Roman Faith and Christian Faith

The early Christian world was awash with the language of 'belief' ( pistis in Greek, fides in Latin). But what does it really mean to 'believe'? Today, we often use the word refer to an assent to a set of propositions: someone might believe that Jesus rose from the dead, or that he was born of a virgin. But is this what the language of belief meant to the early Christians, within the wider Roman world? To unpack the lexis of 'belief', Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Teresa Morgan , McDonald Agape Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Yale University. Teresa is the author of Roman Faith and Christian Faith: Pistis and Fides in the Early Roman Empire and Early Churches (OUP, 2015), which suggests that belief is a more relational term than we tend to assume. It refers to a 'loyalty' and 'allegiance', rooted in social practices of trust. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club , our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription . DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called " The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography ." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson.