Changes

:: There are virtually no references to faith in the Old Testament, but hundreds in the New.  Added to that is the fact the Old Testament is much longer than the New, and the straightforward conclusion is that faith is a new concept introduced by Christianity.

:: There are virtually no references to faith in the Old Testament, but hundreds in the New.  Added to that is the fact the Old Testament is much longer than the New, and the straightforward conclusion is that faith is a new concept introduced by Christianity.

:: I don't understand the "about God" reference.  How does faith in, say, Peter's ability to walk on water or in the healing of the Roman soldier's servant knowledge "about God"?--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 22:20, 14 June 2008 (EDT)

:: I don't understand the "about God" reference.  How does faith in, say, Peter's ability to walk on water or in the healing of the Roman soldier's servant knowledge "about God"?--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 22:20, 14 June 2008 (EDT)

:::: I checked your Gateway link:  the term "faith" appears only 4 times in the lengthy Old Testament, and 237 times in the brief New Testament.  The Old Testament references have a different meaning from the New Testament meaning.  The references to "faithful" and "faithless" have different meanings.

:::: I checked your Gateway link:  the term "faith" appears only 4 times in the lengthy Old Testament, and 237 times in the brief New Testament.  The Old Testament references have a different meaning from the New Testament meaning.  The references to "faithful" and "faithless" have different meanings.

:::: I don't see how the faith by the soldier that his servant will be healed is knowledge "about God."  The example of the chair seems, by the way, far removed from the New Testament examples.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 23:00, 14 June 2008 (EDT)

:::::'''You are correct about the number on BibleGateway'''. I should have been looking closer at the meanings. However, I still maintain the Old Testament has a very clear conception of what faith is, and it does not change in the New. For example, in Exodus 4:8, God is sending Moses to the people of Israel, and God says this interesting statement: "If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign." Notice that God is providing a "sign" for them to believe. And if they don't trust the first "sign," then they might trust the last one. In terms of what I am talking about, that "sign" is ''knowledge about God''. It is something that God is doing to show humanity who He is.

:::::'''Faith of the soldier'''. The Centurion would have at least heard of Jesus, since Capernaum was Jesus' hometown (or at least homebase) I think. And this soldier may have even seen Jesus perform miracles before on other people. That is sufficient knowledge of what Christ (God) could do. I mean this Centurion definitely recognizes Jesus' divine authority (imho) as he calls Jesus "Lord", and says statements like, "I am not worthy for You to come under my roof," and "just say the word, and my servant will be healed." Not things you say about someone you barely know or have barely heard of... The point is that this centurion did indeed have a ''knowledge'' of Christ which caused faith in his heart.

:::::'''The chair example being far removed from scripture'''. That chair example is simply a popular way to conceptualize what saving faith is. If I just stood next to a chair and acknowledged that the chair could indeed support me, but I never sat down in the chair... is that really true faith in the chair? No. It's not faith until you not only ''acknowledge'' that the chair can hold you up, but you sit down in it. --[[User:Ymmotrojam|Ymmotrojam]] 23:21, 14 June 2008 (EDT)