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In this course we explore the Christian idea of faith – and its roots in biblical narrative and theology.
The word ‘faith’ is used in many ways – and in ways that do not always add up to a clear picture. The word ‘faith’ was central to the some of the fiercest theological disagreements of the Reformation period, but since then has become almost a way to describe religions in general (as when we talk about ‘the world faiths’ or ‘interfaith dialogue’). It is often used as a simple way to refer to Christianity as a whole (as when we talk about ‘the faith’). In ordinary speech, it is sometimes used to describe what is needed in situations where we have a lack of evidence, or experience uncertainty – faith as something that comes into the picture as a result of deficiency of some kind or another, when full knowledge is lacking. Or, faith might be thought to be connected with the idea of accepting things out of obedience to authority.
But the biblical and theological account of faith is deeper than this, and more mysterious. St. Paul says that faith (along with hope and love) is something that will ‘remain’ – even when we ‘see in full’ (so faith is not something provisional, or necessary due to lack of knowledge).
And Jesus exuberantly celebrates faith whenever and wherever he finds it, and it is the one thing that is said to have caused Jesus to be amazed. Perhaps most importantly, in the Bible, ‘faith’ is closely connected to ‘faithfulness’, and faithfulness is an attribute of God: Yahweh is the God of a ‘faithful love’ (Isaiah 55), ‘abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness’ (Psalm 86). And finally, in the New Testament, Jesus himself is described in terms of faithful: he is the ‘faithful high priest’ and ‘the pioneer and perfector of faith’ (Hebrews 2, 12).
The aim of the course is to explore this rich set of connections, so as to get to a deeper understanding of the Christian idea of faith. We will look at some of the key figures associated with faith in the Old Testament (such as Abraham and Job), look at some of the most important sayings of Jesus about faith, and address the theology of St Paul and St John. We will also examine some of the debates about faith that arose during the Reformation, and look at what more recent theologians have had to say about all of the above.
Week 1. Faith, knowledge and belief
Week 2. Abraham and Job
Week 3. Faith in the gospels
Week 4. The righteousness of God and the faithfulness of Christ
Week 5. “Look not on our sins but on the faith of your Church”
There will be audio introductions made available via the course guide each week, and readings to accompany most of the sessions, for those who wish to spend a bit longer reflecting on the ideas. These will usually be uploaded on the Friday prior to the Wednesday seminar.
In this session we begin to consider the way that the idea of faith appears in our ordinary ways of talking. In particular, we will consider the way that we relate faith to belief, on the one hand, and knowledge, on the other. Very often, we use the words ‘faith’ and ‘belief’ as synonyms, as if they meant roughly the same thing (so that ‘I believe’ at the start of the Creed sounds like it is an expression of faith, and could be saying ‘I have faith in….’). But on the other hand, it is also natural to associate beliefs with knowledge, so that ‘knowledge’ means something like ‘true belief’ (or, ‘justified true belief’ if one happens to be a philosopher!). But the odd thing is that we also fairly intuitively contrast faith with knowledge: we very easily talk about needing to have faith about those things that we can’t know for certain. In this first session, we will explore this slightly confusing mix of pre-reflective views of ‘faith’, before we begin to explore the biblical uses of the term.
1. Abraham and Job
2. Faith in the gospels
3. The righteousness of God and the faithfulness of Christ
4. “Look not on our sins but on the faith of your Church”
Week 1
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Stuart is the Theology Lead at LJC. He graduated with a degree in Literature and Theology from the University of Hull in 2000. From 2003-9 he studied Philosophical Theology part-time at the University of Nottingham, whilst continuing to work in the third sector with vulnerably-housed or homeless people, and young asylum seekers (as well as pulling pints in a pub). He was Lecturer at York St John University for almost a decade, before moving to London Jesuit Centre in 2021. He now lives in South East London, and spends as much time as he can in the woods.
