You Stand Corrected

Faith is Not a Substance: Part 1

Common Teaching:
Faith is a substance that manifests in greater quantity in proportion to how much of the Word that one hears.

Faith:
Every word in the KJV that includes “faith” or “believe” derives its translation from the Greek root verb peithō (these words include: believe not, unbelieving, faithless, unbeliever, infidel, thing incredible, which believe not, hope, faith, of little faith, faith, assurance, believe, belief, them that believe, fidelity, faithful, believe, believing, true, faithfully, believer, unbelief). The word peithō means to persuade, to suffer one's self to be persuaded, to listen to, obey, yield to, comply with, or to trust, have confidence, and be confident.

To sum up the root concept of faith in the Greek, I believe, is: to have confidence and trust, as well as the implication of persuasion. That is, to put someone or to be put into a position of trust that you formerly were not.

In the Hebrew, the word for faith is 'aman. It means to support, as pillars hold up the header above a doorway; or as a mother or nurse holds a baby in her arms. ‘Aman in the Hebrew is a word to describe a position of rest that the direct object receives. Therefore, in the Hebrew, to be faithful is to lean on or rest upon someone or something else that is supporting you.

Jesus was a Hebrew. The early church used the Greek word peithō to describe a Hebrew concept found in ‘aman. Jesus and the writers of the New Testament did not change or reinterpret the understanding of faith. Rather, this was done through church history and bible translators.

Part 2: