resurrected is on the person making that extraordinary implausible claim. What is the proof that he died? Nobody did even a superficial cursory neurological exam. And how can they explain the rewiring of the most complex computer ever known aside from magic.
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So a truly dead Jesus resurrecting would not be possible outside of the realm of fantastic magic and fantasy thinking. Believers would say nothing is impossible with the excuse...miracles (i.e. magic). But that is unprovable. Magic is a cop out when one cannot explain the impossible. It is trying to explain the impossible with the unknown.
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So either Jesus died end of story; or he awoke from transient shock-trauma coma (not a true resurrection from the dead.) But we can't have both. And we will never know.
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Option 1. Jesus died in on the cross, brain liquidified, and there could have been no resurrection.
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Option 2. Jesus didn't die on the cross, but recovered lying in the tomb and awoke from transient coma, to some day die of some other natural cause such as Old age in India (one story)
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Option 3. Jesus didn't exist in real life. He was a fictional hero of the Joseph Campbell variety. His life was founded on the virgin birth, god-man, redeemers who died and resurrected in 16 older Pagan cults. Paul, and other Church Fathers superimposed the personality of Melchizcedek to satisfied the supposed coming of the redeemer or simply infused with Mithraism, consciously or unconsciously absorbed Mithra's biography for the fictional Jesus.
I am not quite sure I understand the issue you are making here.
The Bible rejects pagan religions (among which some sacrificed their children).
In this sense one can say preeminence over other religions is taught.
Is this what you mean?
Who’s the Lord? … Holy spirit is a mythical-origin used by religious sects
Can you provide any examples of this?
Editing of the various versions of the Bible
I can not address this topic because I really know nothing about it. I do know that many reputed scholars schooled in the languages the dead sea scrolls were written in (and other documentation ??) have put significant effort in bringing forth what they believe to be valid and accurate representations of the various Bibles. Each Bible is a collaborative work of learned, schooled, intelligent authors, and researchers.
I rely on their work just as when I go to see the doctor I rely on multiple learned and schooled and trained folks to help me (i.e. pharmacist, x-ray reader, cat-scan readers, orthopedic, etc.).
More importantly, if you believe in God, if you believe He is omnipotent, etc., then you also believe He can preserve the message of his Word as it is passed from generation to generation.
If Jesus of Nazareth was truly God as Christian had conceived ... World had no chaos today.
Is there a basis for this conclusion?
The point is, God has the qualities that Man doesn't have
God is the manifestation of Man's need for perfection. He created God to compensate his flaws.
I see your point, but I do not agree with it. Speaking for myself, I know I can not be perfect, have no desire to be perfect. I think striving to be perfect actually could be an unhealthy thing. I do desire to do the best as I can based on the Godly advice/wisdom taught in the Bible. When I miss the mark, I accept that I have missed the mark. However, I am glad Scripture teaches that we have a High Priest (God) to whom each day we can bring our failings.
All the above bible quotes are continuous blunder of generations should no one initiate to amend the obsolate visions of the Josephus, Origen, the Council of Nicea, Trent and the likes … that shall be compatible to our present and incoming generations.
Previously covered under "Editing of the various versions of the Bible".
The law of faith is the very religious anathema… depending on what sect does a person belong.
Is this an opinion or can you elaborate?
Religion came from Greek root word: relig – to tie or bind. Indeed true … religion bind humanity into certain dogma for domination through the ambiguous faith reinforced by anathema.
Your point here is not clear. If you don't participate in a religion, then you are not bound by its dogma and thus are not dominated by anyone of many available dogmas. If I choose, via my freewill, to subscribe to the dogma, then it is not an anathema to me. Also I have found for those that do subscribe to the dogma, they may not completely agree with the dogma and may not completely follow it. People are complex. People are truly individuals.
So Gentiles nowadays are people who are fanatics to their ambiguous dogmas and let moronic faith dominates their well-being.
I would like to offer up a different view.
First, I don't think that the dogma for any religious group is ambiguous. They may not all be followed/practiced, but I don't think they are ambiguous. There are cases of religious groups actually splitting because the dogma is attempted to be changed and not everyone can agree on the changes.
Second, in any circle where folks are pursing goals I will give you that there may (or may not) be cases of fanatics. More likely, IMO, there will be those who are sincere and well meaning.
Third, only two religious groups I know of have a sustainable effort going in witnessing door to door are the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Latter Day Saints (LDS). Other than this, you are not likely to be witnessed to by a stranger. I have talked to both, actually invited the JWs into my home. While I don't agree with their dogma, I like the folks I have met and feel their heart is sincere. My point here is that you are not likely to be "bothered" by a Christian.
I think you may want to rethink your choice of words as in "moronic faith".
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "moron" as: a) mildly mentally retarded b) a very stupid person.
I believe you will find Christians from all walks of life. i.e. Ph.D, Scholars, lawyers, doctors, astronauts, etc., etc. Many of these folks are Christians and it does not seem fair to me to lump them into the "very stupid person" definition. You may not agree with them, but I don't think this makes them stupid.
