Dedicated to my philosophy students and to all true philosophers in the best sense of the word . . .
Friday, April 20, 2007
Faith versus Belief
Are faith and belief separate ideas? Can you have belief and not have faith? If faith or belief do not impact my life, do I really have faith or belief?
Thanks for the compliment on my blog. I'm rarely confident in what I post. You'll often see things disappear from my blog moments after they appear. That's me second-guessing myself.
It's unfortunate that 'faith' and 'belief' have been conflated in English. We need a transitive verb, like 'to faith' (the equivalent of pistis). Not that semantics will solve the problem of bad theology, but precise terminology always makes it easier to have meaningful discussion.
I've found it helpful to talk of true faith having a threefold nature -- the classic distinction between notitia, assensus, and fiducia. Notitia is when you understand a proposition. Assensus is when you assent to the truth of a proposition. And fiducia is when you believe in a way that drives you to act accordingly. True faith is not just head-knowledge (notitia) or belief that never rises above the level of emotion (assensus). The demons have these things. True faith ascends to the level of fiducia -- it bears fruit. Faith includes all three parts, or else it isn't faith.
We are saved through faith-ing in Christ -- clinging to Him and His promises. In his Gospel, John uses a variety of metaphors for faith, showing that it is more than just belief -- metaphors like: coming to Him, abiding in Him, eating His flesh and drinking His blood, knowing Him, etc. Faith is a very rich thing!
Wow! Thanks for commenting! This is exactly what I was hoping for in asking this question. I've heard it said that faith = belief + action - which would be fiducia. I've never heard that distinction before. I think that's exactly right on!
All of this begs the question for me of how are we to present the true gospel to generations of young people who were presented a gospel only requiring assensus but no true fiducia faith? Fiducia faith requires dying to ourselves, no? It's worth dying for - that is obvious to anyone who has tasted the glory and goodness of Christ - how do we convey that to others?
The only thing I'd add to your equation, faith = belief + action, is that the belief must produce the action. You could have beliefs that are theologically correct AND actions that look right, but have no connection between the two. I've seen this in myself, when I know what God commands and do what God commands, but do it grudgingly or do it for men to see. That's not honoring to God. I might as well have disobeyed, because I showed a lack of faith (or fear of God). Or when I'm worried about something and I go out and have fun to get my mind off it. That's not the repentance of faith. Rather than just suppressing my cares, I should have cast them all on the Lord (then gone out and had fun). Praise God that He is faithful when we are not!
About your question, in my experience, the assensus people tend to hate theology (whether or not they admit it). Their slogan is "It's a relationship, not a religion". Now there is some truth in that, if properly understood. There is the danger of dead religion -- religious observance without faith (take the Pharisees). But that doesn't mean religion is bad; it just means hypocrisy is bad. Even true faith has propositions. Empty faith is just as bad as dead faith. Too often, the antireligion crowd is just plain antinomian -- thinking they can live and think however they want. People like these need to hear that Christ is Lord -- a Lord to be loved, obeyed, and (yes) feared. We're all familiar with the saying: "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (a paraphrase of 2 Cor 5:8), but how often do we consider what Paul infers from that truth? "THEREFORE," he says, "we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (2 Cor 5:9-10) To know that when we die we will be with the Lord is a comfort, yes. But it's also a reason to walk in "fear and trembling" (2 Cor 7:15; Eph 6:5; Php 2:12).
Luke 12:1-12 is all about fearing God and not man (the root of the Pharisees' problem). If we have a proper fear of the Lord -- the kind of worshipful reverence that leads to zealous obedience -- we can lose our lives and thereby gain them, because Christ is all in all. We understand that to lose this world is to lose nothing. First of all, it all belongs to God anyway, so we can't really lose it, because we never had it. Second, compared to our real treasure, the treasures of this life are all "dung". And third, we don't give ourselves up for nothing; we give ourselves to the very One Who owns everything and promises to work all things together for our good.
Thanks again for posting. There is a lot of food for thought in this. I agree that it is the belief that must produce the actions.
1 Corinthians 13 - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
We are studying in John on Sunday nights in my church. It struck us from John 13 regarding what it said about Judas - it seemed Judas has the appearance like the other disciples, but clearly his heart was not in the right place. His action had no belief behind it.
May I never be zealous without wisdom or wise without zeal!
4 comments:
Thanks for the compliment on my blog. I'm rarely confident in what I post. You'll often see things disappear from my blog moments after they appear. That's me second-guessing myself.
It's unfortunate that 'faith' and 'belief' have been conflated in English. We need a transitive verb, like 'to faith' (the equivalent of pistis). Not that semantics will solve the problem of bad theology, but precise terminology always makes it easier to have meaningful discussion.
I've found it helpful to talk of true faith having a threefold nature -- the classic distinction between notitia, assensus, and fiducia. Notitia is when you understand a proposition. Assensus is when you assent to the truth of a proposition. And fiducia is when you believe in a way that drives you to act accordingly. True faith is not just head-knowledge (notitia) or belief that never rises above the level of emotion (assensus). The demons have these things. True faith ascends to the level of fiducia -- it bears fruit. Faith includes all three parts, or else it isn't faith.
We are saved through faith-ing in Christ -- clinging to Him and His promises. In his Gospel, John uses a variety of metaphors for faith, showing that it is more than just belief -- metaphors like: coming to Him, abiding in Him, eating His flesh and drinking His blood, knowing Him, etc. Faith is a very rich thing!
Wow! Thanks for commenting! This is exactly what I was hoping for in asking this question. I've heard it said that faith = belief + action - which would be fiducia. I've never heard that distinction before. I think that's exactly right on!
All of this begs the question for me of how are we to present the true gospel to generations of young people who were presented a gospel only requiring assensus but no true fiducia faith? Fiducia faith requires dying to ourselves, no? It's worth dying for - that is obvious to anyone who has tasted the glory and goodness of Christ - how do we convey that to others?
The only thing I'd add to your equation, faith = belief + action, is that the belief must produce the action. You could have beliefs that are theologically correct AND actions that look right, but have no connection between the two. I've seen this in myself, when I know what God commands and do what God commands, but do it grudgingly or do it for men to see. That's not honoring to God. I might as well have disobeyed, because I showed a lack of faith (or fear of God). Or when I'm worried about something and I go out and have fun to get my mind off it. That's not the repentance of faith. Rather than just suppressing my cares, I should have cast them all on the Lord (then gone out and had fun). Praise God that He is faithful when we are not!
About your question, in my experience, the assensus people tend to hate theology (whether or not they admit it). Their slogan is "It's a relationship, not a religion". Now there is some truth in that, if properly understood. There is the danger of dead religion -- religious observance without faith (take the Pharisees). But that doesn't mean religion is bad; it just means hypocrisy is bad. Even true faith has propositions. Empty faith is just as bad as dead faith. Too often, the antireligion crowd is just plain antinomian -- thinking they can live and think however they want. People like these need to hear that Christ is Lord -- a Lord to be loved, obeyed, and (yes) feared. We're all familiar with the saying: "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (a paraphrase of 2 Cor 5:8), but how often do we consider what Paul infers from that truth? "THEREFORE," he says, "we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (2 Cor 5:9-10) To know that when we die we will be with the Lord is a comfort, yes. But it's also a reason to walk in "fear and trembling" (2 Cor 7:15; Eph 6:5; Php 2:12).
Luke 12:1-12 is all about fearing God and not man (the root of the Pharisees' problem). If we have a proper fear of the Lord -- the kind of worshipful reverence that leads to zealous obedience -- we can lose our lives and thereby gain them, because Christ is all in all. We understand that to lose this world is to lose nothing. First of all, it all belongs to God anyway, so we can't really lose it, because we never had it. Second, compared to our real treasure, the treasures of this life are all "dung". And third, we don't give ourselves up for nothing; we give ourselves to the very One Who owns everything and promises to work all things together for our good.
That's one way to convey it.
Thanks again for posting. There is a lot of food for thought in this. I agree that it is the belief that must produce the actions.
1 Corinthians 13 - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
We are studying in John on Sunday nights in my church. It struck us from John 13 regarding what it said about Judas - it seemed Judas has the appearance like the other disciples, but clearly his heart was not in the right place. His action had no belief behind it.
May I never be zealous without wisdom or wise without zeal!
Blessings!!!
Kathryn
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