Blackwell Reference Online

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The word “faith” is equivocal. Hobbes notes three meanings of it: (1) the content of a belief that is held because of trust in the person from whom it is learned or who has authority over the believer; typically these are propositions that define a religion, e.g. “I believe that Jesus is the Christ”; (2) a psychological attitude that accompanies the kind of propositions specified in (1); and (3) the keeping of a promise or a covenant (EL 1.5.7, 1.6.7; L 14.11).The first two senses are especially relevant to difficult issues involving religion and are related to each other. Sense (1) signifies a proposition or set of propositions; sense (2) signifies the attitude that accompanies that proposition or set of propositions and in virtue of which those propositions are called “faith” in sense (1). The distinction between the two senses is reflected grammatically in a sentence like this: I have faith [sense (2)] that God is omnipotent [sense (1)]. Sense (3) is used only in connection with the law of nature that enjoins one to keep a covenant. Nothing more will be said about (3).(1) “Faith” can mean a proposition or set of propositions that defines a religion. The Christian faith in this sense is contained in the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed. The Jewish faith is contained in the Shema: “Hear, O Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.” When “faith” is used in this sense, a proposition ... log in or subscribe to read full text