Is “Faith” a Noun Or Verb?
This past weekend I had a chance to reconnect with several former students while teaching in Minot, ND. One reminded me of a distinction I’d made some years earlier and, more importantly, shared with me the impact it was having on some of the young families in his congregation. The distinction was simple (and one no doubt I’d borrowed from others!): Is “faith” a noun or verb?
The answer, of course, is both. But the distinction matters when it comes to how we understand our faith in our daily lives; do we, that is, on a day to day basis think of faith primarily as functioning as a noun in our lives or as a verb.
If it’s a noun, then our faith is primarily about what we should believe. Creeds, catechisms, statements and formulations of faith, and so on. Faith understood primarily as a noun stresses the cognitive dimension of our faith. And while this is important, it can easily devolve into concerns not simply about what we believe, but about believing the “right” things and, if truth be told, about whether our neighbors (especially those with whom we disagree) are believing the right things. More than that, over-stressing the cognitive dimensions of faith – faith as a noun – can lead to a rather static faith, one focused on getting your theology in order rather than actually doing anything. This is one reason that, while faith understood as a noun was a predominant way of accessing faith a generation or two ago (when denominations flourished by clarifying what they believed differently from other Christian traditions), many in an emerging generation interested in making a difference in the world find approaching faith primarily as a noun relatively off-putting.
Which is why I think reclaiming faith as a verb is really important. Faith understood this way is more active than cognitive, as it stresses living our faith in the way we treat others, in how we raise our children, in how we spend our money, vote at elections, care for those in need around us, and more. Faith understood as a verb is about our daily activities and practices and stresses acting on our faith rather than just thinking about it. This kind of faith, in other words, invites us to get out of our theological armchairs and get into the game – the game of life, of loving neighbor, of trying to do the best you can in any given situation and then hurrying back to church on Sunday for confession, absolution, encouragement, and sending. Further, this kind of faith not only allows but actually invites questions. Questions about, well, faith – the point isn’t getting it right but figuring out what we believe together, trusting that one of the best ways to figure out questions of faith is to try to live our faith and see what answers and responses suggest themselves while we do.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against thinking theologically – trust me, it’s one of my favorite things to do. : ) But I think we’ve sold our faith short when we think of it primarily as a noun rather than a verb and risk losing the emerging generation to boot. But inviting people to serve, to act, and generally to do something is a great way for folks – especially those not that familiar with church – to get involved in a low-key way, build relationships with other Christians, and have an opportunity to act and feel their way into faith rather than just think about it.
So I’m curious: do you experience faith more as a noun or a verb? And does the community of faith of which you are a part give you more opportunities to think about the faith or live it? And what might we do together in our faith communities to invite a more active, verb-like life of faith? Thanks for sharing your thoughts in the comments.
I have a slip from a fortune cookie above my desk that says “life is a verb”
I came across this post while searching for some materiel my family can read together to help my college age son who has, according to him, “lost his faith in Jesus and the Bible”. He is very philosophical and questions everything he comes across and has lots of problems with the discrepancies w/in the Bible. He wants non-Bible sources to back up the claims that Jesus performed all the miracles. Our family has a deep Lutheran history and he was baptized and confirmed into the Lutheran church. I would appreciate any help/guidance which we could use to help him in this struggle.
Steve, my apologies for missing this comment and question earlier. The best thing you can do, I think, is listen to him. Ask what in his experience and life has prompted this turn. If he has questions particularly about the Bible, I wrote a conversational book that many churches have used for group study. It can be read by one person or read and discussed by a group. It’s called Making Sense of Scripture and is available on Amazon. I also wrote a short piece on the Bible called “4 Reasons Not to Read the Bible Literally” that was published on the Huffington Post. You can find it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/4-good-reasons-not-to-read-bible-literally_b_919345.html. Blessings to you and your family.
Dylan said that faith is not a verb because you cannot do faith. I personally believe faith is a verb because you act on faith if you act on something hen it is a noun. You can’t act on a verb. I believe faith is a verb but Dylan says it’s not.
Faith is a Noun and a Verb. It represents two in one, like God is Jesus, lord, Savior, and other great names.
If faith is a noun and a verb what makes it so hard 2 do
how shall we walk in it
I think a person must first embrace faith as a noun, wholly incorporating it into their lives which then will empower them to live the faith they embrace as a noun and express it through their actions, living their faith as a verb.
I truly like this point. Like newborns needing the milk first, and also then moving on to maturity through Faith.
This is how I see it.
Loved this answer.
I think Faith is a verb as it causes us into action. Faith without action… Therefore I believe faith in God is a binding agreement between you and God that as we move into action (faith) simultaneously He too moves into action. We do not move into blind faith, rather it is through the evidence of His past actions we have our faith. Faith can be thought of as a Divine dance with God. He leads, we respond.
1Tiimothy 5:8- Care, give in need, to relatives an friends, an neighbors, Care for your own household, or you will be considered someone worse than an unsaved person
faith is the spiritual ability, ability itself is noun, but when ability in use it is verb.
I googled “is faith a noun or verb” and your aticle popped up. Refelecting on “Perfect love casts out fear” and faith as a part of counteracting fear. I am thinkng that fear is basically an emotion of being fearful of something or someone. Whereas “fatith” is a trust in Someone to be faithful in His relations to circumstances. But I do not preceive Faith as an “emotion” but rather a fact …. a noun, that propells me into action on behalf of and for the One in Whom I have faith .. a verb.
Faith is a noun – whether one believe that Jesus is LORD and Savior and HE died on the cross for our sins is a matter of substance faith. GOD resurrected Jesus from the dead on the third day and no actions by man is necessary for our salvation. All of the good works described in the article and more will survive the fire at the Judgment Seat of Christ and one will be eternally rewarded for them. Jesus said, “And behold, I am coming quickly, my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his works.” Salvation is a free gift from God – God reward man for righteousness and good works he earns.
Using the word ‘faith’ in its proper form it is a noun. Using it as a verb like saying, ‘I’m going to ‘faith it’ is not a proper way to use the word when a different word is much more appropriate, that word is ‘trust’. Trust can also be a noun but when used in connection with faith is the expression of the meaning of the noun faith. For example, when you come to a foot bridge on a walk, your faith elks you you’ll becable to cross safely. Your trust expresses that faith you have when you step out into the bridge and walk across. Faith enables action but that action is defined by a different word, trust. As James said, ‘show me your faith without your works (trust) and I’ll show you my faith by my works (trust). It’s the same meaning. I believe this is the best way to understand the concept of both words.
Larry
Thank you very much for the illustration. I would like to use this in Sunday school class.