On Faith

Hebrews 11:1–7

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

Faith is being sure of what we hope for, the conviction for things not seen (v. 1). At the very basic level, faith is a response of trust to God and this pleases Him (v. 6). This word has been picked on by not a few of Christianity's detractors over the centuries, and today many 'internet infidel' types would say that faith is "believing something without evidence" and "wishful thinking" and they pick Heb 11:1 as their key verse (taken out of context obviously). Faith is not necessarily a strictly epistemological (how we know things) category but in one sense it provides us warrant on how we can be sure we know of some things. I've always been tempted to add to v. 1, the word *yet, as so: "...and certain of what we do not see [*yet]", but have also been wary of "adding to the Word of God". My inclination was that it helps clarify ‘faith’ into plain understanding and reduces the opportunity for misinterpretation. I usually think of it in terms of the ‘problem of evil’ and injustice in the world, as ‘faith’ is trusting that God will eventually bring ultimate justice and peace to the world, when He comes again to “wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever (Rev 21:4)”; it is something we hope for and its certainty is grounded in God’s goodness and love which we already have reasons to believe and evidence for, but the fulfilment of this promise is not seen *yet. However, I realised that the writer of Hebrews actually takes this into account and adds *yet in the verses that follow, and this confirms the basic sense in which he defines the word ‘faith’ in v. 1, he says in v. 7, “by faith Noah, when warned about things not *yet seen…”. Furthermore, adding to the richness of what ‘faith’ is, in v. 3 he extends this back into the past, into what we *have not seen but comprehend: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible (v. 3)”, firstly, we weren’t there in the beginning, and secondly, our reality was made from nothingness from God’s verbal command — it was ‘creatio ex nihilo’ and “in the beginning was The Word” (‘Verbum’ in Latin, ‘Λόγος (Logos)’ in Greek), who is Christ (John 1:1). Faith is not blind nor is it believing without evidence but a response of trust in the sureness of God’s character as the sufficient warrant He provides for things not yet experienced and those we never have. Faith is of truth epitomised by Christ our creator. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fulness dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross (Col 1:15–20).” Beautiful.