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Starting from the experiential meaning of the term “scandal” and its Old Testament concept, the author explores Paul’s original texts in which the verb σκανδαλίζω and the noun σκάνδαλον and their synonyms λίϑος προσκόμματος and πέτρα σκανδάλου appear. The paper is divided into two parts based on the uses of verb or noun. The first part examines the texts of 1 Cor 8:13, 2 Cor 11:29 and Rom 14:21; and the second part examines the texts 1 Cor 1:23, Gal 5:11 and Rom 9:33; 11:9; 14:13; 16:17. Verbal use refers to scandal as a free (un)intentional human activity that results in doubts, entanglements, and deviations from the right path, and blocks the process of salvation. If it is a peripheral reality for salvation (rituals, food), it should be given up, and any scandalous action that occurs due to the correct immersion in God’s saving plans is not scandalous simply because it results in false and hypocritical scandal. For the scandal of God’s saving plans in their historical realization, culminating in the cross of Jesus Christ, Paul uses the noun. This scandal is inevitable because of wrong human standards applied to God and his saving activity. In the conclusion, the author summarizes the results of the research, emphasizing that Paul approaches the phenomenon of scandal in a very nuanced way and that he very skillfully integrates scandal in God’s historical but mysterious actions, in the scandal of God himself, who always remains for men semper maior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the consequences which the sudden change in Paul's life until Damascus had on his personal faith and what it meant for the faith of communities that emerged from paganism based on his proclamation of the Gospel. The article also explores how the biblical faith in the one and only God of Israel became faith in Jesus Christ. From this necessarily follows the question of the relationship between Christology and the authentic theology that was particularly emphasized by Paul. Furthermore, in order to shed light on the concept and content of faith in Paul's epistles, it is necessary to focus on the relationship between repentance and faith, and the relationship between Gospel and faith. It is also important to determine the true meaning of Paul's specific topic of justification by faith, because the integration of Christian communities, originated from paganism, in the history of salvation is based on this meaning. The article deals also with the realization of faith in everyday life, in other words it deals with Christian ethics, as well as with the future dimension of faith, in fact the relationship of faith and hope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a statistical and numerical introduction on the terminology of faith in the Apocalypse this article offers a biblical-theological analysis of all instances of the term faith in the Book of the Revelation. First, the author analyzes the eight instances of pistos, "faithful/reliable". Next there are individual explanations of the four instances where pistis, "faith" is used. There follows a theological conclusion in four parts: liturgy of terms, context of virtues, contrast of behavior and Christological/Ecclesiological issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the topic of faith in the First Letter of Peter, the author of this article speaks about the position of the recipients of the letter. He analyses their close sociological context as well as the broader historical context of social conditions in the Roman Empire. The article also gives an overview of the structure of the First Letter of Peter. Then it analyzes individual occurrences of the terms "faith/to believe" in their closest biblical-theological context. The focus is on faith as a means by which God's power protects us for salvation (1 Pet 1:5); faith that will gain praise and glory and honor (1:7); the purpose of faith -- that is, the salvation of souls (1:9); faith presented as knowledge (1:14); the relationship of faith and hope in God (1:20-21); and faith's final goal -- by faith and love the Christian enters into a spiritual house of holy priesthood (2:4-10). In the last section of the article the author gives a very concise overview of practical consequences, i.e. acts of faith as reflected in the specific attitude of Christians towards socio-political realities, and in the obligations of their own lives (such as slaves, women, men) and before the forthcoming eschaton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines three passages of Matthew's Gospel, which give insight into the author's understanding of the relationship between faith and fear: 8:23-27, 14:22-33 and 28:1-10. The study is based on reader-response criticism, and focuses on the rhetorical finality of the texts. A simple etymological analysis of the nouns "faith" and "fear" in both Greek and Hebrew shows that these words are in basic contradiction: while the former stands for terms that indicate something "reliable" and "steady"; the latter derives from expressions denoting "trembling" and "escape". In the three pericopes, the manifestations of the implied reader's faith and fear assume the attitudes of their etymological settings. Although Matthew's implied reader moves between faith and little faith, he or she never becomes an unbeliever. Likewise, when little faith prevails, the implied reader's fear increases, but that fear never permanently separates the disciple from his Master. Finally, this study shows that the three accounts are shaped in such a way as to facilitate the full identification of the actual reader with the implied reader. The ultimate rhetorical purpose of this narrative strategy is to awaken the actual reader's faith to the presence of the Risen Lord. Such faith opposes his or her fear and the temptation to escape from hostile life-realities, while assuring a steadfastness in following Jesus Christ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the noun "faith" and the verb "to believe" that appear in the Acts of the Apostles. The noun "faith" appears for the first time in the context of a healing miracle -- Acts 3:16 -- identical to St. Paul's miracle at Iconium (see Acts 14:8-10). Miracles are wrought by people filled with faith. There are persons who by faith accept the message of the Gospel, who also do miracles, but there are also persons who persecute them. The verb "to believe" shows us not only the assumptions of faith, but also identifies who the people who believe were, who or what they believe in, and what the consequences of their beliefs are. "Believers" are all people who have accepted the message of Jesus Christ and lived as "saved souls" in the community -- the Church. This is the realization of God's plan of salvation and of His Kingdom, as announced by the Scriptures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the present level of research it is generally accepted that the Gospels are believers' writings, from faith to faith. The Gospels speak about faith narratively; in other words, as something that has a visible impact. In this type of narrative, it is not possible to define faith or express it unambiguously or reduce it to a common denominator. It must be viewed in different narrative units, which in addition to their real-life context have a literary context. The author of this article starts from the term "faith" in its verbal and noun form and then isolates contexts in which the concept of faith appears in Mark, noting that faith is usually found in scenes that describe Jesus' miracles, his prayers, and places where he calls for prayer and teaches about prayer. The fact that Mark places faith in these contexts shows that faith is first of all a true relationship with God and that it manifests His almighty power in history. With this idea, Mark echoes the Old Testament concept of faith, where faith is submission to God. He relies on this ancient concept of faith, but introduces new ideas and new emphases. He stresses that faith is a reliance on God, but mediated by Jesus, His actions, words and teaching. For Mark, the theocentricity of faith is inseparable from Christocentricity. Faith has its contextual variables, but faithful behavior also has a constancy and this is: accepting the Kingdom; coming to Jesus; asking for help from Him and through Him from God; accepting and understanding His words and deeds; prayerfully addressing God, trusting that He, in Jesus, does what is humanly impossible; and finally totally imitating Jesus and His way. Mark clarifies these positive frames of faith through behavior that shows unbelief or insufficient faith. Faith is insufficient when it is based only on signs and wonders; when it looks and seeks only human security; when it is not attentive to the words of Jesus, and when it stays only at the level of wonder and awe that does not lead to Him who is the source of it. Infidelity is seen as a rejection of the person of Jesus and His realization of God's plan; as misunderstanding caused by fear for the self and flawed expectation of God; as an escape from Jesus's way; as a wrong perception of reality; as hardened hearts; as blind eyes and deaf ears; as poor memory of what has already been experienced; as thinking "by human, not by God". True faith is following Jesus; walking after Him and accepting His death as God's will. Before that kind of death, existential faith can be poured into true religion, confession of Jesus' identity as the Son of God. As much as faith is a personal attitude and conviction of God's action in history, true faith also has an ecclesial dimension, interceding for the troubles of other people. In this article we speak of the paralytic man, who was helped by his own faith, but also by the faith of those who brought him to Jesus. We see here the personal and ecclesial, interceding dimension of faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qoheleth, widely acknowledged as a pessimist and sceptic among biblical writers because of his doctrine of universal futility and the vanity of life "under the sun", is also considered, by some exegetes, as a man who experiences a crisis of faith, an agnostic or even an atheist, because of his image of God as silent, distant and elusive, a figure whose actions in the world man perceives but cannot understand. However, a careful reading of his book shows that Qoheleth is actually a wise man "who lives by his faith" (Hab 2:4a). This is primarily reflected in the attitude of "fear of God" (3:14; 5:6; 7:18; 8:12-13) that includes respect for God and acceptance of his incomprehensible action; it is confirmed by texts on "God's judgment" (3:17; 8:5-6; 11:9) in which Qoheleth believes, although the timing and criteria remain a mystery. But more significantly, Qoheleth's faith is reflected in the texts about "joy" (2:24; 3:12- 13,22; 5:17; 8:15; 9:7-9; 11:8-9), which imply that God, even though ultimately inscrutable, reveals his presence to and his care for man in the small, everyday joys he bestows on him during his short and futile life. Qoheleth's faith thus persists between two extremes: faith in a God who is permanently distant and unknowable and at the same time is palpably close every day. Qoheleth's response to this image of God is, on the one hand, "fear", and on the other, "joy" -- and it is precisely this response that allows him to overcome the "vanity" that he perceives "under the sun". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article about faith in the Book of Jonah should be seen in the context of the Year of the Faith, which was proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2012 and which lasted until November 24, 2013. Regarding the Book of Jonah, it should be noted that this is not a typical prophetic book, but belongs more to the narrative books of the Bible. There is no call to prophecy and no major prophetic action. The Word of the Lord comes twice to Jonah: the first time he does not respond, trying instead to run away from God and to avoid carrying out His commands. Only on the second occasion does Jonah respond to the call seriously: he goes to Nineveh and preaches to the people of Nineveh. Without challenging Jonah or demanding to know who he is or where he is from, the people believe his words and change their way of living, repenting their evil conduct. The verb aman (hiphil) appears only once in the Book of Jonah, in Jon 3:5, and in the context it may be taken to mean a radical change in the way of life of the people of Nineveh. Thanks to their faith, the Lord spares them from certain disaster. Jonah is not happy with this and he protests; and it seems that he would prefer the people of Nineveh to suffer disaster rather than to be converted. As such, the whole book, which has only 48 verses, can be understood as the story of an intolerant, disobedient prophet who is a Hebrew but whose religious characteristics are inferior to those of the people of Nineveh, who are non-Jews but who repent, at the word of the prophet, and obey the will of God. The Lord is a merciful God who takes care of all peoples and of all living beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of this paper focuses on the meaning, role and message of Isa 7:9b, which is the central element in Isa 7:1-17. Superficially, 7:9b appears to be unrelated to the previous section (7:1-9) or the subsequent section (7:10-17), but the analysis demonstrates that the principal message of 7:9b, about faith, is the hermeneutical key that unlocks the meaning of 7:1-9 and 7:10-17. In the first part, where the concrete historical situation is the Syrian-Ephraim War (7:1-9), Isaiah communicates to King Ahaz the Divine command to show faith and to rely on God and His Word if Israel is to survive in the face of historical and political challenges: and in the second part (7:10 -17) Ahaz addresses David's dynasty, presenting the image of a child as a model of trust in the Lord. The language of 7:9b, with the verb 'mn together with the derived conjugations of hiphil and niphal, concisely shows two basic dimensions of faith: faith as an existential foundation (niphal of 'mn) and faith as a related force of life (hiphil of 'mn). Faith according to 7:9b expresses the stability of life and at the same time the dynamism of history as openness towards others and towards the One who is completely other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this brief account the author attempts to make an actualization of the biblical texts Num 14:11; 20:12 in the context of the Year of Faith, launched on October 11, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. By observing these texts in their biblical context it is possible to make a parallel between, on the one side, the role of Moses and his brother Aaron in the desert, and, on the other, the role of the Church in the world. Specifically, just as Moses and Aaron did not complete their mission of leading the people into the Promised Land, so the Church alone does not complete its mission of bringing the people into communion with God. It was not Moses and Aaron who brought the people into the Promised Land, but Joshua: in the same way, the one who finally brings the people into communion with God is not the Church or her pastors, but Jesus Christ, who alone brings abundant life. However, the mission of the Church is not to be considered as something limited and closed because of this. On the contrary, the mission of the Church is to keep the door of faith always open. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Book of Exodus (Šemôt) was written as an expression of the faith in God revealed at Sinai. Its narrative material was shaped in the traditions of JEDP based on larger units of ancient Sinai tradition. Taken as a whole, all the redactors tended to express a more theological aspect of a given event rather than the historicity of redemption. Exodus is the historical Creed of Israel in Jahveh the Redeemer (Jahveh goel] and Covenant God (Jahveh habberît). The faith of Moses and his people is expressed in the hiphil form of the verb aman / to believe, to cause believing (eight times) and other concepts that point to an experience of Jahveh, the God of revelation who may be trusted. Faith is an act of trust, a safe relying on God revealing himself as omnipotent and present. Individuals and the believing community trust him as the faithful and true God of the fathers who keeps his promise of liberty. Moses was the first to experience the path to safe and unshakable faith in his dialogue with God, who revealed himself at Sinai. He gave witness to his faith before his people in word and signs, through which he was confirmed by God so that the people could trust him (19:9). Moses' faith was necessary so that his people could grow and follow a path toward faith in God who had revealed himself to them. Moses witnessed this unshakably as he passed through the Sea of Reed (Jam suf / Red Sea in the LXX) in front of the people, who were facing the final selection of Jahveh as their God (14:13.31). In this event Jahveh was depicted as God of creation and liberation, as savior of a people that trusted him and his servant Moses. In the event of the Covenant making, the Jahvist author described Jahveh as a faithful and merciful God who is present in the life of his journeying people. Other traditions (E) stressed belief in a mysterious God who is present and active in signs and events in history, while the Deuteronomist authors presented God as being present and active in events through his words, contained in the Decalogue and other laws, and the final redactor of the priestly tradition described God as holy and always active in celebration of the Sabbath and the Passover feast in the temple. The whole event of exodus is depicted as a zikkarôn, an act and profession of Israel's faith in Jahveh, the living, omnipotent, creator and deliverer from slavery in Egypt. In the liturgical celebration of feasts, Jahveh's words and actions are proclaimed and made present. In these celebrations, Israel manifests her faith that she constitutes God's chosen people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, produced following the author's participation in the biblical symposium organized by Croat biblical scholars in Sarajevo on the 14 and 15 December 2012, the author analyzes the intriguing and extremely challenging biblical text Genesis 15 (specifically Gen 15:6). The author begins by reviewing the rich and abundant literature dealing with this text. He goes on to analyze the ways in which different authors have approached Genesis 15 in the last hundred years, from Julius Wellhausen to Norbert Lohfink, examining their conclusions. In this way he highlights the differences in approaches to the text and the different conclusions reached. However, there is broad consensus among the researchers that the first part of the text (Gen 15: 1-5) belongs to the Elohist and the second part (Gen 15:7-22) to the Jahvist tradition, with some editing additions, corrections and omissions relating to the source tradition. Genesis 15 was probably written, or at least edited, in the middle of the seventh century BC. The researchers agree that the text does not constitute a historical narration, in the strict sense, but is more probably a prophetic collection of salvation oracles. Using these salvation oracles the inspired author or the redactor emphasizes the exemplar figure of Abraham in the tradition of the Old Testament. The author proceeds to analyze the history of the text in light of biblical traditions and examines its place in these traditions. He then shows the compact and precise nature of the text's structure: 15:1-5 → 15:6 ← 15:7-22, where 15:6 has the central place and the role of connecting the two parts in one literal unity. In the main analysis, the author looks in depth at the sentence "Vĕhe'ĕmin baJHVH vayya...šĕbehā lô tsĕ...āqāh", translated as "Abram put his faith in Yahweh, and he credited it to him as righteousness". As this sentence is a central element in the whole of Genesis 15, the author analyzes it as extensively as space allows. From the semantic perspective, he analyzes the Hebrew terms he'ĕmin, ...āša... and tsĕ...āqāh. The first Hebrew word he'ĕmin is the hiphil form of aman and means to believe, to put one's faith in someone. Abram became steadfast in Yahweh. This is the first time that the word he'ĕmin appears in the Bible. The second part of this verse records Yahweh's response to Abram's exercise of faith: he credited it (wayya...šĕbehā) to him as righteousness. The author analyzes the verbs ...āša... and tsĕ...āqāh and explains the meaning of ...āša... and tsĕ... āqāh At the end of the paper the author explores the meaning of faith and justice in the framework of the Old Testament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his Apostolic Letter announcing the Year of the Faith, Pope Benedict XVI identified the need for renewal in the Church and spoke of a new evangelization that begins with believers themselves and consists of an authentic living of the faith. This article reflects on the Pope's letter, offering a framework for authentic living and pointing to the boundaries that have to be crossed in order to fulfill that mission. The question is how to live the Year of the Faith, or, to be more precise, what such living means. The article shows that the quality of faith grows proportionally to the quality of life. Faith, when it is properly understood and when it is lived personally, helps us to relate in a better way to ourselves, to others and to the things around us. But faith is not declarative; it is not a mechanical profession; it is not sentimental or simply a feeling of belonging. Faith is an act of personal profession, of personal reliance, of consent and of transmission of Truth; Truth which the individual has accepted through evangelization. Faith is "life-based", everyday repentance; it is an act of obedience and responsibility. And such acts are impossible without good deeds, without deeds of love through which the world becomes a better place in which to live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luke places the parable about the widow and the judge in the central part of his Gospel. Because this parable is peculiar to Luke, it must have been of major significance to him, so much so that he did not want to leave it out. We must ask ourselves what is the message of this parable and how should we interpret it -- in other words, what does this parable mean? It is clearly filled with meaning -- and themes that it touches on are God's kingdom, eschatology, and securing justice, with a principal theme being the bond between prayer and faith. This parable speaks about securing justice but it also invites us to be instruments of divine justice -- the justice associated with the kingdom of God. God will dispense justice especially during the parousia. Believers are encouraged to pray for the coming of the Lord. But we cannot pray if we do not have faith, and we will lose faith if we do not pray. Prayer and faith are intimately connected. Thus, four main themes are interwoven in this parable: the theme of prayer , the theme of securing justice, the theme of eschatology and the theme of faith. The parable teaches four things: it teaches that we have to pray always and to be persistent in praying; to believe that God will answer persistent prayer and that He will grant justice to His chosen ones (especially during the parousia); and that in order to be able to pray and secure justice people must keep faith. We are people of this world, but at the same time our true home is in heaven. Therefore our prayers should not be only earth oriented but very much heaven oriented. In this parable Jesus wants to encourage His disciples while explaining that it is not easy to follow God. People can become weary of asking all the time. When things do not happen on time, people worry, doubt, question. Delay erodes our ability to believe. But even when a prayer is not answered immediately man has to pray and have faith. Prayer is a privilege that humans should not disregard. One of the problems with us is that we may expect too much. If our prayer is not answered we become disappointed. But the parable teaches that in seeking justice, there is no place for weariness and that we should not lose courage. This parable underscores the paradoxical power of seeming weakness and stresses that life demands persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]