Bible Dictionaries
Faith

　　1. In the Acts of the Apostles.-In the Acts faith is spoken of as (1) inspired by Christ, (2) directed to Christ, (3) corresponding to Christian teaching.

　　(1) After St. Peter had healed the lame man, he explained that the miracle had been wrought by the power of God by faith in the name of the ‘Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead’; ‘yea, the faith which is through him (ἐπὶ) the Lord’ (Acts 9:42). St. Paul enjoins the Philippian jailer: ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Acts 16:31). Similarly Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, ‘believed in the Lord with all his house’ (Acts 18:8; χαρίσματα, 1 Corinthians 12:9) imparted by Him through a full and obedient faith.

　　2. In the Epistle of St. James.-This Epistle must have been written either in the very earliest apostolic times or in a period that is almost post-apostolic. The whole Epistle is practical and undogmatic, and lays the chief emphasis on ethical observance. The writer appreciates the value of faith when he refers to those who are ‘rich in faith’ (James 2:5) and to the ‘prayer of faith’ (James 5:15); but in the section of the Epistle which deals with faith and works, it is not too much to say that he looks upon faith with a measure of suspicion. In this argument (James 2:14-26) the writer evidently defines ‘faith’ in his own mind as intellectual assent to Divine truth, and with his undogmatic prepossessions he becomes almost antidogmatic in tendency. The Apostle describes this faith not as false or feigned, but as having such reality only as the faith of demons in the oneness of God, To him ‘faith’ is far from being an enthusiastic acceptance of a Divine Redeemer.

　　If the Epistle was written in very early times, the argument must move more on Judaic than on Christian grounds, and a certain corroboration of this is found in the fact that the illustrations are taken from OT examples like Abraham and Rahab, and that the typical example chosen is belief in the unity of God, which was the war-cry of the Jew as it became in later days that of the Muhammadan. If the later date is chosen, then time must be left for a general acceptance of Christian truth so that ‘faith’ had become assent to Christian dogma. In either case the argument of the Epistle cannot be regarded as a direct polemic against the teaching of St. Paul. The two writers move in different spheres of thought, so that, while words and phrases are alike, their definitions are as the poles asunder. An instance of this is found in the words with which St. James closes the section on ‘faith.’ The Apostle has already declared: ‘Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself’ (James 2:17), so now he sums up: ‘As the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead’ (James 2:26). Here we find that so far from faith being the inspiration of works, as St. Paul might suggest, St. James teaches that works are the inspiration of faith. Faith may be a mere dead body unless works prove to be an inner spirit to make it alive. This declaration agrees with the writer’s whole attitude, for throughout this letter he insists that the practical carrying out of ‘the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ’ is found in obedience to ‘the royal law’; ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ This practice of the will of Christ makes faith to be alive.

　　3. In the Epistles of St. Paul.-In the writings of St. Paul ‘faith’ and ‘grace’ are the human and the Divine sides of the great experience that revolutionized his own life and the lives of many to whom the gospel was brought. Occasionally faith is spoken of as being directed to God, but commonly it is directed to Jesus Christ. Thus in Galatians 2:16 St. Paul writes: ‘Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, save (but only, διὰ τὴν πίστιν, i.e. through faith as a means, not on account of faith as a ground of salvation). Hearing and faith are associated in a similar way in the Epistle to the Galatians, as the means by which the gift of the Spirit came. ‘Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?’ (Galatians 3:2), and the meaning varies little whether we conceive of faith as the accompaniment of hearing or as its product. It is possible to infer from Ephesians 1:13 f. that the gift of the Spirit was received after, not contemporaneously with, the act of faith. ‘Having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.’ The sealing with the Spirit is posterior to the act of faith and may be associated with the rite of baptism, which came to be known as a sealing ordinance.

　　St. Paul dwells frequently upon faith as a definite act in his own life and in the lives of Christian converts. Two instances only need be given. In Galatians 2:16 he says: ‘We believed on Christ Jesus,’ where the verb ἤ ὄτε ἐπιστεύσαμεν) than when we believed,’ i.e. than when we by a definite act of faith became Christians, In St. Paul’s experience and teaching this act of faith leads to a life of faith, so that he can write of himself: ‘That life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20). Faith is not a solitary act but a continuous attitude of the inner life towards Christ Jesus. But this does not imply that either at the beginning or during its course this faith is perfect; it may be halting even when real, and when living it grows ever stronger ‘by faith unto faith’ (Romans 1:17). Faith is weak in the experience of many, sometimes in opposition to the enticing power of evil when flesh lusts against spirit, sometimes in opposition to law as a ground of salvation, and sometimes in failing to appreciate what Christian truth implies. This last form of weakness is discussed by St. Paul towards the close of the Epistle to the Romans 14, where those weak in faith do not understand the extent of their freedom in Christ, and find themselves bound in conscience by irritating non-Christian customs. St. Paul commends a faith that is stronger and freer, but he declares that none mast act in defiance of their faith. They must be clear in mind and conscience before they break even these customs. ‘Whatsoever is not of faith is sin’ (Romans 14:23). Even when Christians are perfect (ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως, Hebrews 10:22).

　　5. In the Epistles of St. Peter.-There is little that is distinctive in the doctrinal teaching of these Epistles, and analogies may be found with both St. Paul and St. James. The writer of 1 Pet. makes Christ the object of faith, ‘on whom (αὐτοῦ) are believers in God’ (