The Vernacular Use of 'Faith'

Faith, St. Paul tells us, is the substance of things hoped for the receipt of things as yet unseen. It is found in Hebrews 11:1. This is an amazing locution, chocked full with radical philosophical interpretations! The apostle refers to the word substance 'upostasis' in a manner that denotes his plausible familiarity with Aristotle's metaphysics, most likely at the hand of his teacher, Gamaliel. What a beautiful name. At any rate, Paul's use of 'substance' in reference to a future reference is most idiosyncratic. It reveals a highly profound and unique manner of looking at substances and reveals a deeper penetration of 'faith' in understanding than is common amongst 21st century christian bible interpreters.

The word 'faith' in its vernacular use amongst priests and ministers and evangelists alike, has more or less the same type of subjectivistic meaning which is attached to a particular denominational creed or ideology. Yet all share a subjectivist (modernist) bias, that faith is a)separate from reason and b)is a purely individualistic assent to church or bible dogma. The term has no such reference in Paul's use. It is his use that I would like to explore.

I call this deeply penetrating view of faith---practical---it is faith in its efficacious employment, it emphasizes the work that faith enacts. As such it is of interest to philosophers who do not ascribe to any religious or christian beliefs. Indeed, belief is synonymous with the current use of 'faith' in the vernacular. On the catholic side, the parishioner declares her allegiance to the 'faith' thereby pointing to Catholic dogma and ideology. This is not Paul's use. Neither is the evangelical use consonant with Paul's---here it means something like "are you saved via your faith in Christ?"

Here is a link which demonstrates this inadequate interpretation: Link

Paul's remark is far more universal and is not linked in any manner to any religious conviction. Rather it is a kind of statement one discovers in philosophical anthropology---the act of faith is a human potential of bringing that which is hoped for into the life of the one who holds faith---it is a kind of intellectual faculty for grasping and pulling future matters into one's own existential locus. The second part which uses an economical metaphor ('receipt') is also curious and idiosyncratic and rarely understood in contemporary scripture study. The receipt of things unseen reveals a deeply penetrating philosophical grasp. It is a phrase which contains a genius turn of phrase on its head. Receipt is given for the purchase of an item and legitimates and records its transaction. But in this case the receipt if for things unseen.

At this point in the essay we introduce some of the greek terms being used in Paul's letter in order to draw forth some clarification. The term that is translated as 'receipt 'in the King James translation is 'elenchos'---a term used in dialectics which means 'proof' or 'demonstration'. Ironically this is one of the key terms employed in the Socratic Method. Strange isn't it that the apostle is using two very powerful philosophical concepts in this verse: a) Aristotle's 'hypostasis' and b)Socrates' 'elenchus'!

Faith "founds" or gives foundation for what is hoped for ('elpizomenon') and proves what is unseen ('ou blepomenon').

Now to my interpretation. Paul's saying reveals that faith is a kind of active intellectual power for bringing hope to its fulfillment, and acting as a proof of that which is not perceptibly visible! Rather than subjectivize or dogmatize its meaning as described above, I suggest that we interpret the verse in a manner that delivers a grasp of the nature of human intelligence. The application is as follows: You cannot do what you do not hold in faith that you can do! But in its positive formulation, this means that you can do what you hold in faith. There is a practical sense of  the engineer who has so mastered the art of elevators that it is a type of knowledge which allows the engineer to then go on to employ elevators in more and more complex maneuvers thanks to a practical faith that he can do so. Now take the null hypothesis---the use of the elevator for a dog, or a person imagined to have come back to life from the middle ages---to this person the use of the elevator is unthinkable according to all of their cognitive convictions. But if such a person were to speak to the engineer and then receive in faith that the elevator will be OK---then this person is prepared to step on in and be lifted up within the structure of the building.  Their faith is an intellectual assent which allows the use of the elevator in their lifeworld. Another example, this time from the corporate world: Whatever a man or woman believes with full conviction establishes their reality. If Tiger Woods could visualize a 206 yard 6 iron blind shot over water from the sand then he could pull off the shot (which he did in Canada). Tiger's Signature Shot 2000 Bell Canadian Open

Thus we see that Paul's teaching is broader than dogmatic conviction, or subjectivist sine qua non of salvation. It applies in engineering realms, business, sports and in all sorts of human domains well apart from religious activity. This interpretation enriches our understanding of the scripture and helps us to clarify other conundrums and obstacles which follow from the narrow "religious" interpretation and also indicates a manner of interpreting scripture philosophically/anthropologically rather than according to church dogma. Such an interpretation liberates the understanding rather than shackling it!

Logos-Plato and Saint John

'Ho logos' ---this profoundly Greek expression! One can see the cognates of logic, psychology and all of the other --ologies! Has been translated as 'way' even 'Tao', but primarily means word, speech, reason. 'Logos' links two concepts---actual truth and a mental, verbal or written assertion of the truth. Two realms cohere in the logos, or true word. So much for philosophy, until we find in the Gospel of St. John: "...In the beginning was the Word (logos).

To see that it is and to say that "it is"---in this act the human person coheres in truth.

What is prayer if not an internal assent to the ways that things actually are? An acquiescence to inevitability. Standing together with your word, standing together in your word, I recall these expressions.

Interesting to note that The Word is alpha and omega... "In the beginning (genesis) was the Word," writes the Beloved Disciple.

Notes on the Apocalypse

The Revelation of Jesus Christ [apokalupsis iaisou kristou] (Revelation 1:1)”--- with these words St. John, the beloved disciple, opens one of the most unique books in the Bible. Just as he had given the raison d’etre of his written epistles to be the testifying of what he has personally seen and heard so that “your joy may be complete (I John 1:5)”; “because you know the truth (I John 2:21)” and “so that you who believe on the name of the Son of God may know that you have eternal life (zooain aionion) (I John 5:13)”--- in each of these subjunctive clauses: ‘so that…” and “because...” the writer uses the Greek particle (hina-so that; oti-because) in a verbal construction that is familiar to the student of John---a 'hortative subjunctive'---just as he has done in the earlier writings, St. John puts his signature on Revelation----"his servant John who bare record (testified=emarturase) of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all the things that he saw." The word 'testimony' translates 'marturian' containing our martyr cognate. Testifying is martyring!

The reader of the Apocalypse is 'blessed' (macarios Apoc. 1: 3: "blessed is he who reads...")---not only he who reads, but he who hears and observes as well. This echoes John's Gospel regarding the Sermon on the Mount, "blessed are those who not only hear but do these things..." Both of these thoughts echo in the final chapter but with a twist: there is a warning of curse, not blessing, upon the man who shall "add unto" or "take away" from these written words of John. Further, those who do his commandment are blessed as those who hear the words of this prophecy and 'keep those things which are written..." Why? Because the time is near!

A brief summing-up is in order. Just as the beloved disciple has written earlier books in the Bible (Gospel and letters) so that those who read them may know and believe, so too has this same man written the apocalypse so that the one who reads and hears this may be blessed in keeping and observing what is written. And the upshot of what is written here is that Jesus Christ is soon returning, that the time is near! So be it! Maranatha! If this be the case then I daresay it does not bode well for those scoffers who mock the revelation of Jesus Christ, declaring that John is not its true author and attempt to say that the contents of the revelation have already been manifested in part and for the remainder, shall not come soon. A psychogenic interpretation is appropriate here---these men and women fearing the contents of the revelation place it at arms length in a distant future so that they may not have to face its plagues and famine. To do so is only human, no one but a martyr truly enjoys being punished and killed for Jesus. No more than a dog knowing that its cruel master who will soon arrive home wishes to hear his gnarly voice.

But it is coming soon as apocalypse illustrated http://apocalypseillustrated.blogspot.com/“ makes clear.

Verb Tenses

It is evidently in verb tenses that we learn how to "think" temporally. When God told Moses that "I am who Am" we take it to mean that God is 'presence' and 'eternal presence'----hence no matter what 'time' it may be and however much time might elapse God is yet present. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Wow!

When we were yet children before we learned how to "keep time", we spoke in present tense and then learned how to refer to things and activities no longer present in the 'past' tense.

Verb tense is an extremely important aspect of Bible interpretation and reveals a great deal about the meaning of a particular text. Study of verb tense casts greater meaning on certain passages and helps us to deepen our understanding of faith and the goods that faith delivers.

For example, in Jesus' farewell discourse, John chapter 14, the Lord says: "I am going to my Father's house, in His house are many mansions...[and] I am going in order to prepare a place for you so that where I am you may be..." Here we find a complex time order: Jesus speaks to His disciples prior to His crucifixion in the year 33 AD. He speaks about an event in the future tense...i.e., the going to His Father's house, and then He speaks of being there and preparing a place so that where I am, you may be... It is what a I call a 'fourth dimensional' discourse. The Father's mansion is a mystical place and not accessible to empirical sense at the time of Jesus' discourse. Jesus apparently has not gone there yet and hence refers to a future event "where I am going..." Then he indicates that once there, he will prepare a place.

Now the mystical nature is revealed in this passage in that the Mansion is in the Kingdom of Heaven and not sensible to physical mind and body. The temporality and spatiality of this event (going to prepare a place) are interwoven, in fact one must refer to a place in order to convey the time component. and Yet the spatial dimension is mystical. By this I mean to say that the question "how far is it you are going Jesus in order to get to your Father's mansion? " is inappropriate. Jesus knowledge of this reveals that it is hence already in some sense completed.

But in order for the disciples to get a mental picture or concept Jesus speaks in a mystical manner which is interpreted in a mystical and not literal manner.

This passage indicates the kind of depth of analysis in interpretation available to those who take the temporal and spatial architecture of Jesus' speech as a crucial component of their interpretation and translation of verb tense.

The Light and Love that is Jesus Christ

" I am the way, the truth and the life." When Jesus says these words and when they are recorded and then read and repeated there is a source of wonder and amazement at the significance and meaning! What deft precision of articulation: "...I am truth...I am life." Such "I am..." statements are crucial. If you stumble up against this remark with your mind wide open, you will be transformed in such a way that you will indeed be "born again" and never ever see the world or anything else in the same way.

You want to know why this is so? Because it is true that it is raining as I write, and that red roses are beautiful and that 2+2=4. Jesus is all of this! Wow! And "...I am life..." whenever the biologists get with this program then the course will begin and end with Jesus and not Lamarck or Darwin, or Lavoisier! And then they will stop beating the hide of that ancient debate of evolution versus creation....what lame mediocrity! It's about Jesus!! Evolution=a theory about life; Jesus=life; therefore there is in evolution a theory about Jesus. Now if the teachers and scholars could put their minds on that task...but no, they continue to bandy about discourses and vain arguments concerning evolution and 'creation science'.

Where is the love of Wednesday's post, Pete? Can you find the kidskinned gloves and get us a free admission ticket into Mickey's World? Alright I still love you all, but you teachers and academics sure as hell are testing my patience. It's OK... You will get it in a flash and then all of your 'theories' will melt into an instantaneous conflagration of beauty and poetry, then you will see Jesus returning in the clouds. Oh hasten this day, dear Lord. Maranatha!

Wednesday, May 14

"love is not love until we give it away..."
If anything, dear friends, let us be wide open and liberal concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we err, let us err on the side of spilling too much love, of pouring out too much hope. Yes, there is great hope---hope in the face of all that seems so difficult in this world!

What stands between us and Chrit's love? Is it a mountain of thick obstacles? Where there is faith, there is hope...Is it sinfulness..? Ask for forgiveness and it shall be done! Ask for everything in His Holy Name and prepare for a mighty catch.

Yes, what have we to lose? Fear, insecurity, anger, lust, addictive personality, addictive substances...? Let me tell you even these 'factors' cannot keep us apart from the love that Jesus Christ is pouring freely in His Light and Life. His Life is flowing all around and through us, His light is your vision as you lift up your gaze to the wonder of beauty and share in the love of green forests and mighty oceans.

Acceptance, dear friends, let us accept that this world is exactly as it is though we cannot fathom all of its depth and intricacy. Evenso, our acceptance is rich and overflows when we love all of the created cosmos, for in this act we trust that there is One in Whom all things consist. We trust that there is an underlying harmony despite the apparent racket and screeching of city sirens, beyond the heavy metal thumping and helicopters.

A busy world toils day and night striving to complete its agendas. We keep watchful vigil in prayer, staying focused upon the prize unequalled, the prize prepared for each of us from all of eternity, the prize of eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven, prepared before the foundation of this world!