From: Mike Adams (mikadams@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Wed Oct 04 1995 - 10:27:07 EDT
You wrote:
>
>In regard to Romans 3:22 my assumption would be that DIA PISTEWS IHSOU
>CHRISTOU can be equal to "through faith in Jesus Christ." However, I'm still
>struggling with the issue of whether PISTEWS is something which is the
>possession of Jesus Christ ("the faith OF Jesus Christ") shared(given) with
>humans by him or is it a self-generated abilitity to acknowledge Jesus Christ
>("faith IN Jesus Christ")? Theologically, I'm not inclined toward this
>latter view but...
>
It's morning. It is raining. Actually, it SNOWED in the mountains this morning
and I-70 is closed at Vail Pass. (Time to wax my snowboard!)
Also, now that there is coffee and my head is clearer, I should have written as
examples something like: "It rained a lot this spring so the rivers are
unusually full." vs. "My spring vacation was ruined as it was raining most of
the time." As we don't really have an aorist in English, I hope that these
examples give you a sense of the idea of how it might in describe action that
was prolonged or repeated, and its use in comparison with the imperfect.
Regarding your question about faith in/of/from Christ, here are some scriptures
that might shed some light.
In John 14:1 Jesus says, "You believe in God also eis eme believe."
So clearly Christ is to be the object of our faith.
Hebrews 12:2 speaks of Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith.
So it must be from Christ.
I Peter 2:23 describes Christ's example for us in committing himself to Him who
judges rightly, and the second part of Hebrews 12:2 after aknowledging Christ
as the author of our faith, describes his example. Thus, one might argue as
well that our faith should be Christlike.
Sounds like I'm straddling a lot of fences. I am, and deliberately so. A
teacher far more qualified than I to be posting such responses (but also far
too busy) wrote me recently concerning this very thing, saying that scholars do
not agree whether to interpret this as a "subjective" or "objective" genitive.
So, try on all the possible definitions. Whichever one fits best, wear it. And
keep the other alternatives in the back of your mind, recognizing them as
reasonable and defendable interpretations.
There's gold in them thar hills! Keep digging.
Ellen
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