Gospel Guidebook: Getting and Keeping It Right 
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Nature of Faith Technically Explained
by Robert P. TerryUpdated May 9, 2026
(This article is an excerpt from Q&A on Faith. The word faith is a translation of the Greek noun pistis. It could also be translated as the word belief, being the cognate noun of the Greek verb pisteuo, which means "believe," and often being used in the same context and sentence as pisteuo See, for example, Romans 3:22 and 4:5, and Galatians 2:16 and 3:6-7.)
Q1b: Technically speaking, what exactly does it mean to believe something?
A1b: To believe something means to be persuaded by the evidence for it. However, it is important to distinguish between inaugural belief and diachronic belief.
Technically speaking, an inaugural belief (i.e., the inauguration or inception of a belief) is the involuntary doxastic attitude of being persuaded by the evidence for a proposition. This means that belief is not a voluntary act of the will, and, as such, people are not able to choose their beliefs. Rather, beliefs are at the mercy of the evidence (excepting non-rational and non-epistemic beliefs, if such mental states even qualify as beliefs). You are either persuaded by the evidence for something or you are not, and there is nothing you can do directly to force yourself to be persuaded by something you find unpersuasive. This means that inaugural belief is a passive response.
In contrast, a diachronic belief (i.e., ongoing belief) is an inaugurated belief that is being maintained explicitly by the volition (without presuming libertarian control) of the believer and influenced implicitly by other factors, such as external stimuli, desires, bias, etc. The volition (i.e, the will) commits to certain actions regarding the diachronic belief, such as curating the evidence that the mind is exposed to and determining how to deliberate new evidence for or against the diachronic belief. A diachronic belief is an inaugurated belief subject to (in the sense of being influenced by, but not dependent on) the active response of the volition.
This distinction between inaugural belief and diachronic belief is very important as we read the Bible. The faith of justification by faith is an inaugural belief. It is being persuaded by the evidence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. The Apostle Paul refers to it as recognizing the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16-17, 2 Corinthians 4:3-6). It is a passive response. However, from that point onward, as an inaugurated or diachronic belief, it is subject to the active response of the volition. James says that diachronic faith apart from works is dead (i.e., idle or useless) by itself (James 2:17, 20). This is because inaugural belief and diachronic belief are the same thing, merely the involuntary doxastic attitude of being persuaded by the evidence for a thing, with the exception that diachronic belief is maintained by the volition. This means that faith, whether inaugural or diachronic, is incapable of producing works. This is why James continues by saying that diachronic faith needs to be combined with works and that works perfect diachronic faith (James 2:22). Like a gentle wind blowing on a dim flame, thus works are able to strengthen faith, or as James would put it, "the spirit of works needs to empower the body of faith" (James 2:26). Now, this concept of works strengthening diachronic faith is totally consistent with the nature of diachronic faith, since diachronic faith is, in fact, maintained by the work of the volition. If this is understood, it becomes immediately obvious why James could talk about faith and works the way he did. James was not talking about some Hegelian dialectic in which so-called "true faith" is the synthesis of some "bare faith" and works, nor was he talking about some religious faith that produces works. Once faith is seen as an involuntary doxastic attitude of belief that, once inaugurated, can be strengthened or weakened by the active response of the will, influenced by other factors (such as the intentional state of desire), used as a variable in creating the conditions necessary to perform works, and combined with works, all talk about "true faith" and religious faith must stop. People who refuse to repudiate their "true faith" and religious faith are simply practicing a form of works salvation, regardless of how loudly they may shout "faith alone."