The arguments for faith have been damaged by the Second Great Awakening. Through Kant and Kierkegaard, we have ideas of faith that separate faith from the world of rational thought. This legacy is in stark contrast to the Biblical idea of faith, faith of three parts that we will develop below. The Biblical notion of faith is far from the blind leap that characterizes post awakening thinking.
The nineteenth century was to philosophy what the sixteenth century was to theology and Christology. In large part due to Kant and Kierkegaard, philosophy headed down pathways that eventually lead to Modernity and Postmodernism. Between Kant's idea that anything that God specifies that you can't do necessarily means that it can be done, and Kierkegaard's idea that subjectivity is separate from objectivity, philosophy eventually moved to the idea that faith was subjective and independent of objective fact. What is interesting in reading both Kant and Kierkegaard is that at times they managed to describe Christian doctrines very well, and then would use them in bizarre manners to prove discordant theories of self. There can be no doubt that both were very familiar with the Bible and the work of the Reformers.
Biblical faith is described in a very different way. Old Testament faith can be seen as obedience or adherence to the Law. In this way faith is very much tied into the idea of faithfulness, which is obedience. This notion is expanded by the ministry of Christ in much the same way that He expanded our understanding of many things. Jesus expanded our understanding of the Temple, of the Sacrificial system, of Law, of Obedience, of every aspect of Old Testament religion. Therefore, the notion of faith is likewise expanded to encompass this growth in knowledge as revealed by Jesus in the scripture.
What is the faith of the Centurion in Matthew 8 and Luke 7? Is his expectation based upon some abstract idea that Jesus is a basically good guy who teaches ethical truths? No, his faith comes from the knowledge that Jesus is actually the Lord, that Jesus is the Word. The Centurion equates Jesus' Word with the creative force, the healing force, of God. This faith is completely grounded in the knowledge that Jesus is the Lord. This is why Jesus makes such an example of this man's faith. The Centurion recognizes the authority of Jesus.
Similarly, in the next chapter, why are the scribes so upset by this pronouncement by Jesus? Jesus did not just say you are healed, instead He said "your sins are forgiven." This was recognized as the role of God by the scribes, which is why they considered this blasphemous. Jesus is claiming authority in this passage. The faith of the paralytic is equated with the knowledge of Jesus as the Son of Man, or the messiah.
In Acts 3, Peter spells it out plainly, giving the whole formula of faith. This is an incredible passage. Peter first gives witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus to the very people who had Him killed. Next Peter places all authority in the name of Jesus. Finally, Peter grounds the certain knowledge of the person and divinity of Jesus in the Scripture and particularly in the Prophets. This is a knowledge based argument. Peter is appealing to an argument that everyone who is listened that day will clearly understand. They may not have faith, but it can not be said that their lack of faith is independent of reason. Peter makes his appeal completely upon a rational connection of points from the prophets, through the life of Jesus and concluding in His resurrection. This is what Peter calls faith.
And now we come to Paul. The letter to the church in Rome is Paul's great doctrinal statement. The whole letter is about defining faith. The letter begins with praising the Romans for their faith, and then goes ahead and defines it for them, to be sure that there is no mistake in understanding what that faith is that Paul is praising. Starting with the second half of Romans 3, this is the formula for the reformed understanding of faith. Faith in Jesus unlocks all that Paul discusses in that passage. Faith is the knowledge that Who Christ is will unlock what Christ has done for us. We could go on with Paul, but just read Romans, all of it.
So what is faith? 1. Faith begins with the intellectual knowledge of the historical facts of Christianity as revealed by scripture. 2. There must be intellectual agreement with these facts. 3. Finally, through the Grace of God by the action of the Holy Spirit, there must be belief in these facts. It has not been my purpose in this particular post to argue the Arminian-Calvinist debate. I will come to that soon in another post. Both sides of that debate would agree with this definition of faith.
Therefore, Biblical faith is not a blind leap. Biblical faith is not some amorphous fuzzy feeling. Biblical faith is not some endorphin or adrenaline laden experience. Biblical faith is knowledge of the person and work of Jesus Christ, and belief in that knowledge.
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