Translating Faith

Translation

The English word "to translate" takes a variety of forms. One may use it in the sense of "to translate a certain set of words or a text from one language to another", but it can also express something like "a person's being moved from one place or condition to a different one."  I would suggest that, when contemplating one's worldview and dialoguing with others about theirs, translating is exactly what takes place. It's the movement of one set of ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and commitments from one person's worldview to another. 

When we think about ideas, norms, values, religious (or non-religious) beliefs and practices, one's views and commitments to such items are said to make-up the content of the complex matrix of one's worldview. Everyone has a worldview. Worldviews are the kinds of things that people just can't live without. Everyone has a variety of beliefs about the most important questions about life. Consider the following:

• God - Does God exist? What kind of God exists? Does more than one God exist? 
• Ultimate Reality - Is the universe all that there is, or is there more than what we can see, feel, and touch? Is reality made up of only one kind of substance (monism), or is there more than one kind of substance (dualism)? If a supreme being exists, what is this beings relationship to the universe? Is this being made up of the same stuff that the universe is made-up of, or is this supreme being different? Is the universe eternal or created?
• Knowledge - What can we know? If God exists, can we know that He exists? Is the world around us knowable? Is science the only means by which a person comes to know things in the world? 
• Ethics - Is there such a thing as objective moral truth, or is all morality relative? If there is such a thing as objective moral truth, then what is the basis for such truth? Ultimately, who decides what is and is not ethical? Is God required for ethical living?
• Afterlife - What happens to us when we die? Are we recycled back into the natural processes of the world? Do our spirits live on, going to some ethereal realm, as the ancient Greeks believed? Or are humans judged for their actions on this earth? 

These are all important questions that everyone inquires about, to some extent or another--some more than others.

Our beliefs about these so-called "big questions" will often inform other decisions we make in life, such as, how one should use her resources, treat the environment, support a certain law trying to be passed, choose a job or vocation--the list could go on ad infinitum.

Part of having quality conversation and dialogue about one's worldview requires the translation of ideas. Anyone who's done translation work knows how hard it can be at times. But not only does it take time and hard work, translating worldviews also takes the practice of, what philosophers call, the principle of charity, whereby each interlocutor seeks to understand the other's position. This is, indeed, a difficult thing to do--especially when it comes to defending and discussing our most cherished beliefs.

Faith

But what about "faith"? Doesn't faith simply mean to believe something without evidence--a type of blind leaping in the dark? Unfortunately, that is a caricatured view of the classical Christian understanding of faith. In its most basic understanding, the word pistis (faith) means to "trust". But the New Testament actually uses the word in a variety of ways. Take for example Jude 3, which encourages Christians to "contend for the faith" (NIV). The word "faith," here, clearly refers to a set of beliefs or doctrines. In other places it carries the sense of faithfulness, reliability, or commitment (cf. Rom 3:3, Tit 2:10; Gal 5:22; 2 Th 1:4). The word pistis also carries with it the connotation of a "state of believing on the basis of the reliability of the one trusted,"[1] Note that one's faith is grounded it the reliability and trustworthiness of another. This is exactly how the Apostle Paul uses it in Romans when talking about the faith of Abraham:

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead -- since he was about a hundred years old -- and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. (Rom 4:18-21, NIV)

What's important for us to see from this passage is Paul's description of Abraham's faith, found in the last sentence of the passage. Note that "did not waver through unbelief" and  "being fully persuaded" are clear descriptions of the type of faith that Abraham had. Abraham could trust God  because he found Him faithful, trustworthy, and powerful enough to fulfill His promises. Faith, then, is not merely belief that God exists, but it is trust in and reliance on God to fulfill His promises to us.

One striking use of pistis comes from Acts 17. Throughout the passage the Apostle Paul is speaking to the people of Athens at the Areopagus (marketplace). His message is primarily directed toward the Stoics, Epicureans, and idol worshipers, contrasting their beliefs with that of the Christian worldview. Toward the end of Paul's message he makes the following claim: "For he [God] has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (NIV) In this particular passage, the word pistis is used to denote "proof". Particularly, it is the resurrection of Jesus which provides the "proof" or "guarantee" or "assurance" of the promise that, through (by) Jesus, the world will be judged justly.

From a Christian perspective, faith (trust) is a central part of life, and, ultimately, it brings about human flourishing. What would life be like if we were continually suspicious of everything--our close friendships, the people we do business with, our normal activities, or our own beliefs and ideas about the world. We don't go around thinking that tomorrow the Sun will cease to be and that we all will die during the night, nor do we think, typically, that the ground will open up and swallow us as we walk in our yards. The so-called laws of nature are the kinds of things that can be trusted, are they not? Further, providing that all of our cognitive faculties are functioning properly, we generally trust our senses and memories. That's not to say that we cannot be wrong, at times, but, generally, these things are reliable. In many ways, faith is the epistemological glue that holds our beliefs together. Someone might object, "But much of what you've said above is based on probability. It would be irrational to believe the contrary?" Yes, that's right. But there is a step that needs to be taken from the evidence to belief--faith--which is not contrary or opposed to that which is the rational thing to be believed.  Rather, faith is the reception of the evidence.

Christian faith, as expressed in the Christian Bible, and as it has classically been rendered, is never taken apart from objective reality. It is not something that is merely grounded in subjective experience and personal thought-life, nor is it considered as a "blind leap into the dark," rather, it is expressed as "trust," "assurance," or, as we have seen, "proof/guarantee" as to what is real, true, and knowable.I like the way that John Lennox puts it concerning the Christian view of faith: "mainstream Christianity will insist that faith and evidence is inseparable. Indeed, faith is a response to evidence, not a rejoicing in the absence of evidence."[2]  

Translating Faith
 
Translating faith, then, is about helping others to understand the truth claims of the Christian faith (as in teachings, beliefs, etc.). Christians, like everyone else, have a complex matrix of beliefs about the world in which they live--a worldview. No one worldview is the same, primarily because everyone has been shaped by a variety of different experiences and contexts. Yet, some worldviews are closer than others, within which many of the experiences and beliefs overlap, with only minor distinctions. Consider the similarities between two Christians from different denominations. While they may disagree over certain practices and doctrines, there is, nonetheless, agreement on the main features of Christian teaching (e.g., God as a Trinity, Jesus is the Son of God). Compare this with, say, the three major monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Each one of these major theistic groups affirm that there is only one God, that God is in some sense all-powerful and all knowing, and that God created the world out of nothing. Yet, there are some radical differences. Most notably, Christians believes that God is Tri-une and that God the Son became incarnate, that is, he took on our humanity. Some worldviews have much less in common.     

Translating faith is ultimately a search for God and a search for truth. But as noted, Christians believe that their faith (again, teachings, beliefs, etc.) is never devoid of evidence. Christians recognize that there beliefs are squarely grounded in the objective reality of a God who created the world, and who loved it so much that He, through the person of His Son, took on flesh, that is, he became like us in every way, yet, without sin, to redeem His cherished creation.


[1] Frederick William Danker et al, "pistis," in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, third ed (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 818.
[2] John Lennox, God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (Oxford: Lion, 2007), 15.