The Etymology of Belief

By Bob Hayton, April 23, 2011

In reading through a new book, The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Familyby Andrew Himes, grandson of John R. Rice, I came across a fascinating quote about the etymology of the English word belief. The quote comes from Karen Armstrong, The Case for God (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009), pg. 86. When the New Testament was translated from Greek into Latin by Saint Jerome (c. 342420) pistis became fides (loyalty). Fides had no verbal form, so for pisteuoJerome used the Latin verb credo, a word that derived from cor do, I give my heart. He did not think of using opinor (I hold an opinion.) When the Bible was translated into English, credo and pisteuo became I believe in the King James version (1611). But the word belief has since changed its meaning. In Middle English, bileven meant to praise; to value; to hold dear. It was related to the German belieben (to love), liebe (beloved), and the Latin libido. So belief originally meant loyalty to a person to whom one is bound in promise or duty. During the late seventeenth century, however, as our concept of knowledge became more theoretical, the word belief started to be used to describe an intellectual assent to a hypotheticaland often dubiousproposition. Scientists and philosophers were the first to use it in this sense, but in religious contexts the Latin credere and the English belief both retained their original connotations well into the 19th century. This rings true to me. I looked to a quick online etymological tool, and found this entry for belief which seems to confirm this sense that the English word belief has shifted in meaning. belief late 12c., replaced O.E. geleafa belief, faith, from W.Gmc. *ga-laubon (cf. O.S.gilobo, M.Du. gelove, O.H.G. giloubo, Ger. glaube), from *galaub- dear, esteemed. The prefix was altered on analogy of the verb believe. The distinction of the final consonant from that of believe developed 15c. Belief used to mean trust in God, while faith meant loyalty to a person based on promise or duty (a sense preserved in keep ones faith, in good (or bad) faith and in common usage of faithful, faithless, which contain no notion of divinity). But faith, as cognate of L. fides, took on the religious sense beginning in 14c. translations, and belief had by 16c. become limited to mental acceptance of something as true, from the religious use in the sense of things held to be true as a matter of religious doctrine (early 13c.). This illustrates the difficulties of translation, and the reason why studying the original languages is so important. Any translation will of necessity be inferior to the original, and the receptor words will not always match up one-for-one with the original Greek or Hebrew. It also points out the problem of words changing meaning over time. In our scientific age, belief has many connotations that werent necessarily there when the King James Version was translated in 1611. From a theological standpoint, I think the idea that belief is loyalty, covenant faithfulness stands up to Scriptural teaching. Being a believer is not merely assenting to a set of facts, it is committing to follow Christ your entire life long. Im interested to hear your thoughts on all this. It is especially appropriate given Easter weekend here, that we think a little more closely about what it means to believe. So feel free to discuss the theological takeaway, or the translational take away from this.

8 Responses to The Etymology of Belief

Words dont so much have meanings as they have usages. It is clear that Paul used PISTEUW in reference to an assertion: Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart **that** God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So men are justified by believing with ones heart [sic] a particular assertion. So, yes, the scientific use of belief would be different, just as they have their own usages for theory and fact that are used differently in popular speech. The word means different things to different people in different situations. Believe has, what they call a wide semantic domain.