> Yes, I think there's plenty of reason to understand the genitive here as a
> subjective genitive: it is not faith IN Christ but rather CHRIST's faith
> that saves. By my recollection there have been two threads on B-Greek on
> this subject in the course of the last year or two. My recollection of
> that thread is that, (a) there's a former (perhaps current) subscriber to
> the list who was doing a dissertation on this topic in Australia; (b) David
> Moore and others pointed out a few passages where it is rather difficult to
> sustain this understanding of "faith OF Jesus Christ." I also seem to
> recall that one of the more useful services performed by Luke T. Johnson in
> his NT Introduction text was to argue in favor of the subjective-genitive
> interpretation.
Just a note to say that upon looking through a copy of Karl Barth's
commentary on Romans (in English translation), I found that he consistently
translates genitives of this sort refering to faith in Christ as subjective.
His theology, of course, runs along these same lines, emphasizing God's
transcendence and sovereignty in the work of salvation. Whether this was what
Paul was meaning to convey by these expressions is, however, the question that
must command our attention. With Paul's repeated emphasis on the believer's
being saved by his PISTIS, I tend to understand them as objective. But it is
certainly not just a cut-and-dried matter.
-- David L. Moore Director Miami, Florida, USA Department of Education dvdmoore@ix.netcom.com Southeastern Spanish District http://www.netcom.com/~dvdmoore of the Assemblies of God