The June meeting of the STS (on Thursday, the 18th) had 5 people attending. John Yates presented a paper titled “Understanding Our Identity in Christ from John 15.” Andy Walters then presented a paper (title?) discussing some of same topics from what he called an “emerging church” point of view, with Brian McLaren, Marcus Borg, Karen Armstrong, and Bishop John Shelby Spong as major influences.
The second paper and comments from the meeting will appear on this blog as soon as they are available.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Understanding Our Identity in Christ from John 15
by John Yates
delivered June 18, 2009
A. Scope:
Yes, we were supposed to look at Colossians 3 also. I have 3 reasons for eliminating it from tonight’s discussion:
1. I delayed too long in preparing.
2. John 15 has more than enough for us to look at tonight.
3 I really love this passage. It is one of my favorite passages in the Bible, and I am happy to stay here for a while.
B. Purpose:
We will try to derive from this passage an outline of who we are in Christ. The “who” question involves several aspects of personhood and relationships.
C. Method
The paper looks at John 15 within its context (text / book / author / 1st Cent. Christian Church/ the Bible generally), and makes minimal references to other material.
Question: Is this approach legitimate? What safeguards do we have to prevent distortion?
D. The Text: John 15 (vine and branches). We concentrate on verses 1-12, but we also look at the rest of the chapter.
E. Aspects of Our Identity in Christ
This text gives us not just a static picture, but also a kind of story, or at least the set-up for a story. It contains action, players, drama, tensions, etc. We examine here some of the themes of that story.
1. Life: Not only do we derive our physical life from Christ, but he also gives us a “new life,” which includes the ability to respond to him, to grow spiritually, to be conformed to his likeness, and to bear fruit. It also involves a real (i.e., ontic, metaphysical, concrete, active, dynamic) connection to Christ and interaction with him personally. This is a spiritual reality that exhibits itself in changes in our lives.
2. Fruit: The passage does not clearly specify what it means by this fruit. Possibilities include: a life characterized by self-giving love for others; increased depth of spiritual character; the conversion of others to following Christ.
Question: What exactly is the fruit?
3. Character and nature: God conforms us more and more to the image of Christ. This exhibits itself in our relations with each other, but also and chiefly with God. Thus our lives become more and more self-consciously relational and we look to God as the source of all our earthly good.
4. Abilities and freedom: This union with Christ implies communion with him, security in him, a connection with others who are connected with him (and thus the Church), and the ability to bear fruit. Others?
5. Abiding: What kind of activity is this? The sense of the verb is to denote the home-place where one dwells, and thus a picture of habit, steadfastness, belonging, and intimacy. Further, it is an activity, just as one chooses (whether consciously or unconsciously) to return to the same place every night for a meal and sleep.
Does this picture mean that the one abiding in Christ knows that it IS Christ in whom he abides? Or could the picture include the idea that some people REALLY abide in Christ, as evidenced by their love of neighbor and moral lives, but they don’t know that it is Christ in whom they abide?
Jesus isn’t trying to set out a comprehensive systematic theology here. He is telling this small group of followers what they need to do. The text as such does not address whether some aspects of this lesson also apply elsewhere. It does bring up many very interesting questions that it doesn’t answer.
Question: What are the details of “abiding”?
6. Relationships: Being alive and being a person entails relationship and interaction with other persons and forces. This passage briefly but profoundly looks at several different relationships that we have as a result of being in Christ.
6a. Relationship with Christ: All of our previous comments have already expanded on our relationship with Christ, so we won’t add anything here.
6b. Relationship with other Christians: The branches are connected with each other by virtue of being connected with the vine. He calls us his friends (verses 13-15), so how can we not be friends of each other, also? He commands us to love one another (v. 17), so that our relationships with each other also echo our relationship with him.
6c. Relationship with the world: The world, i.e., that system of existence that tries to live independently of God, hates the Word of God, this One who embodies the message that our existence cannot avoid depending on God, that God has not and will not abandon it, and that God continues to claim all his creation as his own. The world killed Christ. It will also hate us. Our response must also reflect that of Christ, namely, to love those who hate us.
6d. Relationship with God the Father: This is even more frightening than our relationship with the world, and yet ultimately consoling and life-giving. That the Creator and Upholder of existence and being should turn his personal attention to us—how can that be anything but scary? He “prunes” us, as a vine-dresser prunes grape vines. That has to be painful and frustrating and scary at the time. But he does it from love, with our interests at heart. And Jesus goes on in the next chapter (16:27) that God the Father himself loves us. This claim alone has more content than we can possibly unpack tonight, or even through eternity.
F. Closing Remarks:
The richness and profundity of this chapter defeats my attempts to summarize it in a few minutes. I hope that these hints at its meaning will provoke you to profitable contemplation and thanksgiving to the God who himself loves us in such a way that he gives himself to us in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, and leads us by his own Spirit.
Amen.
delivered June 18, 2009
A. Scope:
Yes, we were supposed to look at Colossians 3 also. I have 3 reasons for eliminating it from tonight’s discussion:
1. I delayed too long in preparing.
2. John 15 has more than enough for us to look at tonight.
3 I really love this passage. It is one of my favorite passages in the Bible, and I am happy to stay here for a while.
B. Purpose:
We will try to derive from this passage an outline of who we are in Christ. The “who” question involves several aspects of personhood and relationships.
C. Method
The paper looks at John 15 within its context (text / book / author / 1st Cent. Christian Church/ the Bible generally), and makes minimal references to other material.
Question: Is this approach legitimate? What safeguards do we have to prevent distortion?
D. The Text: John 15 (vine and branches). We concentrate on verses 1-12, but we also look at the rest of the chapter.
1"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. 12This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
E. Aspects of Our Identity in Christ
This text gives us not just a static picture, but also a kind of story, or at least the set-up for a story. It contains action, players, drama, tensions, etc. We examine here some of the themes of that story.
1. Life: Not only do we derive our physical life from Christ, but he also gives us a “new life,” which includes the ability to respond to him, to grow spiritually, to be conformed to his likeness, and to bear fruit. It also involves a real (i.e., ontic, metaphysical, concrete, active, dynamic) connection to Christ and interaction with him personally. This is a spiritual reality that exhibits itself in changes in our lives.
2. Fruit: The passage does not clearly specify what it means by this fruit. Possibilities include: a life characterized by self-giving love for others; increased depth of spiritual character; the conversion of others to following Christ.
Question: What exactly is the fruit?
3. Character and nature: God conforms us more and more to the image of Christ. This exhibits itself in our relations with each other, but also and chiefly with God. Thus our lives become more and more self-consciously relational and we look to God as the source of all our earthly good.
4. Abilities and freedom: This union with Christ implies communion with him, security in him, a connection with others who are connected with him (and thus the Church), and the ability to bear fruit. Others?
5. Abiding: What kind of activity is this? The sense of the verb is to denote the home-place where one dwells, and thus a picture of habit, steadfastness, belonging, and intimacy. Further, it is an activity, just as one chooses (whether consciously or unconsciously) to return to the same place every night for a meal and sleep.
Does this picture mean that the one abiding in Christ knows that it IS Christ in whom he abides? Or could the picture include the idea that some people REALLY abide in Christ, as evidenced by their love of neighbor and moral lives, but they don’t know that it is Christ in whom they abide?
Jesus isn’t trying to set out a comprehensive systematic theology here. He is telling this small group of followers what they need to do. The text as such does not address whether some aspects of this lesson also apply elsewhere. It does bring up many very interesting questions that it doesn’t answer.
Question: What are the details of “abiding”?
6. Relationships: Being alive and being a person entails relationship and interaction with other persons and forces. This passage briefly but profoundly looks at several different relationships that we have as a result of being in Christ.
6a. Relationship with Christ: All of our previous comments have already expanded on our relationship with Christ, so we won’t add anything here.
6b. Relationship with other Christians: The branches are connected with each other by virtue of being connected with the vine. He calls us his friends (verses 13-15), so how can we not be friends of each other, also? He commands us to love one another (v. 17), so that our relationships with each other also echo our relationship with him.
6c. Relationship with the world: The world, i.e., that system of existence that tries to live independently of God, hates the Word of God, this One who embodies the message that our existence cannot avoid depending on God, that God has not and will not abandon it, and that God continues to claim all his creation as his own. The world killed Christ. It will also hate us. Our response must also reflect that of Christ, namely, to love those who hate us.
6d. Relationship with God the Father: This is even more frightening than our relationship with the world, and yet ultimately consoling and life-giving. That the Creator and Upholder of existence and being should turn his personal attention to us—how can that be anything but scary? He “prunes” us, as a vine-dresser prunes grape vines. That has to be painful and frustrating and scary at the time. But he does it from love, with our interests at heart. And Jesus goes on in the next chapter (16:27) that God the Father himself loves us. This claim alone has more content than we can possibly unpack tonight, or even through eternity.
F. Closing Remarks:
The richness and profundity of this chapter defeats my attempts to summarize it in a few minutes. I hope that these hints at its meaning will provoke you to profitable contemplation and thanksgiving to the God who himself loves us in such a way that he gives himself to us in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, and leads us by his own Spirit.
Amen.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Announcement of 4th meeting-June '09
The June, 2009, meeting of the Sidewalk Theology Society will occur tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. (!!! sorry for the late notice) at Delaney's pub (next to the Celtic Tavern, which is at 18th & Blake in lower downtown Denver). We will revisit the topic of our identity in Christ, focusing on John 15:1-12 and Colossians 3:1-6. We want to emphasize the practical implications of this topic. Bring a bible for easy reference to these passages.
The patron saint for the evening is John Donne (1572-1631). Poet, preacher, and dean of St. Paul's, London, he wrote
No man is an island. entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Notes on Our Identity in Christ
This is more of a paper-in-progress than a coherent paper. One of the difficulties in writing such a paper for a Sidewalk audience is that the topic digs into assumptions that we don't even know that we make, then contrasting those with a different way of thinking. Thus a discussion of the material, chunk by chunk, and then asking for help with clarification, may be the best way of proceeding. I include my notes so that those who wish can prepare.
“Notes on Our Identity in Christ”
John A. Yates
Sidewalk Theology Society
I. Asking for help with this topic
I want to make the material more accessible, less abstract, more graphic and graspable.
One approach is to contrast individualistic views of identity with a Christ-centered view.
II. Scriptural materials for understanding our identity in Christ
A. John 15 (parable of the vine and branches)
The branch obtains [life, character & nature, power & abilities, purpose], from outside itself, by remaining actively [connected, subordinate, related]
B. Col. 2:11-12; 3:1-4
We are buried with Christ, risen with Christ, made alive with Christ.
We are risen with Christ, our life is hid with Christ in God, Christ is our life.
C. II Cor. 5:14-17
a. [He died, therefore all died.]:==>: [organic unity of humanity in Christ]
b. [He died that those who live should not live to themselves, but toward Christ]:==>: [externally derived purpose]
c. [Henceforth we know no man after the flesh] + a:==>: [The flesh is not a reliable means of knowing people, because it has been killed, done away in Christ.]
d. [If anyone is in Christ —New creation!]:==>: [The newness that comes out of our death and life in Christ is a matter of creation, a miracle, an intervention of God that does not follow some independent or natural process.]
D. Gal. 2:20
Christ’s crucifixion included me
I am dead and yet I live
But it is really Christ who lives in me.
And this life that persists in the flesh does so because of Christ.
E. John 17:20-23
We have an organic unity with Christ and with each other in Christ. This unity has a similar structure to the unity of the Godhead.
F. Acts 9:4
Persecuting church members is persecuting Christ, who is in heaven.
G. Rom. 12 and I Cor. 12
We are all different, but we are members of one another and our gifts are for each other.
III. What kind of connection do we have with Christ?
The following is a list of various types of connection. Which of them describe our connection with Christ?
o Legal, as in marriage, adoption, citizenship
o Volitional, something that we can turn on or off
o Functional, as in the various members of a business performing their tasks
o Personal, as with friends
o Simple-Physical, as a light bulb in an electric circuit
o Organic-Physical, as with parts of a body
o Organic-Spiritual, similar to the physical relation of members of a body, but operating chiefly in non-physical ways: This would include real interaction, spiritual nourishment, guidance, assurance, service, protection, etc.
IV. Contrast individualistic view with Christocentric view
What is the “I” in “Who am I?”
People ask, “What do you do,” not, “Whom are you in relationship with?”
Public self vs. private self; personality; who are “you” as a whole? Am “I” the feelings about what I do, thoughts (stream of consciousness), comparison and competition with others?
Am I a do-er, a like-er? Am I the stuff in my skull?
V. What difference does it make?
1. Connection with the church is not optional but necessarily follows our union with Christ. That is, if we are connected with Christ, we are connected with each other.
2. This connection with the church is accomplished by Christ’s action, not by mine.
3. Refusal to live in the church is a contradiction of our being, like refusing to put oil in an automobile engine.
4. Refusal to abide in Christ is a contradiction of our being, like a branch that refuses to be connected to its vine.
5. We are not alone. In our struggles against sin, the world, and the devil, we often fail to see the strength we in fact have in Christ and the strength we have in each other. Failing to see our strength, we surrender to the illusions that sin, the world, and the devil use against us. We are connected. When we fail to understand this, when we see ourselves as essentially isolated, or as in merely voluntary association with other essentially isolated beings, we then fail to act according to the structure of connection in which we exist, and we damage ourselves and others.
6. We struggle, sometimes hard enough that we can call incidents in our lives “battles.” So if, on the one hand, we are not left alone with merely a theology and a set of commands, and, on the other hand, Jesus doesn’t just “fix it” or make the battle go away, then what help can we expect from him?
Where Christ helps us: a) Taking down the illusions; b) Urging us to flee temptation; c) Finding allies; d) Giving us a hunger for God and his good gifts; e) Sensing the presence of Jesus with us; f) Knowing that the struggle isn’t about me, it’s about Jesus and those around me.
“Notes on Our Identity in Christ”
John A. Yates
Sidewalk Theology Society
I. Asking for help with this topic
I want to make the material more accessible, less abstract, more graphic and graspable.
One approach is to contrast individualistic views of identity with a Christ-centered view.
II. Scriptural materials for understanding our identity in Christ
A. John 15 (parable of the vine and branches)
The branch obtains [life, character & nature, power & abilities, purpose], from outside itself, by remaining actively [connected, subordinate, related]
B. Col. 2:11-12; 3:1-4
We are buried with Christ, risen with Christ, made alive with Christ.
We are risen with Christ, our life is hid with Christ in God, Christ is our life.
C. II Cor. 5:14-17
a. [He died, therefore all died.]:==>: [organic unity of humanity in Christ]
b. [He died that those who live should not live to themselves, but toward Christ]:==>: [externally derived purpose]
c. [Henceforth we know no man after the flesh] + a:==>: [The flesh is not a reliable means of knowing people, because it has been killed, done away in Christ.]
d. [If anyone is in Christ —New creation!]:==>: [The newness that comes out of our death and life in Christ is a matter of creation, a miracle, an intervention of God that does not follow some independent or natural process.]
D. Gal. 2:20
Christ’s crucifixion included me
I am dead and yet I live
But it is really Christ who lives in me.
And this life that persists in the flesh does so because of Christ.
E. John 17:20-23
We have an organic unity with Christ and with each other in Christ. This unity has a similar structure to the unity of the Godhead.
F. Acts 9:4
Persecuting church members is persecuting Christ, who is in heaven.
G. Rom. 12 and I Cor. 12
We are all different, but we are members of one another and our gifts are for each other.
III. What kind of connection do we have with Christ?
The following is a list of various types of connection. Which of them describe our connection with Christ?
o Legal, as in marriage, adoption, citizenship
o Volitional, something that we can turn on or off
o Functional, as in the various members of a business performing their tasks
o Personal, as with friends
o Simple-Physical, as a light bulb in an electric circuit
o Organic-Physical, as with parts of a body
o Organic-Spiritual, similar to the physical relation of members of a body, but operating chiefly in non-physical ways: This would include real interaction, spiritual nourishment, guidance, assurance, service, protection, etc.
IV. Contrast individualistic view with Christocentric view
What is the “I” in “Who am I?”
People ask, “What do you do,” not, “Whom are you in relationship with?”
Public self vs. private self; personality; who are “you” as a whole? Am “I” the feelings about what I do, thoughts (stream of consciousness), comparison and competition with others?
Am I a do-er, a like-er? Am I the stuff in my skull?
V. What difference does it make?
1. Connection with the church is not optional but necessarily follows our union with Christ. That is, if we are connected with Christ, we are connected with each other.
2. This connection with the church is accomplished by Christ’s action, not by mine.
3. Refusal to live in the church is a contradiction of our being, like refusing to put oil in an automobile engine.
4. Refusal to abide in Christ is a contradiction of our being, like a branch that refuses to be connected to its vine.
5. We are not alone. In our struggles against sin, the world, and the devil, we often fail to see the strength we in fact have in Christ and the strength we have in each other. Failing to see our strength, we surrender to the illusions that sin, the world, and the devil use against us. We are connected. When we fail to understand this, when we see ourselves as essentially isolated, or as in merely voluntary association with other essentially isolated beings, we then fail to act according to the structure of connection in which we exist, and we damage ourselves and others.
6. We struggle, sometimes hard enough that we can call incidents in our lives “battles.” So if, on the one hand, we are not left alone with merely a theology and a set of commands, and, on the other hand, Jesus doesn’t just “fix it” or make the battle go away, then what help can we expect from him?
Where Christ helps us: a) Taking down the illusions; b) Urging us to flee temptation; c) Finding allies; d) Giving us a hunger for God and his good gifts; e) Sensing the presence of Jesus with us; f) Knowing that the struggle isn’t about me, it’s about Jesus and those around me.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Announcement of the Third Meeting
The third meeting of the Sidewalk Theology Society will occur at 7:30 p.m., on Thurs., May 21, at Delaney's Pub, which is next door to the Celtic Tavern at 18th & Blake in downtown Denver. The topic will be "Our Identity in Christ." The patron saint for this month's meeting is Athanasius of Alexandria.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Report of the Second Meeting
My apologies for not posting the paper before the meeting, as I had hoped to do, but I didn't finish writing it until that afternoon.
Despite that lapse, the meeting went well. We had good discussion amongst the 15 people attending, opening up interesting lines of thought that we could not exhaust. The discussion also exposed some of the assumptions of the paper, which I found useful and thought-provoking. For example, the paper's scope only addresses the believer's interaction with God and not interaction with the Church or the relationship of one Christian's faith to that of others.
The next meeting will be at Delaney's again, on Thursday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. The proposed topic is "Our Identity in Christ," but I'm having some thoughts about other possibilities. We shall see.
JY
Despite that lapse, the meeting went well. We had good discussion amongst the 15 people attending, opening up interesting lines of thought that we could not exhaust. The discussion also exposed some of the assumptions of the paper, which I found useful and thought-provoking. For example, the paper's scope only addresses the believer's interaction with God and not interaction with the Church or the relationship of one Christian's faith to that of others.
The next meeting will be at Delaney's again, on Thursday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. The proposed topic is "Our Identity in Christ," but I'm having some thoughts about other possibilities. We shall see.
JY
On the Nature of Faith
written and presented by John A. Yates, April 16, 2009
This paper can serve as a beginning, or a stage along the way, but it clearly won’t serve as a definitive statement. It does attempt to clear some underbrush off the path, but this is a deep and wide topic that deserves much study and thought.
So, as an introductory step into deep waters, this paper first looks at American English usage of the word faith, then at what John Calvin had to say about the nature of faith, and then it draws some conclusions.
The Usage of a Word
The American Heritage Dictionary is not a theological resource, and therefore does not tell us what faith is. It does, however, tell us how people use language, so it’s a reasonable starting place for finding what people usually mean when they use the word “faith.” The on-line version, at dictionary.com, gives the following definitions:
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief, trust.
3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters.
4. Often Faith Christianity The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.
5. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.
6. A set of principles or beliefs.
The first four definitions combine two aspects of personal action, in which 1) the subject accepts a person or a body of ideas as trustworthy, and 2) the subject defines his world at least partly in terms of a positive relationship with the object of this trust. And the element of trust can be taken to imply that this action goes against some resistance, that there are other options that we refuse when we have faith in something or someone. Thus we continue to have faith in a friend who may appear to ignore or slight us, we do not change our political or economic views of the world merely on the claims of today’s news, and we risk our lives on the assumption that the laws of physics will be as relevant tomorrow as they were today and yesterday.
The second definition recognizes that faith takes a step that is not demanded by logical proof and material evidence, but does not specify how big that step is. For example, the expression “leap of faith” denotes a gap so big between evidence and belief that landing safely on the other side seems like an unlikely outcome. But we also take extremely reasonable steps of faith every day. Will the sun rise tomorrow? We have no logical proof that it will, and we have no material evidence about tomorrow at all. There is an extremely small probability that something will interfere with the sun or with our planet, and the cosmos is full of mysteries that we have not mapped. The likelihood that the sun will not rise is greater than zero, but so small that I don’t believe it. If I tried to keep up with all possible events with a probability that low, the strain of it would do me in before a planetary catastrophe will.
Michael Shermer, in his book How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science, exhibits a similar kind of faith, i.e., “belief that does not rest on proof or material evidence,” when he opposes those who say that miracles are an argument for God. He writes, (p. 95),
Mr. Shermer has full confidence in his view of the world because it works very well day to day. This worldview has the backing of a great deal of material evidence and the logical analysis thereof, so he is justified to trust that the world usually works a certain way. He lacks evidence and proof, however, for saying that the world never works in a way counter to the description of the scientific tradition. He definitely has grounds for being skeptical of miracles. But when he implies that there are no miracles, he has left the area of science and entered metaphysics. Science rests on the assumption that physical processes are always and everywhere consistent. It can never prove that assumption, because it can’t test all processes at all places and times.
Consequently, I submit that we can legitimately apply the word “faith” to this kind of attitude of belief and commitment. It seems to me that everybody’s life involves taking steps, of one size or another, on the assumption that future events will bear a significant resemblance to our past experience. Further, our worldviews all have gaps in them that we fill, not with actual proof, but by trusting someone else’s claim to have proved it, or by assuming that the connection across the gap is at least provable in theory. If the worldview explains the gap, we feel no need to investigate further. Nor should we.
John Calvin on Christian Faith
But can we understand Christian faith entirely in terms of this definition? One of my favorite theologians, John Calvin, claims that we can’t, and I agree. Briefly stated, Christian faith is not only a label for actions of belief and trust internal to the Christian, it is also a gift given by God and a mode of interaction with God. Further, even orthodox affirmations of doctrine do not constitute faith if they do not include this interaction with God.
Before we proceed, I wanted to be able claim that this implies that materialist atheism fits the dictionary definition of faith better than Christian faith does. The motivation was, of course, to throw some firecrackers into the flame of debate. But, clearly, the cited definition says nothing about the source of faith and only refers to its nature as belief and trust.
A word about John Calvin: He and Martin Luther are the two theological giants of the Reformation. Calvin was 24 years younger that Luther, and this year marks his 500th birthday. He was French, studied in Paris, and ministered in Strasburg and Geneva, where he settled. His sermons and commentaries are available in English translation, and his central work is titled Institutes of the Christian Religion. John Knox, who helped lead the reformation in Scotland, was one of his students. Calvin died in 1564.
The Institutes runs a little longer than 1500 pages, of which Book Three, Chapter II is titled, “Faith: Its Definition Set Forth, and Its Properties Explained.” To give you a taste of Calvin’s thought, I will read some section titles and a few extracts of his writing in those sections.
§ 2. Faith rests upon knowledge, no upon pious ignorance
p. 545, “Faith rests not on ignorance, but on knowledge. ... [We obtain salvation] when we know that God is our merciful Father, because of reconciliation effected through Christ [II Cor. 5:18-19], and that Christ has been given to us as righteousness, sanctification, and life. By this knowledge, I say, not by submission of our feeling, do we obtain entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
§ 4. Even right faith is always surrounded by error and unbelief
§ 6. Faith rests upon God’s Word
p. 549, “But we say that the Word itself, however it be imparted to us, is like a mirror in which faith may contemplate God. ... In understanding faith it is not merely a question of knowing that God exists, but also—and this especially—of knowing what is his will toward us. For it is not so much our concern to know who he is in himself, as what he wills to be toward us.
“Now, therefore, we hold faith to be a knowledge of God’s will toward us, perceived from His Word. But the foundation of this is a preconceived conviction of God’s truth.”
§ 7. Faith arises from God’s promise of grace in Christ
p. 551, “Now we shall possess a right definition of faith if we call it a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”
[The remainder of this chapter is an exposition of this definition of faith.]
§ 8. “Formed” and “unformed” faith
p. 552, “... assent itself ... is more of the heart than of the brain, and more of the disposition than of the understanding.”
§ 13. Different meanings of the word “faith” in Scripture
Pp. 558 f.: sound doctrine; sometimes confined to a particular object, e.g., healings; etc.
“But now we ask, of what sort is that faith which distinguishes the children of God from the unbelievers, by which we call upon God as Father, by which we cross over from death into life, and by which Christ, eternal salvation and life, dwells in us? I believe that I have briefly and clearly explained the force and nature of faith.”
§ 14. Faith as higher knowledge
p. 560, after quoting St. Paul, Calvin says, “By these words he shows that those things which we know through faith are nonetheless absent from us and go unseen. From this we conclude that the knowledge of faith consists in assurance rather than in comprehension.”
§ 15. Faith implies certainty
p. 560, “We add the words ‘sure and firm’ in order to express a more solid constancy of persuasion. For, as faith is not content with a doubtful and changeable opinion, so it is not content with an obscure and confused conception; but requires full and fixed certainty, such as men are wont to have from things experienced and proved.”
p. 561, after quoting Eph. 3:12, “By these words [St. Paul] obviously shows that there is no right faith except when we dare with tranquil hearts to stand in God’s sight. This boldness arises only out of a sure confidence in divine benevolence and salvation. This is so true that the word ‘faith’ is very often used for confidence.”
§ 16. Certainty of faith
p. 561, “Here, indeed, is the chief hinge on which faith turns: that we do not regard the promises of mercy that God offers as true only outside ourselves, but not at all in us; rather that we make them ours by inwardly embracing them.”
§ 29. God’s promise the support of faith
p. 575, “We make the freely given promise of God the foundation of faith because upon i t faith properly rests. ... For in God faith seeks life: a life that is not found in commandments of declarations of penalties, but in the promise of mercy, and only in a freely given promise.
§ 33. The Word becomes efficacious for our faith through the Holy Spirit
p. 580, “our mind has such an inclination to vanity that it can never cleave fast to the truth of God and it has such a dullness that it is always blind to the light of God’s truth. Accordingly, without the illumination of the Spirit, the Word can do nothing. From this, also, it is clear that faith is much higher than human understanding. And it will not be enough for the mind to be illumined by the Spirit of God unless the heart is also strengthened and supported by his power. ... For the Spirit is not only the initiator of faith, but increases it by degrees, until by it he leads us to the Kingdom of Heaven.” See also his references to II Tim. 1:14, Gal. 3:2, and John 6:65.
§ 34. Only the Holy Spirit leads us to Christ
p. 582, “Therefore, as we cannot come to Christ unless we be drawn by the Spirit of God, so when we are drawn we are lifted up in mind and heart above our understanding. For the soul, illumined by him, takes on a new keenness, as it were, to contemplate the heavenly mysteries, whose splendor had previously blinded it. And man’s understanding, thus beamed by the light of the Holy Spirit, then at last truly begins to taste those things which belong to the Kingdom of God, having formerly been quite foolish and dull in tasting them.”
§ 35. Without the Sprit man is incapable of faith
§ 36. Faith as a matter of the heart
pp. 583 f., “For the Word of God is not received by faith if it flits about in the top of the brain, but when it takes root in the depth of the heart that it may be an invincible defense to withstand and drive off all the stratagems of temptation. ... the heart’s distrust is greater than the mind’s blindness. It is harder for the heart to be furnished with assurance than for the mind to be endowed with thought. The Spirit accordingly serves as a seal, to seal up in our hearts those very promises the certainty of which it has previously impressed upon our minds; and takes the place of a guarantee to confirm and establish them.”
§ 41. Faith according to Heb. 11:1
(Faith and love)
p. 588, “The nature of faith could, seemingly, not be better or more plainly declared than by the substance of the promise upon which it rests as its proper foundation.”
p. 589, “But how can the mind be aroused to taste the divine goodness without at the same time being wholly kindled to love God in return? For truly, that abundant sweetness which God has stored up for those who fear him cannot be known without at the same time powerfully moving us. And once anyone has been moved by it, it utterly ravishes him and draws him to itself.”
§ 42. Faith and hope belong together
p. 590, “Yet, wherever this faith is alive, it must have along with it the hope of eternal salvation as its inseparable companion.”
§ 43 Faith and hope have the same foundation: God’s mercy
Let me comment here on Calvin’s concept of faith. According to Calvin, faith “rests upon” knowledge, specifically the knowledge of the promise of God’s mercy. This knowledge consists in apprehending, by heart and mind, the things of the Kingdom of God. That apprehension, in turn, is a gift of God’s Holy Spirit, who initiates, empowers, and upholds the Christian in this knowledge.
Thus, for Calvin, Christian faith is a kind of knowledge as well as a mode of knowing, and specific content. Although believers are the subjects, i.e., they are the ones doing the believing, they are not alone inside their skulls in this activity. God actively condescends to be the object of their knowledge, and, without God’s activity, the believers could not sustain their own faith in God. For this faith involves grasping the ungraspable and peering beyond our natural abilities to behold Him who holds all of nature together.
Also, we should note that Calvin’s views do not, at least in detail, represent those of all Christians. Many, perhaps most, Christians believe that faith in God is well within the abilities of all people, and that no special intervention on the part of the Holy Spirit is necessary. Further, even those who belong to the same strand of Christian theology as Calvin may disagree on a small point here or there. For example, where Calvin emphasizes God’s promises or his benevolence as the object of our faith, I would emphasize God himself as the object of our faith. But where Calvin and I disagree, chances are about 90% that he is right.
Some Preliminary Conclusions about Faith
We are all pattern makers. We try to make sense of the world. In doing so, we come up with explanations, we draw connections, we make distinctions. But, to paraphrase the mathematician John von Neumann, we don’t really understand anything, we just get used to stuff. And then along comes some stuff that we’re not used to, and we have to re-make the patterns, explanations, connections, and distinctions. This is good.
The fact of the re-making should lead us to expect that our world-views are not complete, however effective they are most of the time from day to day. On the other hand, this incompleteness shouldn’t worry us too much, either. We don’t have the time or energy for continual self-review. But it does show us that most of our life, thought, and action is based on a world-view that we trust and believe without proving it at every step of the way. These are steps of faith—not leaps, but steps. And this worldview both shapes and is shaped by our perceptions and knowledge of the world. We have used logic, knowledge, and perception, as well as hearsay, fears, hopes, and a desire for convenience, to shape that worldview. Faith is the action of living inside that worldview.
Christians say that something else has shaped them, or, to be more specific, that some One else has shaped them.
And finally, some practical applications:
• We are not alone in our faith. Someone else is at work in us and in our working, so that we can have confidence in his ability to overcome our inability.
• We don’t have to depend on our understanding, but we can depend on the one who understands us.
• Our faith now is less full, less mature, less perceptive, and less insightful than it will be, because God is causing us to grow.
• Growth is a challenge and often painful. Sometimes it stretches our hearts and minds, and sometimes it breaks them. Thus, trusting the God who loves us and leads us through growth will not keep us out of pain, but he will lead us through it and out of it again.
• When we articulate what we believe to someone else, we need to be aware of where our understanding can’t keep up with the one that we trust. We all have these gaps in our understanding. When we find them, we have an opportunity to learn.
• We are not responsible for converting other people to Christianity. Only God himself can do that. We are responsible for telling other people who Jesus is and what he has done. We can, however, have confidence that the God who is in us also confronts others in our speech with them. So we need to learn how to be stepping stones and not stumbling blocks for them.
This paper can serve as a beginning, or a stage along the way, but it clearly won’t serve as a definitive statement. It does attempt to clear some underbrush off the path, but this is a deep and wide topic that deserves much study and thought.
So, as an introductory step into deep waters, this paper first looks at American English usage of the word faith, then at what John Calvin had to say about the nature of faith, and then it draws some conclusions.
The Usage of a Word
The American Heritage Dictionary is not a theological resource, and therefore does not tell us what faith is. It does, however, tell us how people use language, so it’s a reasonable starting place for finding what people usually mean when they use the word “faith.” The on-line version, at dictionary.com, gives the following definitions:
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief, trust.
3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters.
4. Often Faith Christianity The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.
5. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.
6. A set of principles or beliefs.
The first four definitions combine two aspects of personal action, in which 1) the subject accepts a person or a body of ideas as trustworthy, and 2) the subject defines his world at least partly in terms of a positive relationship with the object of this trust. And the element of trust can be taken to imply that this action goes against some resistance, that there are other options that we refuse when we have faith in something or someone. Thus we continue to have faith in a friend who may appear to ignore or slight us, we do not change our political or economic views of the world merely on the claims of today’s news, and we risk our lives on the assumption that the laws of physics will be as relevant tomorrow as they were today and yesterday.
The second definition recognizes that faith takes a step that is not demanded by logical proof and material evidence, but does not specify how big that step is. For example, the expression “leap of faith” denotes a gap so big between evidence and belief that landing safely on the other side seems like an unlikely outcome. But we also take extremely reasonable steps of faith every day. Will the sun rise tomorrow? We have no logical proof that it will, and we have no material evidence about tomorrow at all. There is an extremely small probability that something will interfere with the sun or with our planet, and the cosmos is full of mysteries that we have not mapped. The likelihood that the sun will not rise is greater than zero, but so small that I don’t believe it. If I tried to keep up with all possible events with a probability that low, the strain of it would do me in before a planetary catastrophe will.
Michael Shermer, in his book How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science, exhibits a similar kind of faith, i.e., “belief that does not rest on proof or material evidence,” when he opposes those who say that miracles are an argument for God. He writes, (p. 95),
A miracle ... is really just a name for something we cannot explain. This is the “God of the gaps” argument, but as soon as we are able to fill the gap with an explanation, it is no longer a miracle.
Mr. Shermer has full confidence in his view of the world because it works very well day to day. This worldview has the backing of a great deal of material evidence and the logical analysis thereof, so he is justified to trust that the world usually works a certain way. He lacks evidence and proof, however, for saying that the world never works in a way counter to the description of the scientific tradition. He definitely has grounds for being skeptical of miracles. But when he implies that there are no miracles, he has left the area of science and entered metaphysics. Science rests on the assumption that physical processes are always and everywhere consistent. It can never prove that assumption, because it can’t test all processes at all places and times.
Consequently, I submit that we can legitimately apply the word “faith” to this kind of attitude of belief and commitment. It seems to me that everybody’s life involves taking steps, of one size or another, on the assumption that future events will bear a significant resemblance to our past experience. Further, our worldviews all have gaps in them that we fill, not with actual proof, but by trusting someone else’s claim to have proved it, or by assuming that the connection across the gap is at least provable in theory. If the worldview explains the gap, we feel no need to investigate further. Nor should we.
John Calvin on Christian Faith
But can we understand Christian faith entirely in terms of this definition? One of my favorite theologians, John Calvin, claims that we can’t, and I agree. Briefly stated, Christian faith is not only a label for actions of belief and trust internal to the Christian, it is also a gift given by God and a mode of interaction with God. Further, even orthodox affirmations of doctrine do not constitute faith if they do not include this interaction with God.
Before we proceed, I wanted to be able claim that this implies that materialist atheism fits the dictionary definition of faith better than Christian faith does. The motivation was, of course, to throw some firecrackers into the flame of debate. But, clearly, the cited definition says nothing about the source of faith and only refers to its nature as belief and trust.
A word about John Calvin: He and Martin Luther are the two theological giants of the Reformation. Calvin was 24 years younger that Luther, and this year marks his 500th birthday. He was French, studied in Paris, and ministered in Strasburg and Geneva, where he settled. His sermons and commentaries are available in English translation, and his central work is titled Institutes of the Christian Religion. John Knox, who helped lead the reformation in Scotland, was one of his students. Calvin died in 1564.
The Institutes runs a little longer than 1500 pages, of which Book Three, Chapter II is titled, “Faith: Its Definition Set Forth, and Its Properties Explained.” To give you a taste of Calvin’s thought, I will read some section titles and a few extracts of his writing in those sections.
§ 2. Faith rests upon knowledge, no upon pious ignorance
p. 545, “Faith rests not on ignorance, but on knowledge. ... [We obtain salvation] when we know that God is our merciful Father, because of reconciliation effected through Christ [II Cor. 5:18-19], and that Christ has been given to us as righteousness, sanctification, and life. By this knowledge, I say, not by submission of our feeling, do we obtain entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
§ 4. Even right faith is always surrounded by error and unbelief
§ 6. Faith rests upon God’s Word
p. 549, “But we say that the Word itself, however it be imparted to us, is like a mirror in which faith may contemplate God. ... In understanding faith it is not merely a question of knowing that God exists, but also—and this especially—of knowing what is his will toward us. For it is not so much our concern to know who he is in himself, as what he wills to be toward us.
“Now, therefore, we hold faith to be a knowledge of God’s will toward us, perceived from His Word. But the foundation of this is a preconceived conviction of God’s truth.”
§ 7. Faith arises from God’s promise of grace in Christ
p. 551, “Now we shall possess a right definition of faith if we call it a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”
[The remainder of this chapter is an exposition of this definition of faith.]
§ 8. “Formed” and “unformed” faith
p. 552, “... assent itself ... is more of the heart than of the brain, and more of the disposition than of the understanding.”
§ 13. Different meanings of the word “faith” in Scripture
Pp. 558 f.: sound doctrine; sometimes confined to a particular object, e.g., healings; etc.
“But now we ask, of what sort is that faith which distinguishes the children of God from the unbelievers, by which we call upon God as Father, by which we cross over from death into life, and by which Christ, eternal salvation and life, dwells in us? I believe that I have briefly and clearly explained the force and nature of faith.”
§ 14. Faith as higher knowledge
p. 560, after quoting St. Paul, Calvin says, “By these words he shows that those things which we know through faith are nonetheless absent from us and go unseen. From this we conclude that the knowledge of faith consists in assurance rather than in comprehension.”
§ 15. Faith implies certainty
p. 560, “We add the words ‘sure and firm’ in order to express a more solid constancy of persuasion. For, as faith is not content with a doubtful and changeable opinion, so it is not content with an obscure and confused conception; but requires full and fixed certainty, such as men are wont to have from things experienced and proved.”
p. 561, after quoting Eph. 3:12, “By these words [St. Paul] obviously shows that there is no right faith except when we dare with tranquil hearts to stand in God’s sight. This boldness arises only out of a sure confidence in divine benevolence and salvation. This is so true that the word ‘faith’ is very often used for confidence.”
§ 16. Certainty of faith
p. 561, “Here, indeed, is the chief hinge on which faith turns: that we do not regard the promises of mercy that God offers as true only outside ourselves, but not at all in us; rather that we make them ours by inwardly embracing them.”
§ 29. God’s promise the support of faith
p. 575, “We make the freely given promise of God the foundation of faith because upon i t faith properly rests. ... For in God faith seeks life: a life that is not found in commandments of declarations of penalties, but in the promise of mercy, and only in a freely given promise.
§ 33. The Word becomes efficacious for our faith through the Holy Spirit
p. 580, “our mind has such an inclination to vanity that it can never cleave fast to the truth of God and it has such a dullness that it is always blind to the light of God’s truth. Accordingly, without the illumination of the Spirit, the Word can do nothing. From this, also, it is clear that faith is much higher than human understanding. And it will not be enough for the mind to be illumined by the Spirit of God unless the heart is also strengthened and supported by his power. ... For the Spirit is not only the initiator of faith, but increases it by degrees, until by it he leads us to the Kingdom of Heaven.” See also his references to II Tim. 1:14, Gal. 3:2, and John 6:65.
§ 34. Only the Holy Spirit leads us to Christ
p. 582, “Therefore, as we cannot come to Christ unless we be drawn by the Spirit of God, so when we are drawn we are lifted up in mind and heart above our understanding. For the soul, illumined by him, takes on a new keenness, as it were, to contemplate the heavenly mysteries, whose splendor had previously blinded it. And man’s understanding, thus beamed by the light of the Holy Spirit, then at last truly begins to taste those things which belong to the Kingdom of God, having formerly been quite foolish and dull in tasting them.”
§ 35. Without the Sprit man is incapable of faith
§ 36. Faith as a matter of the heart
pp. 583 f., “For the Word of God is not received by faith if it flits about in the top of the brain, but when it takes root in the depth of the heart that it may be an invincible defense to withstand and drive off all the stratagems of temptation. ... the heart’s distrust is greater than the mind’s blindness. It is harder for the heart to be furnished with assurance than for the mind to be endowed with thought. The Spirit accordingly serves as a seal, to seal up in our hearts those very promises the certainty of which it has previously impressed upon our minds; and takes the place of a guarantee to confirm and establish them.”
§ 41. Faith according to Heb. 11:1
(Faith and love)
p. 588, “The nature of faith could, seemingly, not be better or more plainly declared than by the substance of the promise upon which it rests as its proper foundation.”
p. 589, “But how can the mind be aroused to taste the divine goodness without at the same time being wholly kindled to love God in return? For truly, that abundant sweetness which God has stored up for those who fear him cannot be known without at the same time powerfully moving us. And once anyone has been moved by it, it utterly ravishes him and draws him to itself.”
§ 42. Faith and hope belong together
p. 590, “Yet, wherever this faith is alive, it must have along with it the hope of eternal salvation as its inseparable companion.”
§ 43 Faith and hope have the same foundation: God’s mercy
Let me comment here on Calvin’s concept of faith. According to Calvin, faith “rests upon” knowledge, specifically the knowledge of the promise of God’s mercy. This knowledge consists in apprehending, by heart and mind, the things of the Kingdom of God. That apprehension, in turn, is a gift of God’s Holy Spirit, who initiates, empowers, and upholds the Christian in this knowledge.
Thus, for Calvin, Christian faith is a kind of knowledge as well as a mode of knowing, and specific content. Although believers are the subjects, i.e., they are the ones doing the believing, they are not alone inside their skulls in this activity. God actively condescends to be the object of their knowledge, and, without God’s activity, the believers could not sustain their own faith in God. For this faith involves grasping the ungraspable and peering beyond our natural abilities to behold Him who holds all of nature together.
Also, we should note that Calvin’s views do not, at least in detail, represent those of all Christians. Many, perhaps most, Christians believe that faith in God is well within the abilities of all people, and that no special intervention on the part of the Holy Spirit is necessary. Further, even those who belong to the same strand of Christian theology as Calvin may disagree on a small point here or there. For example, where Calvin emphasizes God’s promises or his benevolence as the object of our faith, I would emphasize God himself as the object of our faith. But where Calvin and I disagree, chances are about 90% that he is right.
Some Preliminary Conclusions about Faith
We are all pattern makers. We try to make sense of the world. In doing so, we come up with explanations, we draw connections, we make distinctions. But, to paraphrase the mathematician John von Neumann, we don’t really understand anything, we just get used to stuff. And then along comes some stuff that we’re not used to, and we have to re-make the patterns, explanations, connections, and distinctions. This is good.
The fact of the re-making should lead us to expect that our world-views are not complete, however effective they are most of the time from day to day. On the other hand, this incompleteness shouldn’t worry us too much, either. We don’t have the time or energy for continual self-review. But it does show us that most of our life, thought, and action is based on a world-view that we trust and believe without proving it at every step of the way. These are steps of faith—not leaps, but steps. And this worldview both shapes and is shaped by our perceptions and knowledge of the world. We have used logic, knowledge, and perception, as well as hearsay, fears, hopes, and a desire for convenience, to shape that worldview. Faith is the action of living inside that worldview.
Christians say that something else has shaped them, or, to be more specific, that some One else has shaped them.
And finally, some practical applications:
• We are not alone in our faith. Someone else is at work in us and in our working, so that we can have confidence in his ability to overcome our inability.
• We don’t have to depend on our understanding, but we can depend on the one who understands us.
• Our faith now is less full, less mature, less perceptive, and less insightful than it will be, because God is causing us to grow.
• Growth is a challenge and often painful. Sometimes it stretches our hearts and minds, and sometimes it breaks them. Thus, trusting the God who loves us and leads us through growth will not keep us out of pain, but he will lead us through it and out of it again.
• When we articulate what we believe to someone else, we need to be aware of where our understanding can’t keep up with the one that we trust. We all have these gaps in our understanding. When we find them, we have an opportunity to learn.
• We are not responsible for converting other people to Christianity. Only God himself can do that. We are responsible for telling other people who Jesus is and what he has done. We can, however, have confidence that the God who is in us also confronts others in our speech with them. So we need to learn how to be stepping stones and not stumbling blocks for them.
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