What does 'believe' mean in the Gospels?

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1Lord1Faith

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The implication of the Catholic translation is that trust and, depending on the usage, sometimes obedience are included in belief. The term ‘to believe’, the verb pisteuo in Greek, is used most in John.
catholic-resources.org/John/Themes-Believe.htm

Here are examples from the Catholic New American Bible with the Greek included.
Jn 3:36
Whoever believes (pisteuon) in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys (apeithon) the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.
Jn 2:24
But Jesus would not trust (episteuen) himself to them because he knew them all,

The King James version is different from most other translations.
KJV Jn 3:36
He that believeth (pisteuon) on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not (apeithon) the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
KJV Jn 2:24
But Jesus did not commit (episteuen) himself unto them, because he knew all men,

I personally don’t think ‘to believe’ (pisteuo) means just to have faith (pistis, noun). The book of James also indicates a difference between belief and faith in the middle of a section in chapter two on faith and works.
Jas 2:19
You believe (pisteueis) that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe (pisteuousin) that and tremble.

So, brothers and sisters in Christ, exegesis aside, what does ‘to believe’ mean to you?

Link for the Greek biblehub.com/text/john/3-36.htm
 
I heard that Jesus had two things that go together:

Jesus said “repent and believe in the Good News.”

The thing is, there is no point believing and still living a life of sin. There is no point believing and not living a good life of the commandments. Which is why Jesus always said, “Repent and believe.”
 
“We know and rely on the Love that God has
shown us” 1 John 4:16

The Greek word for one of these(know and
rely) is pisteuōn or believe, You see, believing
and trusting in God’s Love makes us ACTION
people!! We are ALIVE in Spirit and Born Again
into a LIVING Hope thru the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead.
1 Pet, 1:3
 
1Lord1Faith said:
I personally don’t think ‘to believe’ (pisteuo) means just to have faith (pistis, noun). The book of James also indicates a difference between belief and faith in the middle of a section in chapter two on faith and works.
Jas 2:19
You believe (pisteueis) that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe (pisteuousin) that and tremble.

So, brothers and sisters in Christ, exegesis aside, what does ‘to believe’ mean to you?

Link for the Greek biblehub.com/text/john/3-36.htm
Click to expand...
I’m not sure what you mean by there being a difference between faith and belief there. The same Greek word is being used in both places there. Could you clarify what you mean?

-Fr ACEGC
 
Trusting with great confidence.

My pastor used to use ABC; Action based upon Belief sustained by Confidence.
 
This is the best one I ever heard:

a tightrope walked was about was about to do a great walk across a canyon with a person on his back and he says “WHO BELIEVES I CAN DO THIS?” The crowd chants “WE BELIEVE !!!” And the walker says “Now I will just need a volunteer…”

THATS the belief I think the NT is speaking of, belief to the point of trusting your life to it.
 
1Lord1Faith said:
So, brothers and sisters in Christ, exegesis aside, what does ‘to believe’ mean to you?

Link for the Greek biblehub.com/text/john/3-36.htm
Click to expand...
I always feel that believing must comes with what it entails. It is not just saying I believe, but also doing what I believe.

‘But blessed is he who hear the word of God and do it’. To me that says everything.
 
You are probably thinking: “gasp, a Protestant is going to use an extra-biblical citation!” Well, yes, I am.

The Shepherd of Hermas (written in the middle first century to second century), while noncanonical, gives some insight into how an early Christian thought. It was thought to have been written by Pope Clement’s brother. It is symbolic, but the passages concerning sin and salvation are very strict and should not be taken to the letter.

So, what is belief in Christ that turns into a saving belief? The Shepherd of Hermas puts a real emphasis on repentance:
13 Then shall their sins be forgiven, which they have heretofore committed, and the sins of all the saints who have sinned even unto this day; if they shall repent with all their hearts, and remove all doubts out of their hearts.
Click to expand...
14 For the Lord hath sworn by His glory concerning His elect, having determined this very time, that if any one shall even now sin, he shall not be saved.
Click to expand...
15 For the repentance of the righteous has its end; the days of repentance are fulfilled to all the saints; but to the heathen, there is repentance even unto the last day. (Shepherd of Hermas, Book I, Vision II, verses 13-15)
Click to expand...
Those who suffer for the faith can still be sinful (“short” in their faith) because they are not “whole” in their faith:
66 Those that are maimed and short, are they who have believed indeed, but still are in great measure full of wickedness: for this cause they are maimed and not whole. (ibid., Vision I, verse 66)
Click to expand...
And lastly, true repentance is a sign of true faith:
74 Then for those stones which fell into the fire and were burnt, they are those who have for ever departed from the living God; nor doth it ever come into their hearts to repent, by reason of the affection which they bear to their lusts and wickednesses which they commit. (ibid, verse 74)
Click to expand...
You can find the full text of the Shepherd of Hermas here: sacred-texts.com/bib/lbob/lbob26.htm
 
edward_george said:
I’m not sure what you mean by there being a difference between faith and belief there. The same Greek word is being used in both places there. Could you clarify what you mean?

-Fr ACEGC
Click to expand...
That’s not going to be easy for me to pin down.

I couldn’t imagine the the word believe, used in Jas 2:19, being replaced with “even the demons have faith in that and tremble.” We don’t use the word faith as a verb, but we use believe as the verb, belief as the noun. My point is that the translations are important with these concepts of trust, faith, belief, to believe, obey, commit etc…they mean different things to different people.

To me, belief means acknowledging something exists. Faith is the result of putting your trust in something even though you don’t have any solid assurances of your decision to trust.
 
GLam8833 said:
“We know and rely on the Love that God has
shown us” 1 John 4:16

The Greek word for one of these(know and
rely) is pisteuōn or believe, You see, believing
and trusting in God’s Love makes us ACTION
people!! We are ALIVE in Spirit and Born Again
into a LIVING Hope thru the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead.
1 Pet, 1:3
Click to expand...
The greek here for “rely”, some translations like KJV and the NAB say “believed”, is pepisteukamen.

biblehub.com/text/1_john/4-16.htm
 
Hatikvah said:
So, what is belief in Christ that turns into a saving belief?
Click to expand...
I gather that you think ‘to believe’ as used in John implies a richer meaning than the contemporary use of the word, such as, ‘I believe you are right’. You use the term saving belief in order to emphasize you understand a difference between belief/faith and acceptance of Jesus’ message to the point of living it from now on. I’ve heard that some Protestants use the term justification. But I’m not exactly sure what they mean by that. I’m trying to get some answers.
 
ajcstr said:
This is the best one I ever heard:

a tightrope walked was about was about to do a great walk across a canyon with a person on his back and he says “WHO BELIEVES I CAN DO THIS?” The crowd chants “WE BELIEVE !!!” And the walker says “Now I will just need a volunteer…”

THATS the belief I think the NT is speaking of, belief to the point of trusting your life to it.
Click to expand...
That’ a great definition regarding belief in Christ. But it seems hard to dig that message out of the Gospel, especially given some translations.
 
Kliska said:
Trusting with great confidence.

My pastor used to use ABC; Action based upon Belief sustained by Confidence.
Click to expand...
Another great definition of what it means to believe in Christ. Trust is essential.
 
1Lord1Faith said:
I gather that you think ‘to believe’ as used in John implies a richer meaning than the contemporary use of the word, such as, ‘I believe you are right’. You use the term saving belief in order to emphasize you understand a difference between belief/faith and acceptance of Jesus’ message to the point of living it from now on. I’ve heard that some Protestants use the term justification. But I’m not exactly sure what they mean by that. I’m trying to get some answers.
Click to expand...
It is that true faith should lead to sanctification, a change in one’s life for God’s kingdom and glory, for which repentance and avoiding sin are needed. In fact, it is more an issue of semantics than substantial theology.

Justification simply means to be declared righteous, living the word. There are some variations, but nothing too major. If we stick to non-theological language, I’m positive that it would be much easier to get our meanings across. 🤷
 
1Lord1Faith said:
I gather that you think ‘to believe’ as used in John implies a richer meaning than the contemporary use of the word, such as, ‘I believe you are right’. You use the term saving belief in order to emphasize you understand a difference between belief/faith and acceptance of Jesus’ message to the point of living it from now on. I’ve heard that some Protestants use the term justification. But I’m not exactly sure what they mean by that. I’m trying to get some answers.
Click to expand...
Justification is the term used to signify you have been made “right” with God. From a protestant point of view justification is a one time event and essentially the same thing as being “saved” or “born again”.

From a Catholic point of view justification is an ongoing process, not a one time event. Not to throw too many terms around but you may also hear the term “sanctification” or the process of growing in holiness. From what I can see Catholics regard justification/sanctification as part of the same process where protestants would argue that justification is the initial one time event and then sanctification is the ongoing process.

Whats confusing is that we use the same words but they don’t mean the same thing.
 
1Lord1Faith said:
That’ a great definition regarding belief in Christ. But it seems hard to dig that message out of the Gospel, especially given some translations.
Click to expand...
Look at the different ways John 3:36 is rendered in the various translations. That’s why its good to consult more than one translation.

James 2 14:26 is a good description of a dead faith
 
Hatikvah said:
It is that true faith should lead to sanctification, a change in one’s life for God’s kingdom and glory, for which repentance and avoiding sin are needed. In fact, it is more an issue of semantics than substantial theology.

Justification simply means to be declared righteous, living the word. There are some variations, but nothing too major. If we stick to non-theological language, I’m positive that it would be much easier to get our meanings across. 🤷
Click to expand...
Semantics are especially important to people who don’t study scripture. They just read it and go on with their lives, not really trying understanding what they just read. I do it too, even after I think I’ve got it.

Declared righteous by who, God? How can God declare you righteous before your death. How can someone have the lack of humility to declare themselves righteous?
 
ajcstr said:
Justification is the term used to signify you have been made “right” with God. From a protestant point of view justification is a one time event and essentially the same thing as being “saved” or “born again”.

From a Catholic point of view justification is an ongoing process, not a one time event. Not to throw too many terms around but you may also hear the term “sanctification” or the process of growing in holiness. From what I can see Catholics regard justification/sanctification as part of the same process where protestants would argue that justification is the initial one time event and then sanctification is the ongoing process.

Whats confusing is that we use the same words but they don’t mean the same thing.
Click to expand...
I understand sanctification, it’s used widely in Catholic circles, but the terms justification or saved are not used by Catholics much at all, if ever.

Yes, meanings of words are hidden within their context and culture.
 
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