The Bible Book

239

that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved. For it is with

your heart that you believe and

are justified, and it is with your

mouth that you profess your faith

and are saved.”

Walking by faith

Christianity is defined by the

tenet that those who believe in

Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection

receive life, and those who do

not face condemnation. Though

this idea may serve to alienate non-

Christians, its purpose is to convey

the gravity of the call to faith and the

urgency of believing in Jesus.

This faith in Christ initiates

the Christian life, but also drives

it forward. In his second letter to

the Corinthians, Paul writes that

Christians should live by faith, not

by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). This

did not mean that Paul understood

faith as being irrational or contrary

to evidence, or that the contrast

between faith and sight should

mean that faith is blind. Some

versions of the Bible translate the

phrase as “walk by faith, not by

sight,” which may illuminate Paul’s

meaning: a Christian’s life should

be guided by trusting God’s

judgment, not by one’s own.

The source of faith

The Bible most often uses the word

“faith” to describe people believing

some assertion or trusting in God

or Jesus. People are commanded to

believe statements and to believe

that Jesus has done or said things.

For this reason, it would be easy

to conclude that faith is a purely

human response to propositions

or persons. Yet the Bible speaks of

God as the One who produces faith

in people. It is not an instrument of

human will, adapted to accomplish

human purposes. Instead, it is a

gift of God that accomplishes God’s

purposes in those who receive it.

Paul held that belief in Christ was

something that God granted to

people (Philippians 1:29).

The idea of faith as God’s gift

also appears in Ephesians 2:8–9,

where people are saved through

faith that is “not from yourselves,

it is the gift of God.” The gift of ❯❯

See also: Ruth and Naomi 108–09 ■ The Empty Tomb 268–71 ■ Fruits of the

Spirit 300 ■ Salvation Through Faith 301 ■ Faith and Works 312

THE GOSPELS

Augustine was an important

scholar in the early Church and

a contemporary of St. Jerome.

This painting (c.1480) by Sandro

Botticelli shows him in his study.

St. Augustine

Augustine (396–430 ce), the

Bishop of Hippo, an ancient

port on the coast of Roman

North Africa, advised that in

studying the Bible, one ought

not seek to understand in

order to believe, but rather

believe in order to understand.

Augustine’s counsel was

intended to produce humility.

It is too easy, he seemed to

say, to dismiss the parts of

the Bible that are difficult to

understand as incoherent or

to say that the logic is fatally

flawed. Belief, on the other

hand, perseveres in study and

often finds flashes of insight.

Augustine, who had

previously studied the Bible

as a pagan teacher of rhetoric

and a student of Platonic

philosophy, argued that there

was a connection between

faith and reason. He came

to believe that even the best

thinkers in the world made

mistakes, due to their human

nature. Faith, he argued, was

illuminating, and allowed a

philosopher to see the truth

of scripture more clearly.

Faith is a living, daring

confidence in God’s grace,

so sure and certain that a

man could stake his life

on it a thousand times.

Martin Luther

Ask God ... and it will be

given to you ... but when

you ask, you must believe

and not doubt, because the

one who doubts is like a

wave of the sea, blown

and tossed by the wind.

James 1:6

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