Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (KJV)

Heb 11:1  The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. (MSG)

Heb 11:1  NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. (AMP)

Pastor AIO:

What do you mean by the 'Word of God'?

Enigma:

"Word of Faith" theology is heretical nonsense. Google "word of faith theology" or "prosperity gospel" and let your eyes open.

Mavenb0x:

There is only one definition of faith (since Eph 4:5 and 2 Cor 4:13 affirm there is only one faith).

Mavenb0x:


Simply put, Faith is the substance of your hope, that comes by hearing what God has to say about the hope! Whatever God says is the substance of that hope. [/b]Faith signifies the expression or the practice of the word that was given to you as the substance of your hope.

(Pistis, fides). In the Old Testament, the Hebrew means essentially steadfastness, cf. Exodus 17:12, where it is used to describe the strengthening of Moses' hands; hence it comes to mean faithfulness, whether of God towards man (Deuteronomy 32:4) or of man towards God (Psalm 118:30). As signifying man's attitude towards God it means trustfulness or fiducia. It would, however, be illogical to conclude that the word cannot, and does not, mean belief or faith in the Old Testament for it is clear that we cannot put trust in a person's promises without previously assenting to or believing in that person's claim to such confidence. Hence even if it could be proved that the Hebrew does not in itself contain the notion of belief, it must necessarily presuppose it. But that the word does itself contain the notion of belief is clear from the use of the radical, which in the causative conjugation, or Hiph'il, means "to believe", e.g. Genesis 15:6, and Deuteronomy 1:32, in which latter passage the two meanings — viz. of believing and of trusting — are combined.

Acceptance of a concept that cannot be proved beyond all doubt by human reason. The Hebrew words emunah and bittaḥon refer to different aspects of faith: emunah has the traditional meaning of faith while bittaḥon is trust or faithfulness. The biblical use of the former means "faith in," which is the effective attitude of trust in God and confidence in the fulfillment of His promises. In the ancient sources, the use of emunah does not signify the belief that God exists, which was taken for granted. The term "emunah" is found in the Bible in various contexts whose basic meaning is "to be firm" (from which Amen also derives): "They had faith in the Lord and in Moses, His servant" (Ex. 14:31) or "The righteous shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2.4).
Faith in God as "trust" is important in biblical religion since so much of man's encounter with God has to do with promises which are to be fulfilled in the distant future. Thus landless and unprolific Patriarchs are asked to envision their eventual development into a numerous people, with a land of their own. With each of the biblical generations, the word of God is mainly directed toward the future. Therefore, in the formative period, the vital "faith" element is not so much concerned with whether God appeared at some point in the past or even with whether He exists somewhere at the present time, but rather, "can we rely upon His promises for the future?" and this requires "trust," an abiding confidence in the essential goodness, steadfastness, and consistency of the Promisor.

Nowhere does the Bible speak unequivocally of the importance of "faith" in the cognitive sense of "belief that" something is the case, namely, that God exists. This is not because these cognitive beliefs played no role in Judaism. On the contrary, "belief in , " presupposes "belief that , " God cannot be trusted in if His existence is denied. "Belief that , " is not stressed in the Bible in connection with God because it was taken for granted. The sense of the presence of God as a living, palpable reality was strongly self-evident.

Faith and reason are both sources of authority upon which beliefs can rest. Reason fundamentally is understood as the principles used for inquiring subjects from a methodological standpoint, whether it be moral, intellectual, or religious. Once demonstrated, a proposition or claim is ordinarily understood to be justified or authoritative.
Faith can be described as a stance, or position that a particular claim (that at least not presently) involves a position toward some claim that is not capable of demonstration by invoking reason. As such, it is believed to involve a belief system that implies, or makes, either an implicit or explicit commitment on the part of the believer. This basis for a person's faith usually is understood to come from the authority of revelation. This revelation is either through some kind of direct infusion, or indirectly, such as the testimony of another source, or individual.
The basic impulse or incentive for this problem of faith and reason seems to come from the fact that the the applied revelation or revelations on which most religions are based are interpreted in very sacred pronouncements steeped in canonical writings, or in an established oral tradition, and backed by a "divine" authority. These writings, stemming from oral traditions are often presented, narrative, parable, and sometimes discourse. This, for some reason, has given them in turn, some measure of immunity from reasonable or rational critique and evaluation.

(Pistis, fides). In the Old Testament, the Hebrew means essentially steadfastness, cf. Exodus 17:12, where it is used to describe the strengthening of Moses' hands; hence it comes to mean faithfulness, whether of God towards man (Deuteronomy 32:4) or of man towards God (Psalm 118:30).

viaro:

^^The above is beautiful. However, though they were sourced from various places (which I had seen sometime much earlier), there seem to be a few problems with some of them. An example:

Indeed. But "pistis" being rather Greek and not Hebrew, you also provided another source to balance out on the Hebrew equivalents: 'ĕmûnâh (אמנה / אמוּנה). In this regard would Exodus 17:12 be understood - '. . . and his hands were steady ('ĕmûnâh) until the going down of the sun'.

However, I think that readers should be aware that the source with reference of Psalm 118:30 is the Catholic Bibles; seeing that our English Bibles have only 29 verses in Psalm 118. Rather, both are reconciled in checking up Psalm 119:30 in our English Bibles and then Psalm 118:30 in Catholic Bibles.

[list]Douay Rheims (Catholic Bible) - Psalm 118:30
³⁰I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments I have not forgotten.

King James Bible (KJV) - Psalm 119:30
³⁰I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.[/list]

'Truth' is those verses is the translated word of the Hebrew 'ĕmûnâh (אמנה / אמוּנה).

Mavenb0x:

Pastor AIO, the Word of God is the Code of Conduct by which he carries out all that He does.

Mavenb0x:

Thanks Viaro!

Yes I was wrong with that, I concluded that there is only one definition of faith because there is only one faith. Thanks for weighing in!

According to Augustine, in matters of religion (and in other matters) we need teaching, and a teacher is an authority. However the goal of teaching is to enable us to know independently. In religion knowledge is possible only to a certain extent in this life; in the next life faith will be replaced by knowledge.

Read para. 31.16-.

Comments:

31.19-21: "Authority demands faith and prepares man for reason. Reason leads him on to knowledge and understanding." To accept the guidance of a teacher is the first step on the way to knowing and understanding the subject for yourself. At first you must have "faith" in the teacher – e.g. read the things the teacher recommends as worth reading, accept the teacher’s explanation of what words mean, etc. After being guided some distance you will know independently and may even reject mistakes of the teacher.

Mavenb0x:

Hope alone can never bring your aspirations to pass, but hope will do these two (rather similar) things for you.
1. Hope helps you keep you head up
Rom 5:5a  And hope maketh not ashamed;
Rom 5:5a In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. . .
Rom 5:5a  Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us. . .

2. Hope is the steadfast anchor of your soul
Heb 6:19a  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast. . .
Heb 6:19a  [Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it--a hope]. . .
Heb 6:19  It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline. . .

Hope is good. These two verses mean that when you are hoping in God, you are not ashamed and you are stable. Your soul is anchored, so you are not wandering, you are not drifting from the assured promise. Hope helps keep your will, emotion and intellect together and at the same time it makes you have a right attitude (an attitude of not being ashamed while waiting for the fulfilment you desire).

Pastor AIO:


That is a good and interesting point that you have brought up about the translation of Emunah to Truth.

What is the relationship between Truth and Faith? What is Truth? Ultimate Truth?

Is it not the unchanging? Is Truth not what Was, Is, and Ever Will Be?

Is Truth not the paragon of Faithfulness, or steadiness?

What is here today and gone tomorrow is not to be considered the truth, but rather an apparition. An apparition derived from Truth but not 'The Truth' in and of itself. All things that have a temporal span can not be considered absolute Truth.