{"id":42743,"date":"2020-09-04T20:31:29","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T01:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/?p=42743"},"modified":"2020-09-04T20:33:35","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T01:33:35","slug":"did-jesus-have-faith-in-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trinities.org\/blog\/did-jesus-have-faith-in-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Jesus have faith in God?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Did Jesus, according to the New Testament, have faith in God?<\/strong> Here\u2019s an update on this interesting exchange<\/a> from several years back. I continued to think about it, eventually leading to this presentation<\/a> and then to this published paper.<\/a> I think I made a strong argument that the New Testament portrays Jesus as an exemplar of the virtue (positive character trait) we call \u201cfaith,\u201d that is, faith in God<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently listened to a new interview of apologist Tom Gilson<\/a> on the Stand to Reason podcast<\/a>, about his new book Too Good to Be False: How Jesus’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. There may be more on this topic in the book (I have bought it and plan on reading it), but this is most of what he says in the interview on this topic of Jesus\u2019 faith or lack thereof<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koukl: You make the observation that you never see in the Gospels Jesus talking about his own faith<\/strong>. <\/p>

Gilson: Yeah. <\/p>

Koukl: Now Paul <\/em>does [talk about his own faith] and we should mimic his faith, but Jesus doesn’t do that. <\/p>

Gilson: He doesn\u2019t. Is that not weird? …It’s stunning; there is nothing in the Bible that says Jesus had faith.<\/strong> In Hebrews it says he was found faithful, but I’m quite sure that what that means is that he was found reliable or obedient… But does it say he had faith in the Father? Never!<\/strong> Which is weird, because his other virtues that we’re supposed to emulate are in there. You know, his love, his compassion, his obedience. And then faith, you know it is something Paul <\/em>speaks of – we’re supposed to follow that. So why is it left out of Jesus? And the only answer I can come up with that makes sense is that it’s not that Jesus was lacking trust <\/strong>in the Father… it\u2019s that it had to have been in some sense the wrong word<\/strong>. And you could say… \u201cI have faith that I can fulfill this big project at work over the next three months. I have faith in myself there.\u201d \u201cI have faith in you that you can do this.\u201d What you don’t<\/em> say is \u201cI have faith that I can scratch my eyebrow,\u201d …it’s just the wrong word. Even though you trust you can do it, it’s the wrong word. I think what it’s saying here, and the implication has to be that Jesus had a trust relationship with [the] Father that was so close, so tight, so intimate, that \u201cfaith\u201d was the wrong word for it. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A few comments: first, yes, sometimes \u201cfaith\u201d (Greek: pistis<\/em>) in the New Testament means “faithfulness” or the quality of being trustworthy. But \u201cfaith\u201d in the sense relevant to this conversation is the same thing as trust in God<\/em>. So when Gilson concedes that sure, the Jesus of the gospels trusts in<\/em> the Father, he\u2019s just conceded my point<\/strong>, that Jesus is portrayed there as having faith in<\/em> the Father (a.k.a. “God”). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, if I understand him, Gilson’s point is that Jesus’ trust in God shouldn’t be called “faith” because Jesus must have been too certain about the outcome; there was not enough subjective risk, if I can put it that way. Well, at one point (Mark 14:32-42<\/strong>) Jesus seems to have been extremely stressed out (see Luke 22:44) about what he thought was going to happen, and he was unsure enough to ask God to be excused, if <\/em>that was compatible with God’s will. That looks like “faith” to me! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, a gospel writer doesn\u2019t need to relate Jesus saying \u201cI have faith in God\u201d to teach that Jesus had great faith in God.<\/strong> All he needs to do is portray <\/em>it. And by his actions, the Jesus of the gospels shows his faith in God by his prayers to God, and by his active trust in God during a terrible, indeed fatal <\/em>ordeal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth, sometimes a writer will use characters<\/strong>, be they sympathetic or unsympathetic, to make his point. So as I point out in the paper, at the cross Jesus is mercilessly heckled. Matthew writes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, \u201cYou who would destroy the temple and build it in three days<\/strong>, save yourself! If you are the Son of God<\/strong>, come down from the cross.\u201d <\/sup>In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, <\/sup>\u201cHe saved others<\/strong>; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel<\/strong>; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. <\/sup>He trusts in God<\/strong>; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, \u2018I am God\u2019s Son<\/strong>.\u2019\u201d <\/sup>The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.<\/p>Matthew 27:39-44, NRSV<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Notice that according to the writer, all the claims in bold, rightly understood, are true<\/em><\/strong> – even though spoken by the bad guys. Thus, here even Jesus\u2019 enemies unwittingly bear witness to these truths \u2013 including the fact that Jesus trusts (Greek: pepoithen<\/em>) in God.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, in the paper<\/a> I wrote, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One aspect of [Jesus\u2019] teaching is a clear claim that trust in God, and more than a little, is required<\/strong> in order to receive the power to perform miraculous works such as exorcism. Jesus\u2019 disciples fail at one of these, and Jesus explains their failure as due to their lack of faith. Presumably this is not a total lack of faith (otherwise they wouldn\u2019t have attempted such feats) but rather a relative lack; the amount or degree of their faith is not what it should be. But Jesus gives this explanation immediately after quickly performing the exorcism himself. The reader is to infer that Jesus\u2019 faith is much greater than his disciples\u2019 faith.<\/strong> (Matthew 17:14\u201320; Mark 9:14\u201329; Luke 9:37\u201343)  <\/p>“Jesus as an Exemplar of Faith in the New Testament<\/a>,” pp. 186-87.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s all this about anyway? Why would a Christian <\/em>want to deny that the New Testament teaches that Jesus was mighty in faith? <\/strong>I think it must be a concern to block this argument: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Jesus had faith in God. <\/li>
  2. A fully divine being never has faith in God. <\/li>
  3. Therefore, Jesus was not fully divine. (1,2) <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    It would seem that Mr. Gilson and me agree on premise 2.<\/strong> A fully divine being, as provident, all-powerful, and all-knowing, has no need of faith. And God himself has no need of faith. But 1 and 2 imply 3. And evangelical tradition demands the denial of 3. So, he wants to avoid committing to 3 by denying premise 1. Logically<\/em>, the move makes sense for a Jesus-is-God apologist<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But in my view, denying 1 goes against apostolic teaching<\/strong> about the Lord Jesus. When apostolic tradition clashes with later traditions, I suggest that a Protestant ought to go with the former.  It is better to accept the above argument as sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019ll see if Mr. Gilson makes a better case in the book. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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