{"id":36290,"date":"2014-07-22T05:00:01","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T13:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=36290"},"modified":"2017-06-09T18:29:59","modified_gmt":"2017-06-10T01:29:59","slug":"what-is-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Faith?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"What<\/p>\n

Defining \u201cfaith\u201d (Gk., pistis<\/em>) and the verb \u201cbelieve\u201d (Gk., pisteu\u014d<\/em>) is a bit like trying to define love. We can look up the words in Greek and Hebrew dictionaries and compare how the words were used in various ancient contexts, but when it comes down to how the word is used in real life, the way the word is used today bears little resemblance to the way the word was used in biblical times.<\/p>\n

With love, we go through our days talking about how we love football, love pizza, love our cars, and love our spouse, and then we read in Scripture about how we are to love God and love one another, and although we know there is a difference between the various forms of love, we don\u2019t really think about it too much or understand the ways that biblical \u201clove\u201d might be different than our modern use of the word.<\/p>\n

Is Faith the same thing as hope? <\/h2>\n

It is similar with \u201cfaith\u201d and \u201cbelieve.\u201d Often, when people use these words today, it means little more than \u201chope.\u201d <\/p>\n

Though someone might say they believe the Bears will win the Super Bowl this year, they know, as does everyone else, that their faith is little more than hope. You even sometimes hear people say \u201cI believe I will win the lottery!\u201d <\/p>\n

In this case, the word \u201cbelieve\u201d does not even rise to the level of hope, but is nothing more than wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

Is Faith the same thing as trust?<\/h2>\n

Sometimes when \u201cfaith\u201d is used today, it means \u201ctrust.\u201d Banks talk about the \u201cfull faith and credit\u201d of the United States Government in insuring our deposits, meaning that we trust that if the bank loses our money, the government will give it to us. <\/p>\n

Or as another example, you may have heard the story about a man who crossed Niagara Falls while pushing a wheelbarrow, and then asked the watching crowd if they believed he could do this same feat with a person in the wheelbarrow. They all enthusiastically shouted \u201cYes!\u201d but when he asked for volunteers, nobody came forward. This illustration is sometimes used to suggest that faith without follow-through is not really faith; but what it really proves is that there is a difference between faith and trust.<\/p>\n

In light of this, people get confused\u2014and rightfully so\u2014when they read about faith and belief in the Bible.<\/strong> They are not sure whether they should understand faith to be more like hope, wishful thinking, trust, or maybe something else.<\/p>\n

Faith is Confidence<\/h2>\n

So when it comes to the biblical definition of faith, it is probably best to think about faith (and the verb \u201cbelieve\u201d) as a confidence, persuasion, or conviction that something is true. While it need not rise to the level of certainty\u2014for we have all know that beliefs can change when we are presented with new evidence\u2014faith is being fully persuaded by the evidence we now have<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"faith<\/p>\n

We will talk a bit more about what faith is and what faith isn’t in the days ahead, but for now, what do you think of defining faith as “confidence”? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though many think that faith is the same as hope or trust, it isn’t. Faith is being confident or convinced that something is true. We could maybe say faith is certainty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2296],"tags":[14,1534,2020,1640,1567,39,1334],"class_list":{"0":"post-36290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-z","8":"tag-books-by-jeremy-myers","9":"tag-calvinism","10":"tag-confidence","11":"tag-faith","12":"tag-hope","13":"tag-theology-salvation","14":"tag-trust","15":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Faith?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Though many think that faith is the same as hope or trust, it isn't. 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Faith is being confident or convinced that something is true.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-22T13:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-10T01:29:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/faith-confidence.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"What is Faith?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-22T13:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-10T01:29:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/\"},\"wordCount\":528,\"commentCount\":59,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/faith-confidence.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Books by Jeremy Myers\",\"Calvinism\",\"confidence\",\"faith\",\"hope\",\"Theology of Salvation\",\"trust\"],\"articleSection\":[\"z\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/\",\"name\":\"What is Faith?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-faith\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/faith-confidence.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-22T13:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-10T01:29:59+00:00\",\"description\":\"Though many think that faith is the same as hope or trust, it isn't. 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