faith…

     I think that the problem with faith nowadays, especially, but not exclusively, as it is used in politics, is that belief is used as a litmus test: faith has become believing the right things or agreeing with the same ideals. In other words, we too often judge another’s faith only on the basis of what they believe, what creeds they give their assent. If someone believes the same things as we do, then they have faith, because we are convinced that belief wholly comprises faith.

I’m not completely convinced of this. While right belief is an important factor in belief, what someone ‘believes’ is not the sole judge of their faith. One only has to look in the book of James to see biblical basis for that.

Marcus Borg, in his sometimes controversial book, “The Heart of Christianity” defines faith more exhaustively. He appeals to a more historic and holistic view of faith. I think he’s on to something here. Borg defines faith as the sum of 4 things: Trust, Faithfulness/Loyalty, Vision, Assent/Belief. In other words, faith is much deeper than the right beliefs we so often think are both part and whole of salvation.

This is to say that faith is not trust; it is not faithfulness or vision or belief. Faith cannot be wholly defined by one expression of that faith disconnected from the other. None of those aspects of faith can give us a definitive answer to the question, “What is faith?” Only when trust, faithfulness, vision and belief interact with one another do we get a clearer picture of faith – especially of a faith in Jesus Christ.