The Nature of Faith

By now we have clear historical evidence that Paul taught a central claim: God welcomes into His favor all who believe the good news announced by Christ. This teaching is often summed up as Justification through Faith.

Because this doctrine plays such a foundational role in the apostle Paul’s theology, we need to look carefully at what we mean by faith and belief, and at the kind of mental state these words describe. I will begin by examining how these words are used in modern English. Before we can understand their Hebrew and Greek counterparts, we must first understand what goes on in our own minds when we use them. The best way to do that is to reflect on our everyday thinking as expressed in our native language. Once we have done this, we can then compare our usage with that found in the biblical languages.

The Foundational Principles of Paul's Gospel

When we look for freedom — from the consequences of past sin and from the moral struggles that still bind us — we are led beyond the ethical teachings of Christ we have already briefly examined. We now turn to another set of ideas found in Christ’s message and in the New Testament. These ideas are closely connected to moral teaching, yet clearly distinct from it. They are also strikingly unique within the broader history of religious thought, belonging in a special way to Christ and to those who followed Him.

Because we have no writings directly from Jesus Himself, the most reliable way to understand His teaching is to look at the letters written by the earliest Christian leaders. Among these, we can say with confidence which letters come from the hand of the most prominent early preacher of the Gospel. These writings place us face to face with a remarkable Christian who lived in the same generation as Christ. By studying them, we can attempt to reconstruct Paul’s understanding of both the Gospel and of Christ Himself.

The Christian Documents

Few figures in history have shaped human thought and life as deeply as Jesus of Nazareth. His influence on the spiritual life — and indirectly on the material well being of the world — is so vast that it naturally draws our closest attention. As we have already seen, what humanity most needs is a teacher who can lift the veil hiding the mysterious Source of the universe, of life, and of our moral sense — a teacher who can point the way to forgiveness and moral freedom. No one else even claims to do this. And no spiritual teacher can be meaningfully compared with the one who sparked the great spiritual movement that has shaped and elevated what is best in human life. For this reason, we search eagerly for every trustworthy source of information about the Founder of Christianity.

Because Christ lived many centuries ago, the only sources available to us are written documents. It is to these documents that we now turn.

Religion and Theology

Few words carry more weight in modern life than the word religion. We generally feel we know exactly what it means. We recognize religious people and religious questions, and we speak easily of the world’s many religions. Yet it is striking that the word itself appears only rarely in the English Bible — and when it does appear, it does not always mean what we now mean by it.

In a few passages, such as Acts 25:5 and James 1:26–27, the word refers mainly to outward forms of worship. In Galatians 1:13-14, “the Jews’ religion” corresponds to what we would call Judaism. Elsewhere, as in Acts 13:43, the word religious is better translated simply as devout. This contrast is telling. While Scripture uses the term sparingly and inconsistently, modern speech uses it often and with confidence. That modern usage, therefore, should guide our definition. There is little to gain by forcing the word back into meanings it held only occasionally in biblical translation.

Even so, clearly defining religion is harder than it looks. Although the term feels familiar, popular abstract words tend to be slippery. Different people use them in slightly different ways, which makes precision difficult. In practice, most definitions of religion tell us more about the author’s perspective than about any settled meaning of the word itself. Almost every new book or article on religion offers a new definition. This one will be no exception.

Still, I must explain what I mean by religion before going further. I believe the definition I propose captures what is always meant when the word is used seriously, and that it includes what is common to all its legitimate uses. It is neither broader nor narrower than ordinary usage allows.