Relational Faith: The Transformation and Restoration of Pistis as Knowledge, Trust, Confidence, and Covenantal Faithfulness

BYU New Testament Commentary

by Brent J. Schmidt

“Faith is a precious doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ancient prophets and apostles clearly taught that faith is faith is trust, loyalty, obedience, and devotion to God and his Son, and it encompasses God’s blessings to us. In the language and culture of ancient Greece, pistis (faith) meant faithfulness and trust, and when New Testament writers taught about faith, their ancient readers understood its relational nuances.

An apostasy regarding the meaning and doctrine of faith occurred, and the word faith came to have many varied meanings. Some theologians have taught that faith is a passive belief in a creed or a statement of belief in God that would guarantee one’s salvation. Theologians such as Augustine, Aquinas, ­Wyclif, Hus, Luther, Calvin, and Bultmann went off course in their understanding of faith.

The restoration of the gospel that came through Joseph Smith and living prophets has revived the correct understanding of faith as a reciprocal relationship between people and God. For Latter-day Saints, faith is a principle of action, knowledge, understanding, trust, obedience, and faithfulness. Faith once again motivates disciples to trust in Jesus Christ, repent, and follow his straight and narrow covenant path leading to salvation and exaltation.”

Genres: Religion

387 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 21, 2023

Reviews

[Marissa Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The basic argument of this book is, "A universal doctrinal apostasy regarding faith occurred, necessitating a restoration of relational, covenantal faith" (p. 233). In other words, the original meaning of pistis (the Greek word translated “faith” in the New Testament) is vastly different from the mainstream Christian idea of faith. You could read Relational Faith on its own, but it builds on Schmidt’s previous work, Relational Grace and is best read as a continuation of that study.

Overall, I found this an excellent scholarly work situating pistis firmly in its ancient context for both Jewish and Gentile Christians in the first century. It also contains a detailed history of the changes in doctrinal understandings of faith over the years, with comparisons between different interpretations of faith from a variety of theologians.

Schmidt begins with chapters providing an etymological history of pistis and related words, explaining they can mean "faithfulness, steadfastness, and trustworthiness because of the underlying expressions of loyalty between parties in covenant relationships" (p. 11). He also places the word's use in the context of classical Greek writers and Roman writers using the equivalent Latin word fides. In addition, he examines how Jewish writers linked pistis with the Hebrew word aman and saw faithfulness as key to living in covenant with God.

Following his examination of pistis in the first-century world, Schmidt moves on to tracing the ways that Christian conceptions of faith changed in the late classical period, Middle Ages, and into the modern age. While "Ancient readers understood that faith obligated them to demonstrate their faithfulness actively" (p. 130), major shifts in conceptions of faith led to it being seen as something passively received from God, an emotion, and/or acknowledgment of a belief system.

Even today, there isn't a clear consensus about how to define faith. There are, however, influential theological movements hearkening back toward an ancient understanding of pistis. Alongside tracing the changes made to conceptions of faith, Schmidt also highlights influential theologians from William Tyndale to C.S. Lewis to those associated with The New Perspective on Paul who argue for seeing faith in a proper first-century context.

I will mention that Schmidt is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and therefore has some very different theological view than me. The last two chapters are devoted to the concept of "faith" in the Book of Mormon and other Latter Day Saints' writings. Please read this more as an observation than a criticism—those chapters didn't interest me much, but readers are free to do with them as they will.

As someone who's been part of a 7th-day Sabbath-keeping Church of God group her whole life and who also has a Messianic Jewish background, the core arguments of Relational Faith weren't surprising to me. It was, however, a worthwhile read with strong scholarly backing that made me think more deeply about how I conceptualize faith as I live in covenant with God.

[Nathan Shumate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific explication of the warping of the meaning of "faith" over the last two millennia; knowing what the term actually would have meant to Paul's audience renders the "faith vs.works" debate as nonsensical. Loses a star by a little too much interpretive reaching in the last chapters, instead of admitting that several statements by former and current Latter-day Saint leaders have used the word "faith" as it has come down to them, rather than in the ancient sense of "pistis" (just as Paul used the term as understood to his own audience).

[Toast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely changed my understanding and application of faith. The scholarship framed the concept before Christ, during Christ's time, through early Christianity and the reformation, and ending with a perspective from the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.