The Lectio Letter - Issue #80 - A More Political Faith

“…for many today faith is defined as the opposite of evidence-based truth. This is neither a biblical nor a Christian understanding of faith.”

— Matthew Bates

“…pistis [Faith] (and fides, its rough Latin equivalent) [understood] as loyalty or allegiance to military commanders and kings/emperors was so common that it is attested across a wider range of sources than any other category! This loyalty was reinforced by a military oath of allegiance. This pistis was not described as a one-time decision; rather, its duration is consistently stressed—allegiance”

— Matthew Bates

Welcome to Issue #80 of the Lectio Letter. This members-only newsletter is filled with music, film and food suggestions, links, and an article written by yours truly.

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Introduction

The task of bible translation never ends. In every successive generation and every tribe and tongue, God has entrusted His message to be passed on through the faltering, yet Holy Spirit-accompanied work of translation.

Translators continue to tune and change translations so that they convey the original meaning of the text in its language and context. The more we discover what Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew words meant in their original context, the more accurately we can translate and convey the meanings into English or any other language a translator is working on.

In today’s article, I’m reflecting on the translation of the word “Pistis” which is often translated as Faith. As I mention in the article, faith is a word that has as many understandings as it has people using the word.

For some faith is an act of intellectual bravery, overcoming doubt. Others see Faith as something they stir up in order to see God act in a certain way. The problem with these as the core definitions of faith is that they end up putting a lot of the emphasis and pressure on the one who has faith, rather than on the One who you are putting faith in. I hope you find it helpful.