Hebrews chapter 11

vs 1

This is one of those verses that I don't have to alt-tab back to. Everyone knows this verse, right? The TNIV didn't mess with it, and that makes me realise how difficult it must be for people who have memorised large parts of the KJV to pick up another bible. Not that that makes up for creating silly hypotheses about the nature of translation.

Anyway, back to Hebrews 11:1. Here we have what we might call a definition of faith. The problem is that the way this author uses the word is different to how others use it in the NT. Read the definition there again. You will see that part of the definition of faith here uses the word 'hope' in the way that most English speakers use it, as in "I hope it doesn't rain" - meaning a complete lack of control or understanding of a situation's conclusion. "I hope" means "I can neither control this situation into occuring the way I desire, nor can I come to a firm conclusion about whether it will or not." It is an expression of a desire that may not be fulfilled.

That, surely, is not a description of Christian hope when Paul talks of faith, hope and love? When Paul talks of "the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" is that a desire that we can't come to a firm conclusion about? I think not.

Don't get me wrong - Paul uses "hope" in the typical non-spiritual way too. But the point I'm making is that when Paul uses the term "hope" spiritually, he says things like "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Hope then becomes what is perhaps better described as an as yet unfulfilled assurance.

Now compare that with Hebrews. It would seem to me that, if we had another word for the non-spiritual hope and substituted it for the word "hope" in Hebrews 11:1, we would have a definition of hope, rather than faith, in the Pauline sense. For Paul, faith tends to be an obedient trust in God. Abraham's belief (that was credited to him as righteousness) Paul calls faith. This is one of the many arguments that people use to say that Paul didn't write Hebrews. But it also means we've got to be careful when we read between authors in the New Testament, because the words they use may not all mean the same things.

vs 2

Now here's the confusing bit - the author now goes on to describe a bunch of things that I think Paul would describe as being done "by faith"- such as Abraham's actions. Does this mean that we've changed definition of faith back to a Pauline one - a faith of trust rather than a hope of certainty? Well, truth be told they probably are mixing a bit here, but I think the author stays on message more or less.

This is where the TNIV header becomes useful - it's talking about faith (Pauline hope) in action. The thing is, how can we see such an understanding of a future assurance in someone's life? Through how they act.

vs 3

See, this seems a lot more like Pauline faith as opposed to hope, because it's talking about a past event. But for this author's definition it works - the creation of the word was something we did not see, yet we are certain that the Lord did it.

vs 4

So how does Abel's sacrifice show a certainty in the unseen? Truth be told, it's hard to know beyond the obvious, that God can't be seen. We can suppose that he was certain of God's desire for a better sacrifice and so gave one, perhaps because he knew that these earthly things would pass away, so why not offer them to God? The story of Abel does still speak, but it's a little muffled by time.

vs 5

We'd gloss over Enoch if he wasn't mentioned here in Hebrews, I bet.

vs 6

Here we have another implied definition of faith, and this one seems much more Pauline. However, it doesn't break the definition - Enoch apparently couldn't see God any more than we can. So it is a certainty in the unseen. More than that, though - we have to believe God that he wants to reward us, and he wants us to seek him. That means believing God's word as well as in God generally.

vs 7

The more we go through these verses, the more we see I think the overlapping nature of faith and hope in their more common spiritual definitions.

vs 8

This looks a lot more like obedient trust, but it contains a taste of the unseen - where's he going? Who knows?

vs 9

Here we see someone who lived his whole life in accordance with a hope that was never realised in his lifetime. But Abraham was so certain that God would look after his side of the bargain that he was pepared to let his entire life be shaped by what had been promised, even if it meant living in tents, and his offspring doing the same.

vs 10

This here is where the hope starts to come in. We see an eternal hope being read into Abraham - for an eternal city built by God.