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I fear that we are getting bogged down in the typical back and forth of whether or not the Bible calls for salvation by faith alone. The arguments on both sides have been rehearsed many time. As I stated, I posted the article because within this debate it seemed to me (at least on the part of gscc, Mr. Lucky and myself) that a consensus on this was actually arising.

Again, on this thread I would like to limit the discussion on the definition of "faith." For Catholics it means only intellectual assent. Mr. Lucky and gscc seemed to imply that for Protestants that it also included in some form a commitment to righteousness. Mr. Akin's article also held for this and argued that Catholics and Protestants were saying the same things but using different theological terms (or in the case of the word "faith" the same term with different meanings).

I would like the following questions to be answered:

1) Is there any validity in this position?
2) Is this valid for some Protestants and not others?
3) If so, is there a division in Protestant understanding of "faith" that is specific to particular Protestant denominations or does this division cut across Protestant denominations?

I take no issue with the language of the Joint Statement on the Doctrine of Justification. Is that helpful?

There is, or course, no monolithic "Protestant" position on any issue. Many "Protestant" Churches (such as the orthodox Lutheran Church or the pre-sodomite Episcopal Church) are much closer to the Roman Catholic Church theologically than they are to most other Protestant denominations).

I thank you very much for this post. On this issue there is a great deal of skepticism on both sides as to motives, with the result that we continuously pound on the talking points that we have been grounded in theologically. As the previous thread developed I began to feel that at least you and I, on this issue anyway, were really not that far apart and through God's illuminating hand you came up with this article.

***Again, on this thread I would like to limit the discussion on the definition of "faith." For Catholics it means only intellectual assent.***

We absolutely do not believe that faith is merely intellectual assent - for even the devils believe and tremble, yet they are not saved.

For a traditional protestant/evangelical view of faith see Hebrews 11

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith."

Faith is the commitment to believe God will do what He says He will do - even if it seems uttely impossible to you.

Faith is Humility's response to a God Who declaires that He desires to save and cleanse an unworthy and wretched sinner.

Faith is Abraham saying yes to Gods offer to give him a child and to make of him a might nation even though he was clearly past the age of having children.

Because "faith" is such a key term, it is necessary that each theological school have a fixed usage of it in practice, even though there is more than one use of the term in the Bible. Evangelical leaders, in response to the antinomianism that has washed over the American church scene in the last hundred and fifty years, are attempting to impose a uniform usage to the term "faith" in their community to prevent these problems.

For the believer in Christ, with the mind of Christ, we accept Scripture as the communication of His mind.

The above quote from the passage notes that there is more than one use of the term in Scripture. Obviously, it isn't for man to attempt to rewrite the mind of Christ into our natural perspective, but rather for us to further develop our thinking by His Word. If it has several different meanings in different contexts, then it's much more appropriate to learn how He intends us to think, rather than to formulate a uniform usage of the word to resolve contrived problems. The only solution to the problems perceived is to learn the Word of God with the mind of Christ which He has made available to us through faith in Him.

The second half of the quote assumes antinomianism is the only consequence to issues such as doctrine of the unlimited atonement. Amyrauldism is probably closer to what I have found to be a sound doctrinal stance as opposed to antinomianism, but studying the usage of faith and belief, as well as spirit, soul, nephesh, life, also have helped my growth in Him. I haven't found one simple English definition of 'faith' to be communicated by Scripture, but I do find Scripture to be reliable and where one might perceive difficulty in understanding its meaning, one has begun to track areas in Scripture where they need further study to exercise the mind of Christ.