| Part 1 The Theory of Faith | Hirohumi Hoshika |
Following on from the previous chapter, this chapter will discuss views that invalidate the "historical facts and faith" problem-setting. In the previous chapter, we discussed the "Enlightenment view of the Bible" advocated by liberal positions within Christianity, while in this chapter we will discuss the "Bible Faith" advocated by conservative positions.
The "Bible Faith" of conservative Christian theology considers that "the Bible is the infallible Word of God," that the Gospels are inerrant as historical records, and that accurate knowledge of Jesus has already been obtained. This view eliminates one end of the problem of "historical facts and faith," which is based on the premise that "it is difficult to know the historical Jesus," and by simplifying this issue, it ultimately hinders understanding of the Christian faith.
Is it appropriate for us to first accept the historical accounts of the Gospels by believing in the Bible as the "infallible Word of God" and then believe in Jesus? This approach has the drawback that one must first believe in the Bible before believing in Jesus.
However for what reason can we believe that the Bible is the word of God? There is no other reason than that Jesus treated the Bible as the word of God. In other words, there is a sequence in the establishment of Christian faith, and faith in the Bible cannot be established unless faith in Jesus comes first.
In this chapter, I will address some common misconceptions about Christian faith, and, drawing on the author's own experience, examine the theological historical process that led to the need for "Bible Faith," and consider what the appropriate form of "Bible Faith" should be.
Furthermore, in contrast to "the Fact-dependent of the Christian faith" contended in the previous chapter, this chapter newly contends with "the Non-fact-dependent of the Christian ethics" (Argument 1-3).
"The fact-dependent of the faith" is an important concept in Orthodox Christianity. By this principle, Orthodox faith rejects Enlightenment Christianity, which seeks to understand the miracle accounts in the Gospels not as facts, but by resolving them in terms of the meaning and significance of what they were written.
However, orthodoxy was so wary of Enlightenment interpretations of the Bible that it brought into the Church not only "Bible-literal faith" but also "Bible-literal ethics".
In other words, there has been an unconscious and unreflective tendency to believe that orthodox faith means following to the letter the commandments and ethics written in the Bible, not just the historical events and miracles related to faith that are written in the Bible.
"Fact-dependent faith" is the understanding of faith that Christian faith is based on the events written in the Bible, and in this sense, "fact-dependent faith" means that the Bible is taken literally.
However, "the fact-dependent of the Christian faith" refers to the faith being based on the events written in the Bible, and is not a concept that includes relying on commands in the Bible. Therefore, to be precise, the "dependence of faith on facts" is different from taking all the descriptions in the Bible literally. Whether it is orthodox faith to believe literally everything written in the Bible, including ethical statements, is another question.
The evangelical idea that it is important to interpret the words of the Bible literally has led us to believe that it is an evangelical attitude to take literally and practice in modern times even commands that are believed to have been written for the social conditions of the Old and New Testament times. However, the literal implementation of ethics coupled with faith gives rise to Christian extremist fundamentalism, which is probably why Evangelicals are sometimes referred to as having an extremist fundamentalist faith.
This chapter argues that "the non-fact-dependent of the Christian ethics" is an important principle of biblical interpretation in traditional and orthodox faith, alongside "the fact-dependent of the Christian faith". The implementation of the ethics and commandments found in the Bible must be rooted in the grace and salvation of God given to us, and it should be reinterpreted using the two greatest commandments taught by Jesus, "Love God and love your neighbor," as a high candlestick.
In addition, "Easy Study 1 to 3" contains the knowledge needed for discussions in the next chapters and onwards.
Reading Difficulty Level ★☆☆☆☆ Word count 49,000 words