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Word Study: Πίστις (“faith/faithfulness”)

Introduction

Πίστις, commonly translated as “faith” and occasionally “faithfulness” in the New Testament, is at the core of Galatians’ theological message. The word is featured primarily in the third chapter, where it occurs fourteen times, but theologically significant uses of the word are also found throughout the letter.

Meaning of Πίστις

In its extrabiblical usage, πίστις indicates confidence such as one might place in an individual or institution.^[1] Various Greek papyri point to a usage involving some variation of “good faith” or “good credit,” particularly in legal or contractual contexts.^[2] Extrabiblical sources often use πίστις to convey the idea of trustworthiness, sometimes pairing it with ἀλήθεια.^[3] Other meanings of the term in antiquity include “pledge,” as in something that is assured, or a “bond.”^[4] With respect to the latter, in the Tebtunis Papyri and the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, the word is used in connection to property that is held in a bond and land held in a mortgage. Underscoring the dimension of trust implied in the term πίστις, Teresa Morgan notes that this word is used in conjunction with the idea of mentally assenting to a proposition (“belief”), but it is not synonymous with the idea.^[5] The Greco-Roman world used “thinking” and “knowing” language to express this idea of cognitive belief.^[6]

In the LXX, πίστις is used to translate the Hebrew ʾemunah or ʾemet. In their Hebrew Bible contexts, the former is translated as “firmness,” “steadfastness,” or “fidelity,” and the latter as “truth” or “faithfulness.”^[7] Because the Greek text was attempting to express a concept originally articulated in Hebrew, it is important to consider the meaning of these words in their original language. The word ʾemunah is not “an abstract quality, ‘reliability,’ but a way of acting which grows out of inner stability, ‘conscientiousness.’”^[8] The most common Greek translation for this word in the LXX is πίστις.^[9] The word could relate both to humans and the divine, communicating an internal quality expressed in the world. Concerning ʾemet, this word was often used to convey truth and is thus expressed in the LXX as ἀλήθεια, but on occasion as πίστις as well. In its Hebrew context, however, there is much debate as to whether or not the word should be understood to mean “faithfulness” or if “truth” is the only sufficient translation for it.^[10] Wherever one falls within this particular debate, it is clear that there was a semantic connection between the words in their Greek context.

The meaning of “faithfulness” or “fidelity” is attested in sources like the Oxyrhynchus Papyri and the Fayum Towns Papyri, sources that date from the first to third centuries CE. The faithfulness or fidelity referenced in these sources is interpersonal in nature.^[11]

Paul and Πίστις

In the Pauline corpus, πίστις has a basic meaning of “faith,” and sometimes expresses a state of belief based on the reliability of the object of faith.^[12] For Paul, faith (or belief) in Jesus as the crucified and resurrected Messiah was a defining feature of the divine-human relationship.^[13] This definition, however, does not necessarily preclude other definitions of the word, such as “faithfulness” and “fidelity” as previously discussed. New Testament uses of the word suggest development in its meaning, but not complete departure from other ancient understandings of the word.^[14] However, πίστις is interpreted across Pauline writings, based upon its ubiquity, as central to Paul’s theological thought.^[15]

Πίστις is used in various syntactical ways that both shed light on, and create ambiguity about, its intended meaning. Sometimes, πίστις is used with a preposition indicating the object of the word (commonly εἰς and ἐν).^[16] In Col 2:5, Paul discusses the steadfastness of the recipients’ πίστις, which is εἰς Χριστὸν.^[17] Similarly, Paul uses expressions like πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ in Gal 3:26. With both of these prepositions, the meaning of πίστις is clarified, suggesting that for Paul, πίστις is a faith or confident belief that is expressed “in Christ.”^[18]

Paul’s most notorious uses of πίστις occur in genitive constructions. Because of the vast number of ways the genitive can be construed in Greek along with the polyvalence of πίστις, the meaning of this word in context has generated great debate, especially with regard to the understanding of πίστις Χριστοῦ.^[19] Typically, the debate over this phrase centers on whether the genitive is understood as objective (“faith in Christ”) or subjective (“Christ’s faith” or “the faith[fulness] of Christ”).^[20] One’s understanding of the noun’s syntactical function is related to the meaning one assigns to the πίστις. If the objective genitive is favored, πίστις tends to be understood as “a state of believing on the basis of the reliability” of the object.^[21] If one prefers a subjective genitive, she or he will likely interpret the word as “the state of being one in whom trust is placed.”^[22]

Paul also refers to πίστις as a Christian virtue, something which those who follow Jesus possess, listed with other virtues such as ἀγάπη and ἐλπίς.^[23] Examples of this usage are found in 1 Cor 13:13, Gal 5:22, and 1 Thess 3:6 (cf. Eph 6:23).

Finally, πίστις may also function as shorthand to refer to the body of beliefs or teachings of the early Christians, as in Rom 1:5 and Gal 1:23.^[24] Some suggest that other Pauline usages should be understood in this way as well (e.g., Gal 3:23−25; Rom 12:6), but this is more debated.^[25] This latter meaning of πίστις is well-attested in post-biblical Christian literature.^[26]

Galatians and Πίστις

The diverse uses of πίστις as previously described are on display in Galatians, in which πίστις serves as a key term. Because of its frequent and varied uses of πίστις, Galatians stands at the heart of debates in New Testament scholarship regarding its proper translation and interpretation.

One of the most contentious questions that arises is how to understand the phrase πίστις Χριστοῦ. Paul uses the phrase πίστις Χριστοῦ and another similar phrase three times in Galatians (Gal 2:16 [2x]; 3:22). Rudolf Bultmann and others unequivocally understand the use of the word in this context as an objective genitive meaning “faith in Christ.”^[27] For them, faith in this context is a human activity, an intellectual assent to a particular proposition.^[28] Others, however, have argued that πίστις Χριστοῦ, as it is used in Galatians, is best understood as a subjective genitive meaning “the faithfulness of one man Jesus Christ.”^[29] This understanding of πίστις within these occurrences does not preclude Bultmann’s understanding of the term being applied in other contexts.^[30]

With respect to Paul’s other uses of πίστις in Galatians, 2:16 and 3:2−5 place πίστις in contrast with ἔργα νόμου.^[31] More specifically, though, Gal 3:2−5 discusses ἀκοῆς πίστεως. Given the polyvalence of πίστις, it could be understood here either as “the message which evokes faith” or “the message of the faith.”^[32] According to Bultmann, the two are seen as antithetical to one another, as πίστις comes from an act of the will while ἔργα νόμου is work that one accomplishes.^[33] In these passages, it is πίστις−not ἔργα νόμου−by which the Spirit and the divine blessing of δικαιοσύνη are given.^[34]

One of the more puzzling uses of the word occurs in Gal 3:7 in the phrase οἱ ἐκ πίστεως. Often this is translated as “those who believe” or “those who have faith.” However, based upon its immediate context as well as allusions to the Hebrew Scriptures surrounding the passage, Hays suggests that the phrase is better translated as “those who live out of faith” or, more boldly, “those who are given life on the basis of Christ’s faith.”^[35] David deSilva also disagrees with common translations but suggests that πίστεως is best understood to refer to “trusting [in] Jesus” as opposed to Hays’s “Christ’s faith.”^[36]

Other uses of πίστις in Galatians mirror the ways the word is used across the New Testament. In Gal 5:22, πίστις is listed as a Christian virtue along with six others including ἀγάπη.^[37] Paul also suggests that the presence of πίστις in one’s life will be made manifest in ἀγάπη (Gal 5:6).^[38] Gal 1:23 seems to objectify πίστις, using it to describe the whole of Christian teaching or belief. Similarly, the occurrence in 6:10 (τοὺς οἰκείους τῆς πίστεως) suggests that the word became shorthand for the Christian movement.^[39] Finally, 3:23−26 suggests that Paul understood the “coming of faith” as a phenomenon which took place in history, perhaps as another shorthand for the establishment of the fledgling church. (Julianna Kaye Smith)