Friday, February 1, 2013
Excellent reflection over at IHEARTBARTH on the faithfulness of Christ
There is some debate in the Protestant Christian world whether the Greek phrase in Paul, "pistis Christou" should be translated "faith in Christ" or "faithfulness of Christ." Fellow Barth blogger Rick Waldholm Jr. has a great reflection on Barth's take on that phrase here.
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To ask if we are justified by our faith clearly would seem a misstep. So if we begin by agreeing we are justified by the faithfulness of Christ, we can see that this is the reality that creates faith in us as a subsequent faith in Christ's faithfulness (and Paul seems to argue this way in the Greek). Barth is clearly interested in the place of Christ in revealing what God has done (God's faithfulness in Christ), but this God is not a God without humanity, so it awakens faith in us and a response to the free, loving command of God. If our faith makes us right with God, the Gospel of grace fades into the sa=shadows and the light of human reason will teach us how to be faithful to God...wait,. we've already tried that.... Marty Folsom
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