Faith from Christ

Reflections on the pistis Christou (faith of Christ) Debate

De: Don Matzat

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Third Edition: Revised and Enlarged
Ever since Richard Hays published his book "The Faith of Jesus Christ" in 1983 a debate has raged among theologians and New Testament scholars over the meaning of the Greek phrase "pistis Christou," a phrase with variations that appears in seven key verses in Paul's epistles. The King James version of the Bible literally translated this genitive phrase as "faith of Christ," but what does that mean? Just about every English Bible interprets the phrase to mean our "faith in Christ." This has become the widely accepted interpretation. But Hays does not agree. He contends that the phrase means the "faith" or "faithfulness of Christ". We are therefore justified or made right with God on account of the faithfulness of Christ not on account of our own personal faith. This is a major issue in understanding the central Christian doctrine of "justification by faith." Which is the correct interpretation: "faith in Christ" or "the faithfulness of Christ," or is there perhaps an altogether different way of understanding,"pistis Christou?"