Original scientific paper
What Did Synoptic Jesus Say about Faith?
Anđela Jeličić
; Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Roma
Abstract
The author reviews the usage of the substantive “faith”,
πίστις in the synoptic Gospels. The substantive is mostly found
in the direct speech, with three exceptions, and almost always
pronounced by Jesus. Jesus pronouncements concerning πίστις
reveal that the faith is an object of Jesus’ perception, for he
sees it, or finds it. Jesus explicitly connects the faith and the
salvation. Persons who reveal their faith to Jesus are mostly
marginal in Judean society at that time, either because of their
way of life, or because of belonging to a different ethnic group.
The faith of these persons and pronouncements concerning their
salvation are a challenge for the categories in which salvation is
understood, since the focus shifts from the visible to invisible,
i.e. visible to God. Matthew will explicitly stress that Jesus
considers his followers to be persons of little faith. If we were
to define what πίστις on the basis of the synoptic Gospels is, we
could say that it is an absolute good, a relationship between God
and human, the obedience to God’s word, and a worldview that
openly reveals the content of the faith to other people.
Keywords
the word “faith” in the Synoptic Gospels; faith and salvation; lack of faith; faith and life
Hrčak ID:
99455
URI
Publication date:
2.4.2013.
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