The Significance and Evolution of Christian Faith
Why is faith, referred to as pistis in Greek and fides in Latin, a cornerstone for Christians? What did it symbolize during the early stages of the Church, and how was it practiced within early communities? Is the nature of Christian faith fundamentally distinct from the concepts of pistis and fides found in ancient Greek, Roman religions, or in Judaism, or do they show significant similarities? Furthermore, how did the rise of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire shape the expressions of pistis and fides in public life?
Understandings of faith today are deeply influenced by the thought of Augustine of Hippo, who articulated faith as fides quae (the faith-content) and fides qua (the act of faith). The former refers to the belief in the tenets of Christianity, while the latter is the personal faith experienced within the hearts and minds of believers. In my 2015 publication, “Roman Faith and Christian Faith,” I posit that the earliest Christians perceived pistis/fides in a significantly different light. For them, faith was fundamentally a relationship of trust and fidelity between humans and God, which also determined interpersonal relationships, influenced church hierarchies, and shaped their vision of the heavenly kingdom. Although Christians uniquely prioritized trust in their divine relationship, their interpretation and enactment of pistis/fides paralleled those of their contemporary Greeks, Romans, and Jews.
The endeavor titled “The Invention of Faith” illustrates the development of Christian faith over its first four centuries into the distinct concept familiar to modern believers. This transformation was influenced by a multitude of social, political, theological, and spiritual factors. It is noteworthy that Christians from different geographic regions or those linked to various apostles offered varying expressions of their faith. Church members increasingly learned to articulate their faith according to their specific roles: for instance, household heads were expected to demonstrate loyalty to bishops, and wives were to obey their husbands. Contexts such as burial sites, bishops’ councils, and catechetical schools provided unique spaces for presenting faith as a lifestyle, a guideline, or a narrative. Certain elements of faith, especially propositional beliefs, became more pronounced due to internal disputes and external pressures. From the fourth century onward, the material environment significantly shaped understandings of faith—figures like Cyril of Jerusalem and Egeria the pilgrim described magnificent new places of worship, rich in decoration and incense, stirring the hearts of the faithful toward a more profound devotion to God.
The significance of Christian faith escalated when it became the state religion of the later Roman Empire. The concluding section of “The Invention of Faith” examines the intersections between Christian pistis/fides and various aspects of later Roman governance, legal structures, social dynamics, and spirituality. It aims to illustrate how, as the Roman Empire transitioned into its successor states, Christian faith became integral in shaping the societies and mental frameworks of both Eastern and Western civilizations during this pivotal historical period.
Researcher: Professor Teresa Morgan
