The Faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah

A Gospel Emphasis

Walter D. Zorn

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781725283138, 9781725283145
• eBook ISBN: 9781725283152
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Strange how one little word, the Greek word pistis, can make a profound difference in understanding the Bible. Pistis is usually translated "faith," but in different contexts of the New Testament the word can have several other meanings such as "faithfulness," "trustworthiness," "solemn promise or oath," "proof or pledge," "conviction," and "doctrine (of the Christian faith)." This book will challenge the reader's understanding of Paul's expression pistis Christou, "faith/faithfulness of Christ," and the use of the pistis word group (verb, noun, and adjective) throughout the New Testament. Given the Old Testament background to this word, one will learn how the apostle Paul utilized an obscure phrase from the prophet Habakkuk to refer to a coming Messiah who in turn lived in faithfulness to the Father's will to die on a cross for the sins of the world. This book will reveal how the gospel is emphasized throughout the New Testament in terms of "the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah." New and fresh interpretations of various texts will challenge the traditional understandings of such texts. When a person comprehends pistis as God's faithfulness and the Messiah's faithfulness, the only human response is pistis itself, meaning faithfulness as described in Hebrews 11. God is faithful and Jesus is faithful. Will he find us faithful?

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Introduction

“For my many sins, the Pauline Theology Group has given me a foretaste of purgatorial fire by asking me to revisit the question of how to interpret Paul’s notoriously enigmatic expression πίστος Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (‘faith of/in Jesus Christ’).”

—Richard B. Hays1

The Subjective/Objective Genitive Debate

For many years scholars have debated the translation of a phrase that appears in four of the Pauline letters: Romans, Galatians, Philippians, and Ephesians.2 Almost all modern English versions translate the Pauline phrase as “faith in Jesus Christ” (see Rom 3:22). This translation is called by scholars of the Greek text the “objective genitive,” because the word “faith” has as its object “Jesus Christ,” which is in the genitive case in Greek. The Greek genitive case can be understood in various ways but is distinguished from a subject (of a verb), object (of a verb), and dative (indirect object of a verb). The debate focuses on the following texts; note how the ESV (and most other English versions) translate the phrase using the word “faith” and the proper name of Jesus/Jesus Christ/Christ/Son of God or the pronoun (his/him) in reference to Jesus:

•Romans 3:22—“faith in Jesus Christ”

•Romans 3:26—“the one who has faith in Jesus”

•Galatians 2:16—“faith in Jesus Christ”

•Galatians 2:16—“faith in Christ”

•Galatians 2:20—“faith in the Son of God”

•Galatians 3:22—“faith in Jesus Christ”

•Philippians 3:9—“faith in Christ”

•Ephesians 3:12—“our faith in him”

While the above translations are possible, the same form can also be translated as a “subjective genitive,” meaning the word “faith” is followed by its “subject” in the genitive case in Greek. In other words, the proper noun or pronoun is expressing the subject of the verbal idea of “faith,” that is “believing.” Thus, one would translate the Rom 3:22 phrase as “faith of Jesus Christ” instead of “faith in Jesus Christ.” “Faith” can have other nuanced meanings such as “faithfulness.” Thus, the best understanding, of which I would argue, would be “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ,” the subjective genitive interpretation. Each of the above references can be translated in this way without misusing the grammar of the Greek New Testament. The translator has a choice. If the translator should choose the “subjective genitive” interpretation and interpret pistis as “faithfulness,” then the references would refer to Jesus’ faithfulness rather than human faith or faithfulness. Notice the differences in the following chart: (I am adding the preceding prepositions if any and a variant reading at Gal 3:26): [my translation]

	Objective Genitive	Subjective Genitive
Rom 3:22	“through faith in Jesus Christ”	“through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ”
Rom 3:26	“the one who has faith in Jesus”	“the one who lives from Jesus’ faithfulness”
Gal 2:16	“through faith in Jesus Christ”	“through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ”
Gal 2:16	“from faith in Christ”	“from the faithfulness of Christ”
Gal 2:20	“by faith in the Son of God”	“by the faithfulness of the Son of God”
Gal 3:22	“from faith in Jesus Christ”	“from the faithfulness of Jesus Christ”
Gal 3:26 (P46)	“through faith in Christ”	“through the faithfulness of Christ”
Phil 3:9	“through faith in Christ”	“through the faithfulness of Christ”
Eph 3:12	“through faith in him [Christ]”	“through his [Christ’s] faithfulness”

The choice of translating the Greek genitive case as a subjective genitive or objective genitive can make a huge difference in its meaning in context. Even more, the choice of this translation can also have an effect on how one approaches similar phrases and ideas throughout the New Testament. I will call these passages above the pistis Christou passages (the Greek words involved making a good shorthand for all such passages). Pistis is the Greek word that has a wide range of meanings according to context: faith or faithfulness, reliability, trust, confidence, fidelity, proof, pledge, solemn promise, oath, Christian virtue, or Christian doctrine. So, again, one must ask: what difference does it make? My answer is: it makes a huge difference! That is the reason for writing this book. Accordingly, Richard N. Longenecker has written: “There is, of course, much more that could be said—and, indeed, that needs to be said further—about Paul’s understanding of ‘divine faithfulness’ and ‘human faith’ in Romans and his other letters.”3 Before one even begins the task of arguing for the subjective genitive interpretation instead of the objective genitive or other genitive ideas, here is a beginning list of what is at stake:4

1.It is a matter of arguing for more accuracy in English translations or at the minimum, allowing readers to know there is a viable alternative translation (example: footnote on Rom 3:22 in the NRSV). The subjective genitive translation would take away several redundancies found in Romans and Galatians (Rom 3:22; Gal 2:16; 3:22; and Phil 3:9). At present only the NET Bible and the Common English Bible interpret these passages as subjective genitives consistently. I know of only two one-person translations that support the “subjective genitive” interpretation: N. T. Wright and David Stern.

2.The subjective genitive does not take away the necessity for the human response of faith, overtly expressed in Rom 3:22, Gal 2:16, 3:22, and possibly Phil 3:9. This is usually the argument against the subjective genitive, but it lacks the preponderance of evidence.

3.The emphasis in each of the pistis Christou passages is christological, not t...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: The Romans Riddle
• Chapter 3: The Galatian Crisis
• Chapter 4: The Other Occurrences
• Chapter 5: The General Epistles
• Chapter 6: The Synoptic Gospels and Acts
• Chapter 7: The Johannine Literature
• Chapter 8: Conclusion
• Glossary
• Bibliography