Institutes 3.2.13 — OF FAITH. THE DEFINITION OF IT. ITS PECULIAR PROPERTIES.

**OF FAITH. THE DEFINITION OF IT. ITS PECULIAR PROPERTIES.**

It is necessary to attend to the ambiguous meaning of the term: for faith is often equivalent in meaning to sound doctrine , as in the passage which we lately quoted, and in the same epistle where Paul enjoins the deacons to hold “the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience;” in like manner, when he denounces the defection of certain from the faith. The meaning again is the same, when he says that Timothy had been brought up in the faith; and in like manner, when he says that profane babblings and oppositions of science, falsely so called, lead many away from the faith. Such persons he elsewhere calls reprobate as to the faith. On the other hand, when he enjoins Titus, “Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;” 1 Tim. 3:9 ; 4:1, 6; 2 Tim. 2:15 ; 3:18; Tit. 1:13 ; 2:2. The French adds, “Comme il montre par ses propos quel souci il en avoit;”—as he shows by his urgency what anxiety he felt.

Source

• source-manifest/institutes — Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, tr. Beveridge 1845 (PD)
• evidence_grade: D_doctrinal_textbook