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innovation of faith

Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Evidence NOT seen??? Don't take this verse the wrong way. The Apostles again and again stress that they are eyewitnesses. They saw the evidence. And, Thomas looked and touched. This book of the New Testament was written to Hebrew Christians, they all knew Jesus rose from the dead. "The substance of things hoped for" is the resurrection. FAITH is prompted by what we see, hear and feel. Our grasp on what FAITH is has slipped. We have gone with the flow of the culture.

We need to say; "Jesus rose from the dead." Because we know it. It's not our belief, it's a fact! In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter eleven, when John the Baptizer has questions, about Jesus being the Messiah, Jesus points to His actions. Tells them what they have SEEN and HEARD Him do as proof of who He is. People had experience with Jesus performing miracles. There was only one conclusion that could be drawn; He is the Son of God. From the very beginning Christians have used reason and logic to understand their FAITH. We have a knowledge base to read and study. We can know what God's plan is in the pages of the Holy Bible. All the emphasis in the New Testament is on evidence and proof! Based on people's experiences. 

Today people qualify and even discount FAITH. Saying there is a difference between heart knowledge vs head knowledge. Or, they might say; "Faith was what you have in the absence of knowledge." Others say; "it's believing something is true without confirmation from the five senses." Which is a direct contradiction to the Gospels that took great pains to record the five senses that testified to Jesus ministry and resurrection. Biblical ignorance is pronounced in our world today. In the culture and in the church. We need to start by defining FAITH. So many talk about faith and do not define it. Lutherans have defined faith as having three elements: 1. Knowledge (Mental affirmation/intellectual agreement.) 2. Asent, (Professed fealty to Jesus as Lord (Rom 10:9-10)) 3. Trusting, (Enacted loyalty to THE KING, as in the obedience to God.) But, sadly, it's not expressed in our classrooms and pulpits.

Faith is an innovation of Jesus and His Disciples. Dr. Schmidt carefully researched this book for nearly twenty years. It is the culmination of his lifetime of work. He documents the history and use of the word FAITH. How it's specific to Christianity. It's not indigenous to any other religion. Only three other scholars have picked up this fact. And, it's all available to you and me in his book Faith Misused. 

To learn more about this subject, the book and it's author listen to PART FOUR of this podcast. There is much more information here, they answer emails, and it's VERY interesting... 
https://issuesetc.org/2022/02/23/0542-faith-and-christianitys-uniqueness-part-4-dr-alvin-schmidt-2-23-22/
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