Ephesians 4:4-6
"4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, ONE FAITH, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
The Greek word for FAITH is "pistis." The Greeks used "pistis" to refer to trust and reliability. The Greeks had no religious connotation for "pistis." Christian's trust and reliance on Jesus is what became know was FAITH. It is not explicitly declared in the Holy Scriptures that "pistis" is exclusive to Christians. So, people have MISSED it. We should not use FAITH to describe other religions or non religious things. Yet, we do it all the time.
The word Faith is used loosely today. Like; People of Faith, shape of faith, fleeing faith, faith leaders, voodoo faith, and many more. Its also used in plural making if synonymous with religion; Asian Faiths, African faiths, many faiths, organized faiths, and many more. A little like "Xerox" is synonymous for copy. And, "Kleenex" can mean any brand of tissue. Only FAITH is much, much more important!
We CLASH with Paul's writing in Ephesians, chapter four, verse five, when we use FAITH for other religions. The Greeks never pluralised "pistis." The New Testament uses FAITH only for Christians. It is not until Saint Augustin, Martin Luther, and other German Theologians that talk about the Christian FAITH. Implying that there are other FAITHS. This is accepted by our culture today. But, it is CONTRARY to the New Testament. We might even say pluralizing faith is heresy.
To learn more about this subject, the book and it's author listen to PART TWO of this podcast. There is much more information here, and it's VERY interesting...
https://issuesetc.org/2022/02/08/0391-faith-and-christianitys-uniqueness-part-2-dr-alvin-schmidt-2-8-22/
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