(1) In the Synoptics. — In its active sense of ' faith,' iriiTTis usually means here belief or trust in God or God's poM-er as manifested in Christ (the so-called 'miracle-faith ').t The response of faith conditions the granting of relief to those in bodily distress (Mk 5" II, 10'- II), the eliect being propor- tionate to the degree of faith exercised (Mt 9^ ' According to your faith [Kara r^v iriann vixwv'] be it done unto you ; cf. 15-'*, Lk V' °" ; and for degrees of faith .see Mt 8'" 1|, Lk W etc.). In this con- nexion Mt 13^' is instructive. We are told that ' He did not many mighty works there [' in his own country,' Nazareth] because of their unbelief ('lack of faith,' airiaTiaii) ; cf. Mk G«. Tlie term 'faith' is also applied to the nnijidmrr cf tlic ilis- ciplc that the ]>ov)er i-nnfi-rn-il upin) lihn irill be effective (in the perforniaiice of luinu-ulous works), Mk lP2•-^ defined by Christ as 'faith in God' (v.^). Possibly, however, this passage (as lias been suggested by Menzies§) is intended simply to bring home to the disciples the power of faitli in accom- plishing the seemingly impossible. 'Jesus sum- mons tliose who look to Him to have faith in God when they are in great danger, or when they are seeking with all their heart some boon \\'hich out- ward appearances declare to be all but hopeless ' ; the special and (apparently insurmountable) diffi- culty here being the insensibility of the Jewish people as a whole to the message of the gospel
* Cf. Charles' note on Apoe. Bar. liv. 21 : ' Faith in the Tahnvid is in one of its aspects regarded as a work which, as the fulfil- ment of the Law, produces merit.'
+ Sanday-Headlani, Romans, p. 31 f. The passive sense of TiVr/s ('faithfulness,' 'fidelity') is very rare in the NT. The only instance in the Gospels seems to be Mt 23» (' the weightier niatters of the Law, judgment and mercy and faithfulness' [xa.)
': Nowhere in the NT is it used of man's faith in man.
(symbolized by the -Hithi words of Christ to Jairu- believe'), to the father of i possible ! All things are i ieveth"), to the '' ' '
fi- tree). Cf. the » -". ' ' Fear not, only
■|.ile|,tic(92»'Ifitbe
ilile to him that be- tlie storm (i™ ' Why
are ye fearful ? Ilax'e ye not faith ? ').
The words about the power to remove mountains (Mk 11™- II Mt L>1-"-) occur also in a diflerent con- nexion in Mt 17-" (and in the rebuke administered to the disciples for their ' lack of faith ' in dealing with the epilejjtic— a case of special difficulty). They have a proverbial ring,* and may easily have been used by our Lord more than once (cf. Lk 17" ' If ye ha\e faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye would say to this sycamine tree. Be thou rooted up,' etc.).
In one instance ' faith ' is used in the Synoptic Gospels in a way that suggests the technical sense so frequent in the Epistles, viz. Lk 18^ (' When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth ' ?) Here ' faith ' = faith in Himself as Messiah and Redeemer.
In the Acts and Epp. t.Vti,-, used absolutely, constantly occurs in a soteriological sense =' saving faith.' It rapidly became a Christian technical term, and practically stood as a synonym for Christianity, marking- out the new religion as essen- tially characterized by faith or belief in Jesus as Redeemer. ' Believers ' becomes the designation of Christians ; ' to believe ' = to become a Christian. As contrasted xvith this usage, the term in the Synoptics is, to some extent, undeveloped in mean- ing. Yet how near the soteriological lies to the ' miracle-faith ' comes out clearly in such a passage as Ac 316 (the healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful) ' By faith in his name hath his name made this man strong, whom ye behold and know ; yea, the faith that is through him hath g'iven him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all ' ; here ' faith in the Name ' (of Jesus) is described as ' faith brought into being by Him ' ()i TiiTTt? ii hi' ai/rouXi and the same conclusion results from a comparison of the language of Mt 9'^, Mk 25, Lk 620 (' Xhy sins are forgiven thee '), as well as from the language of Lk 7^, Mt
(2) In the Fourth Gospel the absence of the sub- stantive (irio-ris) — which does not occur at all — is made up for by the frequent use of the verb (iricr- Tetjeiv).
niiTTaut rarely occurs in the NT in the weakened sense ' to credit,' ' give credence to ' ; only once apparently of a non-
'■ ■ act (Mt 2423.26, Mk 132I— in the warning about false
Christs, ' believe definite act, event, prayer (Mt 21;"~ ""
elsewhere of fact in the religious sphere ; of believing atsoever ye shall ask in pra.ver, believing :); of belief in the fact of the resurrection of Christ (Jn 208- 25. 2a 6is); in God's word of promise (Lk !« ; cf. Ac 26'-^), in the declarations of Jesus whether regarding earthly