From: Jeffrey Gibson (jgibson@acfsysv.roosevelt.edu)
Date: Sun Jan 11 1998 - 17:31:14 EST
As Jonathan and undoubtedly many others will point out to you, this
question was raised and discussed in some detail in postings from several
(?) years ago. It would be worth your while to have a look at the
archives. In the meantime, consult at least R.B. Hays' _The Faith of Jesus
Christ_ for a discussion of the issues you raise. And there is an old
article by Marcus Barth entitled "The faith of the Messiah" which is
worth looking at in this regard (sorry, I don't have bilio details at hand).
Personally, I think you have expressed something of a false dichotomy.
While I am convinced that phrases such as PISTIS XRISTOU/IHSOU mean "the
faithfulness of Christ/Jesus", that is, "the (type of) faithfulness which
Jesus embodied and displayed", the phrase that believers and believing
communities are "saved" DIA PISTEWS IHSOU XRISTOU means that they are
saved by *imitating* Jesus in his example of PISTIS. In other words, there
was for Paul always the idea of an ethical and behavioural component to be
taken up by believers that stood behind Paul's declarations about being
"saved" DIA PISTEWS IHSOU XRISTOU.
Jeffrey Gibson
jgibson@acfsysv.roosevelt.edu
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