Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 25:1 (Spring 2021)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

SBJT 25:1 (Spring 2021) p. 155

Book Reviews

Paul and the Language of Faith. By Nijay K. Gupta. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020. 338 pp., $34.99 paper.

Nijay Gupta, in his new book, Paul and the Language of Faith, makes an important contribution to the conversation surrounding faith language in Paul. Gupta serves as a professor of NT at Northern Seminary and is the author of numerous books, most recently, A Beginner’s Guide to New Testament Studies and Reading Philippians. In Paul and the Language of Faith, Gupta adds to the rapidly growing discussion around πίστις language in Paul. He is not fully satisfied with recent discussion of faith language (both academic and popular) and seeks to go back to the Pauline sources to discover afresh what Paul meant by the term πίστις.

Gupta laments that often the popular definition of faith falls short of the essence of the NT word πίστις from which it is translated. Several popular connotations for faith include faith as mere opinion not grounded in any reasons; or faith is equated with doctrine, “like faith statements and faith traditions” (3). Faith is also often seen as mere passive reception of God’s grace. Moreover, English translations almost solely translate πίστις as faith, although the word carries a greater range of meaning than the English word faith. Gupta asserts that when we look at πίστις in its ancient context, one can see that the term carries a spectrum of meanings. Therefore, we should not see πίστις as a term that requires a single English rendering, but rather as a term that has a range of meanings and each use must be understood in light of its context: “Instead of thinking about the semantics of πίστις in zone terms, we must consider that his (Paul’s) meaning may modulate, moving across this spectrum according to his meaning” (12).

To that end, Gupta provides three categories which define πίστις. First, believing faith: “When πίστις is used in this way, the emphasis falls on the proper method of perception, which is at odds with worldly knowledge and mere human ways of seeing reality” (10). Despite the downplay of other scholars on this understanding of πίστις, Gupta sees a cognitive aspect to the term. In this way, faith means “seeing-with-something-other-than-eyes”

SBJT 25:1 (Spring 2021) p. 156

(103). The strange wisdom of salvation through the cross of Christ can only be grasped by faith. Secon...