And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) The first of the characteristics listed in 2 Peter 1:5-7 is faith . I’m debating with an atheist and at the moment, the issue revolves around the terms belief and faith. Her question this morning was why one had to have faith in order to believe in a god. In the Bible, the word they translate as belief is transliterated pistis . The word they translate as faith is transliterated pistis. Or, if I have the form of the word wrong, it is derived from that root word. Effectively, belief equals faith. The dictionary tries to differentiate between them by describing faith as “complete” belief but what do we then do with Jesus’ driving out a demon from the son of a father who said, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)? What do we do about Jesus’ claim that if we have faith t
This blog is thoughts on faith, life and ideas from a Christian contemplative perspective.