Brett's Discernment

Warning - semi-nerdy linguistic discussion . . .

Do you think "faith" and "belief" mean different things?

To me, belief is more cognitive, almost scientific, a belief is one of many things one might profess. To believe someone or in something has a different texture to it to me than to have faith in that person or thing.

Faith, on the other hand, seems in meaning to me to be not cognitive but more emotive, instinctive, and central. Especially thinking in Lutheran theological terms of faith as trust, trust is something that you feel from the core and may do against logic or the odds.

The verb form of "faith" in Greek, pisteuw, is as far as I can find always translated in the NRSV and others as believe. But isn't the verb "believe" different in range of meaning than the verb "faith." We don't have a verb "faith" in English - to say "have faith" is a little different, and maybe it wasn't used for translation because it sounds passive. We don't even have a way to express this in English - to make "faith" an active verb, and what would that even mean? Would it mean more like "be faithful" or "have faith" or something else?

I am working on a sermon for this Sunday, the second after Easter, year C. The gospel text is John's (Doubting) Thomas story. I am troubled at finding this distinction and finding it to obscure the text. Another layer is added to this here in this pericope Jesus says in John 20:27, kai mn ginou apistos alla pistos, that is, "do not be unfaithful but faithful." Apistos, literally, not-faithful, should be translated as such. However, the NRSV translates this as "do not doubt but believe." What does all of this mean? What does this especially mean as we believe that faith is affected by the Holy Spirit, as is reflected elsewhere in the pericope? What does it mean that Jesus commands Thomas (and us?) to "be faithful?" Hmmm . . .