BEFORE ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ:

THE OBJECTIVE GENITIVE AS G O O D GREEK

by

ROY A. HARRISVILLE III

Plymouth, MN

In recent years a debate has ensued concerning the meaning of

πίστις Χρίστου and similar phrases in St. Paul's letters. (See Gal 2:16,
20; 3:22; Rom 3:22, 26; Phil 3:9.) One of the points in contention is
that the subjective genitive reading is more natural than the objective
rendering and thus constitutes better Greek.1 However, if one dares to
look at the evidence in the pre-Christian Greek authors themselves,
one will find ample evidence that πίστις plus the objective genitive is
quite normal and indeed constitutes good Greek.2
Using only the Perseus 2.0 database of ancient Greek authors3 I
searched for all forms of the noun πίστις and the verbal form, πιστεύω
(all tenses and moods), plus the genitive (apart from prepositional
phrases) in those Greek authors who wrote in the first century BC or
earlier. For the most part when an ancient Greek author wishes to
indicate faith or reliance in someone or something, the dative is used
of the object. However, by using even the limited database within
Perseus 2.0 I have managed to uncover a healthy list of examples in
which the objective genitive is used both with the nominal and ver­
bal forms of πίστις.
It must be pointed out that there are certainly many more exam­
ples of the objective genitive in ancient Greek sources. This study has

1
Richard B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ: The Narrative Substructure of Galatians
3:1-4:11, 2nd ed., The Biblical Resource Series, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002,
p. 147; See also R. Barry Matlock, "'Even the Demons Believe': Paul and πίστις
Χριστού", Catholic Biblical Quarterly 64 (2002), p. 300 for a list of objections to the objec­
tive genitive.
2
Matlock has already identified a number of instances of the objective genitive with
πίστις in Plutarch's Lives. Matlock, p. 304.
3
Copyright © 2000 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting. Harvard University Office for Patents and Copyrights, and
Licensing, University Place—Suite 410 South, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge, MA
02138.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2006 Novum Testamentum XLVIII, 4

Also available online - www.brill.nl
354 ROY A. HARRISVILLE III

only dealt with one word in such a construction to ascertain if it is

good Greek. It is. This is significant because it means that native Greek
speakers would have been conditioned to hear and read the objective
genitive with πίστις and would not have considered such constructions
odd. To be sure, the subjective genitive was also uncovered. But such
discovery only serves to emphasize the need to allow context to deter­
mine the reading of a phrase. The following evidence was uncovered
from a variety of authors.
Aeschines. In 330 BC a friend of Demosthenes by the name of
Ctesiphon suggested he receive a crown in honor of his service to
Athens. Aeschines opposed the move in his speech, Against Ctesiphon.
In section 208 we find him saying " . . . όταν δ' επίορκος ων είς την
των όρκων πίστιν καταφυγ/άνη . . . " Here Aeschines is trying to dis­
credit Demosthenes before the Athenians saying that the perjurer
Demosthenes counts upon the Athenians' reliance upon sworn oaths.
In this instance πίστιν may be translated as confidence or reliance and
its use in an objective genitival construction is unmistakable.
Euripides. In his famous Medea there occur two instances of πίστις
with the objective genitive. One is in a lament by the Chorus: " . . .
θεών δ' ούκέτι πίστις αραρεν . . . " [Medea 413). One may translate this
phrase, " . . . their faith in the gods has no longer held." The other
instance is in a statement by Medea to Jason that faith or trust in
Jason's oaths has gone away ("όρκων δε φρούδη πίστις...") [Medea
492). Again, the objective genitive reading is plain.
Herodotus. This author provides one example of the subjective
rendering of πίστις with the genitive: "σέβονται δε Άράβοι πίστις
ανθρώπων δμοια τοίσι μ ά λ ι σ τ α . . . " [Histories 3.8.1) Here the transla­
tion would be "Arabs honor the oaths of men second to none." The
subjective rendering seems clear in this context.
Demosthenes. The orator supplies us with six examples of an
objective genitive with the noun πίστις or its verbal form. In his speech
On the Crown (18.215) he recalls that the Thebans relied upon the
decency of the Athenians when the Thebans allowed them into their
city during the campaign against Philip of Macedón ("... εφ' ύμιν
ποιήσαντες σωφροσύνης πίστιν περί υμών έχοντες έδειξαν."). In Against
L·pήnes (20.17) he employs the phrase "ό τοίνυν την πίστιν άφαιρών
των δωρειων νόμος...", which may be translated "The law, therefore,
that removes faith in r e w a r d s . . . " The last example of the nominal
form of πίστις with the objective genitive is found in Against limotheus
(49.43): " . . . κάγώ τούτων πίστιν ηθέλησα έπιθεΐναι...." This phrase
 ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ 355

refers to an oath that Demosthenes was prepared to make in evidence

of his claim against Timotheus. Be that as it may, it is still an objective
genitival construction because the pronoun "of these (facts)" is clearly
the object of the oath in the sentence.
There also occurs in the same work (49.41) the use of the verbal
form of πίστις plus the genitive. Here Demosthenes is implying that
Timotheus has no faith or trust in his closest friends or those of his
own household: " . . . ή ούδενί χρή των οίκείων ουδέ πιστεύεις των
σαυτου ούδενί " In a work entitled On Organization (13.32) Demosthenes
is pointing out the difference between the word and the deeds of the
Athenians when he says, " . . . ούδ' αν εις πιστεΰσαι των αυτών είναι
ταύτα κάκεΐνα." This may be translated, "no one believes them to be
one and the same (people)." Finally, in another of his speeches (II,
6.20) Demosthenes mentions the Olynthians who would have been
incredulous at anyone who predicted their poor treatment by Philip
of Macedón ("... ή λέγοντος αν τίνος πιστεΰσθαι οϊεσθε;....").
In each of these examples we have met with objective genitives in
direct connection with πίστις or πιστεύω. To find that one of the most
revered orators of all Greece and whose command of Greek was sec­
ond to none should employ multiple objective genitival constructions
with πίστις or πιστεύω is to uncover ample evidence in and of itself
that such constructions were not only common, but excellent Greek.
Plato. This author supplies two examples of an objective genitive,
one of which is incontrovertible. First, in the Symposium (207c) Diotima
replies to Socrates concerning love: ("ει τοίνυν εφη πιστεύεις εκείνου
είναι φύσει τον έρωτα ου πολλάκις ώμολογηκαμεν . . . " ) "If therefore,"
she said, "you believe that to be, by nature, love, which we have often
confessed,...." Then, in the Phaedrus (275a) Plato employs a phrase
that contains an unmistakable objective genitive ("... ατε δια πίστιν
γραφής...."). Here Socrates recounts the mythological story of a dis­
cussion between the Egyptian God "Theuth", who invented writing,
and the god/king of Egypt, "Thamus", who objected to teaching peo­
ple letters because "faith in writing" will necessarily reduce the use of
memory.
Lysias. This orator gives us a clear example of a subjective geni­
tive construction in his On the Confiscation of the Property of the Brother of
Ninas (18.19): " . . . οΐονται διδόναι πίστιν της αυτών εύνοιας...." Here
we have mention of the pledge of someone's goodwill.
Thucydides. This author lends us one example each of the objective
and subjective genitive. In his Histories (6.53.2) there is a subjective
356 ROY A. HARRISVILLE III

genitive construction in the phrase " . . . δια πονηρών ανθρώπων πίστιν . . . " ,
which may be translated "through the testimony of wicked men". On
the other hand, there exists an objective genitive in Histories 7.67.4
where there is reference to the trust of the Athenians not being in
their preparations for war with the Syracusans ("... καθεστήκασιν ού
παρασκευής πίστει..."). It seems then that one and the same author
is quite content to employ both the objective and subjective genitive
with πίστις. The context determines the reading.
Hyperides. This Athenian orator supplies a further example of an
objective genitive in his Funeral Oration (6.25) when he employs the fol­
lowing phrase concerning the reliance of people upon laws, not threats
or slanders: " . . . αλλ' επί τη τών νόμων πίστει γενέσθαι."
Xenophon. This author supplies us with two more examples of
the objective genitive with the past tense of πιστεύω. In his Hellenica
(2.3.29) he employs the phrase " . . . ούΥ έπίστευσε του λοιπού." By
this is signified that the Spartans will not trust a man after he has
once proven himself a traitor. In Memorabilia (1.2.8) we encounter the
phrase ". . . έπίστευε δε τών συνόντων έαυτφ . . .", which refers to
Socrates trusting that his friends will remain friends to each other.
These examples should suffice to demonstrate that St. Paul's use of
an objective genitive with πίστις was an entirely appropriate Greek
construction that native Greek speakers and readers themselves would
have been quite used to hearing and reading. Greek orators, philoso­
phers, historians, and poets employed the objective genitive with πίστις.
There can be litde doubt that they did so because they thought it
quite natural, appropriate, and good Greek. That they also employed
the subjective genitive is not surprising, since that is good Greek too.
What is significant is that one and the same author (Thucydides) can
employ both constructions with πίστις. Therefore, those who wish to
make St. Paul into a staunchly consistent employer of certain Greek
phrases and constructions will be disappointed to hear that his pre­
decessors in the language were themselves not so stiff in their use but
rather allowed the context of the construction to determine its meaning.
This article, however, only deals with a propaedeutic issue in the
debate over πίστις Χριστού. It does not deal with essential questions
that need further investigation such as the nature and genesis of human
faith in St. Paul's letters. Many of those who subscribe to the subjective
rendering seem to hold the opinion that faith is a human work.4 If

4
"The besetting danger of the anthropological ("objective genitive") interpretation,
with its emphasis on the salvine efficacy of individual faith, is its tendency to reduce
 ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ 357

that assumption is correct, πίστις Χρίστου cannot be juxtaposed to

things like "works of the law" for instance, and therefore such a judg­
ment demands a subjective rendering of the phrase in question so that
a proper juxtaposition might be understood. But this is a false assump­
tion and characterization of faith in St. Paul's letters. The juxtaposi­
tions in Romans 4:4-5 indicate that for Paul faith was not a work but
5
a gift. Indeed faith is a gift of grace in which the Giver Himself resides.
Those who champion the objective rendering of πίστις Χρίστου are
fully aware of this and do not embrace some sort of docetism, as Hays
6
so politely suggests.
Equally at issue is the connection of the human devotee to the deity.
If the subjective rendering is accepted and becomes the translation of
choice in our modern English versions of scripture, the reader will be
left wondering as to what personal connection should exist between
herself and Christ other than the ritual of baptism and a vague notion
of "participation".7 For when the phrase is translated "faith of Christ"
there is removed from St. Paul's letters virtually all of his speech about
the direct connection by means of faith that the believer has with
Christ.8 If a vague "participation," à la participation in a character in
a book, is to be the Christian's connection to Christ, then it falls far
short of the total transformation of the self, which the Apostle calls
for in Romans 12:2. Only a connection of faith "in" Christ can affect
the kind of transformation the human being requires. For only then
will one's entire life be oriented to and driven by Jesus. Mere "par-
ticipation" or identification with a character in a story will not do.
Finally, if the subjective rendering is to be accepted this will also
remove a great deal of the offense of the particularity of the incar-
nation and leave people believing in God the Almighty rather than in
a man from Galilee.9 Is that, at base, the impetus behind the subjec-
tive rendering of πίστις Χρίστου? Can we escape the offense of the

the gospel to an account of individual religious experience, or even to turn faith into
a bizarre sort of work, in which Christians jump through the entranceway of salvation
by cultivating the right sort of spiritual disposition." Hays, p. 293.
5
See Ernst Käsemann, Perspectives on Paul, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971, "The
Faith of Abraham in Romans 4", pp. 79-101.
6
Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ, pp. xlviii, 293.
7
"If Paul's gospel is the story of Jesus Christ, then we might participate in Christ
in somewhat the same way that we participate in (or identify with) the protagonist of
any story." Hays, p. 214. See also p. 297.
8
See James D. G. Dunn, "Once More, ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ" reprinted as Appendix I
in Hays, p. 256.
9
" . . . Christian faith itself is—properly understood—theocentric." Hays. p. 290.
358 ROY A. HARRISVELLE III

incarnation by insisting that we simply believe in God the Almighty,

just as, it is asserted, Jesus did?
Those issues require further investigation that this short article cannot
address. This article only attempted to ask whether or not there is evi­
dence in classical Greek authors for the objective genitive with πίστις.
I believe there is ample evidence to conclude that the objective gen­
itive rendering was by no means unusual or abnormal Greek, πίστις
Χρίστου as "faith in Christ" is good, if not excellent, Greek. The rest
is theology.
 ^ s
Copyright and Use:

As an ATLAS user, you may print, download, or send articles for individual use
according to fair use as defined by U.S. and international copyright law and as
otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement.

No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the
copyright holder(s)' express written permission. Any use, decompiling,
reproduction, or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a
violation of copyright law.

This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permission
from the copyright holder(s). The copyright holder for an entire issue of a journal
typically is the journal owner, who also may own the copyright in each article. However,
for certain articles, the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the article.
Please contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specific
work for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or covered
by your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. For information regarding the
copyright holder(s), please refer to the copyright information in the journal, if available,
or contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s).

About ATLAS:

The ATLA Serials (ATLAS®) collection contains electronic versions of previously

published religion and theology journals reproduced with permission. The ATLAS
collection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association
(ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.

The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the American
Theological Library Association.