Lumpenproletariat
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- Basic Beliefs
- ---- "Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts."
When did philosophers or theologians or religionists first begin speaking about "faith"? or preaching it or expounding on it?
Proposed theory: "Faith" was NOT a topic of discussion for philosophy or religion or theology before Jesus Christ. The concept existed, but it was not discussed as an issue by philosophers or theologians or anyone.
Is there any example from literature before the New Testament in which "faith" is made an issue or is promoted as some kind of object or good to be pursued, or a form of behavior to be practiced?
In the New Testament there are 2 very prominent greek words that are basic to this:
PISTEUO and PISTIS. They have the same meaning, except that pisteuo is a verb (believe) and pistis is a noun (faith, belief). Presumably there were similar Aramaic words, which JC probably spoke.
It is interesting that in the NT, these 2 words seem to be more common than any other words except the very frequent words like for "go" and "come" and "be" or "is" and so on, as well as the definite articles and conjunctions, etc. E.g., each of these 2 words is far more common in the NT than words like "God" or "love" or "commandment" or "obedience" and so on.
What we have in the NT is a real explosion of this word, on page after page, whereas in all the previous literature this word (or similar ones in other languages) are of little importance and rather infrequent.
An exception to this rule?
In the Hebrew Bible there was a similar word, not used much, and which did not have the significance of the pisteuo and pistis words in the NT.
And yet there is one reference in Genesis which seems to make "faith" into something important. This reference might be an exception to my suggestion that this idea was not important or not discussed prior to the NT.
Gen. 15:6 -- "Abram put his faith in Yahweh and this was reckoned to him as uprightness."
So my theory for now is that this one verse in the Hebrew Bible is the only place in all of literature prior to the New Testament where "faith" is spoken of as something good or required or necessary or praiseworthy in some way.
And if it's the only exception, then my theory can stand on the principle that "the exception makes the rule" since this might be the only reference in all the ancient texts where "faith" is spoken of in these terms as some kind of good or moral imperative or rule advanced for humans to follow.
Clarification: the word does not mean "faithfulness" or "loyalty" or "obedience" and so on, which is a different concept, though maybe similar. The word for "faith" or "belief" did exist (probably in most of the languages) and maybe in some cases did have the related meaning of "loyalty" or "faithfulness," and so might be emphasized in a text with that meaning.
Also this word/concept is not the Latin "fides" (loyalty, devotion, etc.).
Rather, "faith" means belief, in the sense of believing that something is true (Latin "credo"). Taken in this sense, I am suggesting the above theory, that JC is the one who introduced "faith" or "believing" into philosophy/theology/religion as some kind of good or recommended behavior or mental state to adopt, and that it was in the early 1st century A.D. that this concept or word first became an issue for religion or philosophy or theology.
And all the subsequent emphasis on "faith" (belief) stems from that historical origin.
Are there any other references in the ancient literature, in any language, in addition to that one Genesis verse, where "faith" or "belief" is spoken of in this way? I.e., any other exceptions to the rule? any example that would explode my theory?
There were teachers, philosophers, sages, epic poets, etc., who were published or quoted. Did any of them speak of the need for "faith" or "belief"?
Proposed theory: "Faith" was NOT a topic of discussion for philosophy or religion or theology before Jesus Christ. The concept existed, but it was not discussed as an issue by philosophers or theologians or anyone.
Is there any example from literature before the New Testament in which "faith" is made an issue or is promoted as some kind of object or good to be pursued, or a form of behavior to be practiced?
In the New Testament there are 2 very prominent greek words that are basic to this:
PISTEUO and PISTIS. They have the same meaning, except that pisteuo is a verb (believe) and pistis is a noun (faith, belief). Presumably there were similar Aramaic words, which JC probably spoke.
It is interesting that in the NT, these 2 words seem to be more common than any other words except the very frequent words like for "go" and "come" and "be" or "is" and so on, as well as the definite articles and conjunctions, etc. E.g., each of these 2 words is far more common in the NT than words like "God" or "love" or "commandment" or "obedience" and so on.
What we have in the NT is a real explosion of this word, on page after page, whereas in all the previous literature this word (or similar ones in other languages) are of little importance and rather infrequent.
An exception to this rule?
In the Hebrew Bible there was a similar word, not used much, and which did not have the significance of the pisteuo and pistis words in the NT.
And yet there is one reference in Genesis which seems to make "faith" into something important. This reference might be an exception to my suggestion that this idea was not important or not discussed prior to the NT.
Gen. 15:6 -- "Abram put his faith in Yahweh and this was reckoned to him as uprightness."
So my theory for now is that this one verse in the Hebrew Bible is the only place in all of literature prior to the New Testament where "faith" is spoken of as something good or required or necessary or praiseworthy in some way.
And if it's the only exception, then my theory can stand on the principle that "the exception makes the rule" since this might be the only reference in all the ancient texts where "faith" is spoken of in these terms as some kind of good or moral imperative or rule advanced for humans to follow.
Clarification: the word does not mean "faithfulness" or "loyalty" or "obedience" and so on, which is a different concept, though maybe similar. The word for "faith" or "belief" did exist (probably in most of the languages) and maybe in some cases did have the related meaning of "loyalty" or "faithfulness," and so might be emphasized in a text with that meaning.
Also this word/concept is not the Latin "fides" (loyalty, devotion, etc.).
Rather, "faith" means belief, in the sense of believing that something is true (Latin "credo"). Taken in this sense, I am suggesting the above theory, that JC is the one who introduced "faith" or "believing" into philosophy/theology/religion as some kind of good or recommended behavior or mental state to adopt, and that it was in the early 1st century A.D. that this concept or word first became an issue for religion or philosophy or theology.
And all the subsequent emphasis on "faith" (belief) stems from that historical origin.
Are there any other references in the ancient literature, in any language, in addition to that one Genesis verse, where "faith" or "belief" is spoken of in this way? I.e., any other exceptions to the rule? any example that would explode my theory?
There were teachers, philosophers, sages, epic poets, etc., who were published or quoted. Did any of them speak of the need for "faith" or "belief"?