What caused the shift from "Faith Of Christ" to "Faith In Christ" in modern translations?

Question

The phrase "Faith in Christ" can also be translated "Faith of Christ" (or "Faithfulness of Christ" [NET]):

1. In the older school of translations of the Bible into English (I'll call them the "King James school" of translations), almost every example of "pistis Christos" is rendered "the Faith of Christ" (the subjective genetive translation)
2. In the vast majority of modern translations (I'll call them the "Modern school") the same phrase is rendered as "[your] Faith in Christ". (the objective genetive translation)
3. There are a few translations that waver between the two possibilities, depending on the exact verse involved, trying to bring the context to bear - the NET is an example of this.

See the section below for more detail on the Greek formulations of "Faith in Christ", and the last section for some examples of the different translations. This question only addresses the 3rd type where "en" or "eis" in Greek is not present.

The Question:

Is there any way to understand why or how this general shift occurred from translating these Greek phrases from "the Faith of Christ" to "[your] Faith in Christ" for the majority of modern translations?

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Different Greek formulations for "Faith in/of Christ" in the New Testament

In trying to understand the term "Faith" in the Bible, I have come across several different underlying Greek phrases:

1. En Pistis Christos: Faith located inside of Christ, or with Christ as the source of the faith. i.e. you have the faith because you are joined with Christ or "in Christ".
2. Eis Pistis Christos: Faith into or toward Christ, with the direction of the faith being the key, rather than Christ being the object of the faith. I still do not fully understand the meaning of this one.
3. Pistis Christos: (by itself with no article): This can be translated either:
   • "[your] Faith in Christ", which means [you] trust in Christ or some aspect of his character (Christ or what he does is the object of the faith). This is technically called the objective genitive translation.
   • "the Faith of Christ" [or sometimes, "the faithfulness of Christ"], meaning the faith that Christ has in some other object (such as God the Father). This is technically called the subjective genitive translation.

Sometimes there are other variations which I'm not enough of a Greek scholar to really speak to, but just about any time faith is not paired with Christ in relationship to faith, the passage is less clear as to the core meaning of faith in that instance, compared with passages that include Christ.

This question is regarding the #3 type of faith only, and only those cases that also mention faith's relationship to Christ. In #3, the Greek allows both "Faith in Christ" and "Faith of Christ" as correct translations, and neither is preferred on it's own - only context can give us clues as to which the correct interpretation is.

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Usage examples:

1. Romans 3:22.

The KJV indicates that righteousness is applied to us because of the faith that Jesus had (or really, carried out):

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested , being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe : for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned , and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:21-23, KJV)

• The NET sides with KJV in this case, making it explicit that it is the action of what Christ did by changing it from "faith of Christ" to "faithfulness of Christ" (his faithfulness in carrying out the Father's plan for his death and resurrection, etc.):

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed – 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:21-23, NET)

Both the NIV and NASB are examples of the modern school's translation making the application of righteousness into a dependency on the individual believer's faith or trust with Jesus as the object of that faith:

• 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:21-23, NIV)

• 21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:21-23, NASB)

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2. Galatians 2:16

• 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no * flesh be justified. (Galatians 2:16, KJV)

• 16 yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ (Galatians 2:16, NET)

• 16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no * flesh will be justified. (Galatians 2:16, NASB)

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So, again, what is the reason for this shift in most modern translations away from "Faith of Christ" in Romans 3:22, Gal 2:16 and similar verses?

Is it due to textual criticism (correction from a comment: textual analysis)? Shifts in theology/doctrine? A better understanding of Koine Greek? Something else?

Also Note: The NET has some pretty extensive footnotes on most of these cases that expound upon the various ancient textual variants and different possible interpretations with the reasoning why they went the way they did.

Answer 1

I think this is simply because English has changed. In modern English "faith of Christ" would mean that faith that Christ had, whereas "faith in Christ" expresses the need to put faith in Christ, i.e. to trust in Christ for salvation. I have no doubt that the translators of the King James were trying to express the same meaning when using "faith of Christ" as modern translators with "faith in Christ". English has changed and modern translations reflect that.

Answer 2

The King James editors were translating the Greek literally.

The Greek phrase in question in Romans 3:22 is:

διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

where the words "Jesus Christ" (Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ) are in the genitive, or "possessive" case.

This is a Greek idiom. Whereas we use the preposition "in" to signify faith in something, Greek sometimes simply signifies that in which faith is placed through use of the genitive case.

The King James is not consistent in its use of "of" and "in" in expressions concerning "faith in", but the Greek consistently casts the object of faith in the genitive case.

Other examples:

Mark 11:22 (KJV 1900)
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ἔχετε πίστιν θεοῦ [lit. "faith of God"]


Romans 3:3 (KJV 1900)
For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

Τί γὰρ εἰ ἠπίστησάν τινες; Μὴ ἡ ἀπιστία αὐτῶν τὴν πίστιν τοῦ θεοῦ [lit. "faith of the God"] καταργήσει;

I think that it is also true that in the 17th century the word "of" in English had shades of meaning that are different from what it has now. I don't have access to the complete Oxford English Dictionary, but the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (6th ed.) does indicate that an archaic meaning of "of" was "in". For this reason, I am speculating, the King James translators were perhaps not all that concerned about translating literally.

Answer 3

Have a look at it through historical criticism.

One could do worse than pin it on Bultmann's Existentialist Alternative. (More crudely, the "I'm spiritual, not religious," phenomenon.)

Asbury Bible Commentary ¹ lays it out in The Problem of Faith and History: Theological Alternatives

Bultmann's main response to Barth was that if revelation is independent of historical criticism, why claim that revelation has a historical point of reference at all! ²

And if the historical question is strictly an academic consideration, why not reinterpret the phrase “faith in Jesus Christ” in a symbolic way?

This is indeed what Bultmann did. “Faith in Christ” is a symbolic expression for experiencing a more authentic understanding of the meaning of existence!

That's probably a way more simple answer that what the OP is looking for, but understanding Bultmann's views (and his subsequent influence on biblical studies) helps me understand this shift.

Another thing that helps me understand is the old adage: "Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, the church proclaimed faith in Jesus."

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¹ https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/asbury-bible-commentary/Problem-Faith-History

² Rudolf Bultmann, Essays: Philosophical and Theological, trans. James C. G. Grieg (London: SCM, 1955), 261.

Answer 4

Tendency to deny responsibility

You don't need to study theology and Greek to discern the shifts in Bible versions. It is easy to get mislead by the popular scholars or Bibles like NET, NTE etc, however, upon learning Greek, I discovered that these Bible versions and scholars often claim baseless and mislead their readers. Such ostensible mistranslations can only be explained as the ever-growing liberalistic theological bias. The reason for perverting faith of Christ into faithfulness of Christ is equivalent to the Gnostic theology which get rid of all responsibility, even of the freewill to turn faith into a gift under their fatalistic deterministic world-view.

I assure you, it goes against the Greek usage or linguistic evidences, it has nothing to do with any textual variants. It is solely based on theological agenda or bias.

Turning the references of the objective faith in/of Christ, i.e. the Christian faith into subjective genitive (Christ's faith) implies that not only the sinner is excused from the commands, but even from faith or faithfulness to God. During the time of KJV, the phrase faith of Christ was believed to be Christian faith. It is rightly pointed out by user22553 with examples like Romans 3:3 which refers to the Christian faith, and Mark 11:22 mentions faith in God. All of those phrases are objective genitive, and clear from the context.

Some examples of objective genitive: (your) Zeal of God (KJV and other old versions) Rom 10:2 is translated "zeal for God" in the modern versions, there is no difference; testimony of Christ, that is the Christian message (1 Cor 1:6) "testimony about/concerning Christ" in the modern versions.

Even in 2 Cor 5:14 "love of Christ constrains us" and, Rom 8:35 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?", it refers to the objective Christian love and Christian faith. God's love cannot constrain anyone, he loves all mankind, he is already sovereign, but our behaviour is constrained only by our beliefs and ways. If only we love Christ, then we can constrain ourselves from sin; this is what is meant by "love of Christ controls or constrains us"; the context is clear it is always talking about our faithfulness. Paul says nobody can separate him from following and loving Christ, even oppression, persecution and death, he would never leave Christ. It is meaningless to even think of the possibility of Christ or God ceasing to love us; and why would Christ separate himself from loving us when we are oppressed and persecuted for him?

Thus, it should be clear to us that we do not need to learn Greek to know the likely meaning from the context, although, it is recommended if you want to study deeply. The following quote from a question on Phil 3:9 demonstrate my point as to the implication of mistranslations, and that the morally corrupt and depraved modern scribes plays on the itchy ears of the mainstream church. The questioner writes,

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (KJV)

KJV is not the only translation that uses "of Christ" though many translations use "in Christ".

To me "of" and "in" are so far apart from their meaning and intent, it changes what that verse is actually saying. If it is "faith in Christ" then my faith is on deck. If it is "faith of Christ" which really could be translated as "faithfulness of Christ" because "pistis" can be translated like that, then to me there is more security of being found in the righteousness that comes from God. If my faith is responsible for me to gain access to the righteousness that comes from God, that has human condition problems.

People do not want any responsibility, free and unconditional salvation is always appealing. This was the reason why all catholic epistles were written to counter the Gnostics, who twisted Paul's message of liberty from the law of Moses into liberty from the whole law and responsibility (2 Pet 3:15-17).