In evangelical circles, the Christian faith is described as a genuine relationship with Jesus. These circles reject the labels ‘religion’ or ‘religious programme’; for them, faith is something very personal that one can feel and be certain of, such as the assurance of salvation. The very fact that I use these two terms, ‘programme’ or ‘religion’, will put these people off, as they pride themselves precisely on not following a programme, nor being a religion. Nevertheless, whether you describe your beliefs as a feeling or a relationship, I shall refer to them as a ‘programme’, because at the very least it includes a confession of faith which every movement will flavour to its own particular tastes. So what is faith?
I shall never forget the sermon given by my friend, the theologian and professor faithful to the Word of God, in which he recalled an ‘jackhammer’ evangelism campaign he had led in Austria to bring the lost sheep back onto the right path. As always, his message had been as simple as it was clear: You are born with a black heart, and unless you repent of your sins, begin to have a genuine relationship with the Lord Jesus, and have faith in God, you will go to hell. At the end of the evangelistic service, a respectable bourgeois lady approached the theologian and remarked: “If what you’re saying is true, then I’ll end up in eternal hell!” She could not believe that God could have eternal torment in store for an honest citizen. With an angelic smile, he stretched out his hand from the pulpit to mimic the reply he had given as she left the church: ‘I congratulate you!’ the man of God proudly recalled his response as he shook her hand, ‘you got it!’. I was blown away: I, too, wanted and needed to spread this good news of God’s boundless love throughout the world with the same charisma and the same determination.
But biblically speaking, what is faith? Let’s start at the beginning, namely in the Old Testament:
I shall never forget the sermon given by my friend, the theologian and professor faithful to the Word of God, in which he recalled an ‘jackhammer’ evangelism campaign he had led in Austria to bring the lost sheep back onto the right path. As always, his message had been as simple as it was clear: You are born with a black heart, and unless you repent of your sins, begin to have a genuine relationship with the Lord Jesus, and have faith in God, you will go to hell. At the end of the evangelistic service, a respectable bourgeois lady approached the theologian and remarked: “If what you’re saying is true, then I’ll end up in eternal hell!” She could not believe that God could have eternal torment in store for an honest citizen. With an angelic smile, he stretched out his hand from the pulpit to mimic the reply he had given as she left the church: ‘I congratulate you!’ the man of God proudly recalled his response as he shook her hand, ‘you got it!’. I was blown away: I, too, wanted and needed to spread this good news of God’s boundless love throughout the world with the same charisma and the same determination.
But biblically speaking, what is faith? Let’s start at the beginning, namely in the Old Testament:
The Hebrew word for ‘faith’ is neemuna. The adjective for ‘believing’ is neeman. The majority of Hebrew words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, participles, etc.) are formed from three consonants, known as ‘roots’. The entire vocabulary is built primarily by adding prefixes or suffixes, and by altering the vowels, including those within these consonants. Thus, the three consonants used to form the term for ‘faith’ in Hebrew are ‘mn (אמן). In English, this has given rise to the expression ‘amen’, which could be translated as ‘so be it’ or ‘it is true’. There are several terms derived from this root ‘mn, of which here are a few examples:
As can be seen from the table above, in the New Testament (in Greek), the word for ‘faith’ is pistis, and the adjective ‘believing’ is pistos. There are several interesting examples where, within the same verse, the same term has two different meanings, as in 1 Samuel 2:35, listed below (because in the first instance the adjective refers to a person, and in the second to a dynasty). By way of illustration, here is Isaiah 7:9b, where the verb ‘to believe’ is conjugated in two different forms (quoted from the NASB):
|
|
‘If you will not believe ('mn), you surely shall not last ('mn).’
|
The LXX or Septuagint (what is the LXX?) is the oldest complete translation of the Hebrew and Aramaic Bible into ancient Greek. The LXX is an interesting read because it shows how the Jews of Jesus’s time understood the Tanakh (the Old Testament). For example, the translation of Isaiah 7:9b quoted above uses two different Greek verbs for the Hebrew verb ‘mn, namely pisteuô (‘to believe’) and suniêmi (literally ‘to bring together’). However, as the following short list (which is by no means exhaustive) shows, the term ‘faith’ and its derivatives based on ‘mn (אמן) have various meanings, of which ‘faith’ or ‘believing’ are just two of many possible translations:
What struck me whilst reading the Old Testament (I always read it in Hebrew with the Greek translation from the LXX alongside) was the variety of meanings conveyed by the term ‘mn in Hebrew, and pistis in Greek, as well as their derived terms. Translators have no problem drawing on a wide vocabulary when translating the Old Testament. But when they come to the New Testament, the Greek term pistis is almost invariably rendered as ‘faith’ (implying ‘in Jesus Christ’). ‘Believing’ and ‘having faith’ are so deeply ingrained among Christians that it is impossible for them to see ‘the bigger picture’. I shall illustrate this with a verse where translating the verb pisteuô as ‘to believe’ makes no sense whatsoever, and yet certain Bibles cling to the ‘agenda’ represented by ‘having faith’ (in Christ). In 1 Timothy 2:15, Paul speaks of women:
|
|
‘Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.’
|
Do unmarried women go to hell? Are infertile women damned? Must wives give birth to children to go to heaven? Yet that is not how people thought back then. For a woman, having children was an expression of her natural femininity, of a normal, human life. In those days, women did not remain single; they got married – and they married at a much younger age than is the case here today. In a world where contraception did not exist, having babies was one of the hardest things to avoid. So, if you take off your ecclesiastical glasses and translate the verse quoted above in a neutral way, it would read:
|
|
‘But she will be saved (or preserved) by becoming a mother, if she remains true to integrity (pistis), love and devotion, whilst exercising sound judgement.’
|
You see, the lengthy ecclesiastical programme of the seven sacraments and good works (for Catholics), speaking in tongues and spiritual gifts (for charismatics), the three pillars (for the Church of England), or whatever the various movements might well pack into the broad category of ‘faith’ – all of this disappears. Paul speaks here only of a woman who leads a human life in harmony with her natural calling. Being a good Christian has never been a condition for salvation, even though that is perhaps what our Bibles, translated into our own languages, might suggest. True religion has never consisted of obeying rules and following a programme. The opponents who stood against the apostles in Acts 15, for example, argued that one had to be, or become, a Jew in order to be saved. Is it not sad that the walls of separation within Judaism—which Jesus and the apostles sought to tear down—have been rebuilt by Christians according to various ecclesiastical preferences, for today it is the Church that reserves salvation for Christians, but only for the ‘true’ ones, of course. I admit that it is easy to fall into this trap, as Christians of pagan origin were required to abstain from idols, which sounds to our ears like a religious prohibition. However, back then the issue of other gods was an ethical one; one need only study the Greek gods a little to realise this. The criterion for salvation has never been religious in nature; it has always been ethical. It is not a matter of observing the law (whether Christian or Jewish); it is a matter of keeping its spirit.
I got married in faith
If there is one person who has fanatically pursued the agenda of the far-right wing of the evangelical movement with the utmost fervour, it is certainly me. My criteria for finding a wife were almost exclusively theological. I married in faith. On paper, my ex-wife ticked all the boxes. If only I’d listened to my own spirit, to the gentle voice of my heart, I wouldn’t have got married. My aunt (the Italian’s wife) and my brother-in-law had both warned me, such was the obvious incompatibility between us. Yet the only incompatibility I recognised was one of faith. My future partner had to believe in Jesus. In the right way! What I’d learnt at church and from those around me was that if two people love Jesus, it would be impossible for them not to love one another as well. Convinced that I was spiritual, I was the most fleshly Christian there could be. More than once I came close to breaking it off, but with the encouragement of my friend—the professor faithful to the Word of God—I stood firm against the devil’s attacks, which sought to drive a wedge between us. As I had conducted my search for a spouse in a completely irreproachable manner, faithful to the Bible, guided by the Holy Spirit and with the deepest faith in Jesus’ guidance, I was firmly convinced that I had found the woman of my dreams – so much so that I wrote a song for my partner entitled “C'est elle!” (‘She’s the One!’) And I told everyone I’d found a pearl. There is no doubt that she has been and always will be an excellent mum – the best for my children. I have absolutely no intention of attacking my ex-wife; what I’m trying to say is that my understanding of ‘faith’ at the time was absurd.
True faith
‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’
Hebrew 11:1
Hebrew 11:1
What the NASB renders here as ‘conviction’ could also be translated as ‘proof’. Faith is not a programme, but the visible proof of realities that are not yet visible! Faith is that gentle voice, that inner conviction which sees the realisation of things that are not yet visible. Never again in my life will I follow a programme. Reason may well be good for mathematical calculations, but in life one must follow the spirit, the gentle voice of the heart.
I come back to Isaiah 7:9b:
|
|
‘If you will not believe ('mn), you surely shall not last ('mn).’
|
It could also be translated as ‘if you do not trust, you will not be confirmed’ or ‘if you are not faithful, you will not be sustained’. It is the same verb ‘mn’, once in the active voice (to believe, to trust) and once in the passive voice (to be sustained, supported or confirmed, and in this sense to ‘last’). I love the translation of the NASB: ‘If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.’ True faith is directly linked to existence. Faith is not an abstract exercise, nor a religious programme to be followed; it is something concrete, the visible face of a true, invisible reality. Of course, these invisible realities may be of a general nature, such as love, perseverance, reliability or forgiveness. But they may also be very personal in nature, applying only to you and your situation.
By Chris Zürcher. Page updated on 4 July 2026
