| 释义 |
▪ I. faith, n.|feɪθ|
Forms: 3 feið, 3–4 feiþ, (4 feiȝþ), 3–6 feith(e, 4–5 feyth(e, 4 faiþ(e, 4–6 fayth(e, (5 fath, feth), 5–6 faithe, 4– faith. See also fay n.1
[a. OF. feid, feit (pronounced feið, ? feiþ: see Suchier in Gröber's Grundriss Rom. Phil. I. 586), = Pr. fe (nom. fes), Sp., Pg. fé, It. fede:—L. fidem, f. root of fīd-ĕre to trust. The later OF. form fei (whence mod.F. foi) was also adopted in ME., and survived in certain phrases down to 16th c.: see fay n.1
The L. fides, like its etymological cognate Gr. πίστις, which it renders in the N.T., had the following principal senses: 1. Belief, trust. 2. That which produces belief, evidence, token, pledge, engagement. 3. Trust in its objective aspect, troth; observance of trust, fidelity.]
I. Belief, trust, confidence.
1. a. Confidence, reliance, trust (in the ability, goodness, etc., of a person; in the efficacy or worth of a thing; or in the truth of a statement or doctrine). Const. in, † of. In early use, only with reference to religious objects; this is still the prevalent application, and often colours the wider use.
a1300Cursor M. 3405 (Cott.) In drightin was his fayth ai fest. c1340Ibid. 2286 (Trin.) In maumetrie furst feiþ he [nembrot] fond. c1391Chaucer Astrol. ii. §4 Observauncez..& rytes of paiens, in which my spirit ne hath no feith. 1398Trevisa Barth De P.R. xv. lxxxvii (1495) 522 The Germans tornyd the Liuones..to the worshyp and fayth of one god. 1550Crowley Last Trump. 151 Se that thy fayth be pitched On thy Lord God. 1680Otway Orphan ii. vii, Attempt no farther to delude my Faith. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 235 Such an one has great faith in Ward's pills. 1821Chalmers Serm. I. i. 18 Faith in the constancy of this law. 1837J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 2) III. vi. 87 To have faith in God is to surrender oneself to God. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 168 Without faith in human virtue or in human attachment. 1855Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 442 There was the most intense faith in him..that Right was right.
b. Belief proceeding from reliance on testimony or authority.
1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 60 b, An historicall faithe. As I doe beleve that Willyam Conquerour was kyng of Englande. a1628Preston Breastpl. Faith (1630) 15 Faith is..assenting to Truthes for the Authority of the Speaker. 1725Watts Logic ii. ii. §9 When we derive the Evidence of any Proposition from the Testimony of others, it is called the Evidence of Faith. a1873Huxley in Hamerton Intell. Life viii. ii. (1873) 299 The absolute rejection of authority..the annihilation of the spirit of blind faith.
2. Phrases. to give faith: to yield belief to. to pin one's faith to or upon: to believe implicitly.
1430Paston Lett. No. 14 I. 30, I prey yow to gyve feith and credence touchant this matier. 1552Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 27 Fayth to be geven to the Word of God. 1556Aurelio & Isab. (1608) I vij, One oughte to geve more feithe unto the secrete consentment of the soule, than [etc.]. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxv. 140 Opinions..unto which they give so much faith, that nothing can be able to remove them from it. 1702Pope Dryope 69 If to the wretched any faith be giv'n. 1710Hearne Collect. 4 Mar., Some pin..their Faith on..Hoadly. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian vi, You believe..that I am willing to give faith to wonderful stories. 1812Shelley Propos. Association Prose Wks. I. 270 Well⁓meaning people, who pin their faith upon their grand⁓mother's apronstring. 1885London Society Apr. 357 The..practitioner of the old school..pins his faith to time⁓honoured methods.
3. Theol. in various specific applications.
a. Belief in the truths of religion; belief in the authenticity of divine revelation (whether viewed as contained in Holy Scripture or in the teaching of the Church), and acceptance of the revealed doctrines.
b. That kind of faith (distinctively called saving faith or justifying faith) by which, in the teaching of the N.T., a sinner is justified in the sight of God. This is very variously defined by theologians (see quots.), but there is general agreement in regarding it as a conviction practically operative on the character and will, and thus opposed to the mere intellectual assent to religious truth (sometimes called speculative faith).
c. The spiritual apprehension of divine truths, or of realities beyond the reach of sensible experience or logical proof. By Christian writers often identified with the preceding; but not exclusively confined to Christian use. Often viewed as the exercise of a special faculty in the soul of man, or as the result of supernatural illumination.
1382Wyclif Jas. ii. 17 Feith, if it haue not werkes, is deed in it silf. 1526Tindale Prol. Moses Wks. 7 Fayth, is the beleuyng of Gods promises, and a sure trust in the goodnes and truth of God, which fayth iustified Abrah. 1555Eden Decades Pref. to Rdr. (Arb.) 51 Abraham the father of fayth. 1581Marbeck Bk. of Notes 375 Faith..maketh God & man friends. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xlii. 271 Faith is a gift of God, which Man can neither give, nor take away. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iv. xviii, Faith..is the Assent to any Proposition..upon the Credit of the Proposer, as coming from God, in some extraordinary way of Communication. 1700Burkitt On N.T. John i. 12 Faith is..such an affiance in Christ..as is the parent and principle of obedience to him. 1744Swift Serm. Trinity 52 Faith is an entire Dependence upon the Truth, the Power, the Justice, and the mercy of God. 1781Cowper Expost. 111 Faith, the root whence only can arise The graces of a life that wins the skies. 1830Wordsw. Russian Fugitive ii. xi, That monumental grace Of Faith. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 415 The faith of which he speaks, is a real true confiding faith. 1869Goulburn Purs. Holiness iii. 21 Faith..the faculty by which we realize unseen things.
4. That which is or should be believed.
a. A system of religious belief, e.g. the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc., faith. Also, confession, rule of faith, for which see those words.
c1325Coer de L. 4062 He is at the Sarezynes faith. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 24 At haly kirkes fayth alle on were boþe. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xviii. 258 In a faith lyueþ þat folke, and in a false mene. c1400Mandeville (1839) iii. 18 Thei varien from oure Feithe. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 1 The cristen feythe is affermed. 1529More Dyaloge ii. Wks. 179/1 The churche..muste..haue all one fayth. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 24 They haue no law written and are of no faith. 1599Shakes. Much Ado i. i. 75 He weares his faith but as the fashion of his hat. 1611Bible Jude 3 Earnestly contend for the faith which was once deliuered vnto the Saints. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. viii. 21, I swear to thee by the faith of Pagan, that [etc.]. 1832W. Irving Alhambra I. 302 Are you willing to renounce the faith of your father? 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law xiii. 81 The child should be brought up in the religious faith of the father.
transf.1878Morley Byron Crit. Misc. 1st Ser. 224 It was perhaps the secret of the black transformation of the social faith of '89 into the worship of the Conqueror of '99.
b. the faith: the true religion; usually = the Christian faith. Also, without article in certain phrases, as contrary to faith, etc. of faith: part and parcel of the faith.
a1300Cursor M. 21013 (Cott.) Iacob þe mar..þe land o spaigne in fait he fest. c1340Ibid. 8990 (Fairf.) Þat caytef kinde..made him [salamon] in þe faiþ ful fals. a1375Joseph Arim. 11 Joseph..hedde I-turned to þe feyþ, fifti with him-seluen. c1485Digby Myst. ii. 240 A very pynacle of the fayth. 1555Eden Decades Pref. to Rdr. (Arb.) 50 marg., The Indians subdued to the fayth. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 3 A manifest falling away from the Faith. 1635E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. iii. (1636) 108 The Gospel conteineth intirely the faith. 1844Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1845) II. App. 401 Matters contrary to faith. 1867Bp. Forbes Explan. 39 Art. i. (1881) 5 The uncompounded nature of God is of faith.
c. What is believed, or required to be believed, on a particular subject. † Also pl. points of faith, tenets.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 378 Freris perverten þo right feithe of þo sacrament of þo auter. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 1638 Prechynge..The faythes of holy chyrche. 1845Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. in Encycl. Metrop. II. 632/1 We assumed the common faith of our countrymen respecting the..discipline of the Jew to be true. 1883H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. 276 A repetition of the Hebrew poets' faith.
†5. act of (the) faith: = auto da fé. Obs.
1656Manasseh ben Israel Vind. Judæorum in Phenix (1708) II. 400 The Act of the Faith, which is ordinarily done at Toledo, was done at Madrid, Anno 1632. 1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4565/1 On the thirtieth of the last Month an Act of Faith was held in this City [Lisbon] by the Inquisition.
II. Inducement to belief or trust.
†6. Power to produce belief, credit, convincing authority. Obs.
a1638Mede Ep. to Estwick Wks. iv. 836 S. Jerom is a man of no faith with me. 1808W. Mitford Hist. Greece IV. xxxi. (app.) 124 It may not be unnecessary..towards establishing the faith of the foregoing..narrative.
†7. Attestation, confirmation, assurance. Obs.
1393Gower Conf. III. 326 To yive a more feith..In blacke clothes they hem cloth. 1556Aurelio & Isab. (1608) F vj, The manney folde paines..makethe cleare faithe inoughe, that the greter follie is yowres. 1654Jer. Taylor Real Pres. xii. 27 An excellent MS. that makes faith in this particular. 1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 375 Relying on the Faith of Books.
†8.
a. Assurance given, formal declaration, pledge, promise. In phrases, to do faith, make faith (= L. fidem facere): to affirm, promise, give surety. to give (one's) faith (= L. fidem dare): to give assurance, pledge one's word. on his faith: on parole. Obs.
1382Wyclif Prov. xi. 15 He shal be tormetid with euel that doth feith [Vulg. fidem facit] for a stranger. c1400Destr. Troy 548 Þat ȝe me faith make, In dede for to do as I desyre wille. c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 9969 He toke feith of free and bond. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 223/1 Alle made fayth to other that [etc.]. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxi. 254 The kyng of England..trusted them on theyr faithes. 1548Hall Chron. 184 b, Emongest men of warre, faith or othe, syldome is perfourmed. 1558Bp. Watson Sev. Sacram. xxviii. 178 Jane, here I geue to thee my faythe and truthe..I wyll marrye thee. 1581Marbeck Bk. of Notes 807 Faith was made to them, that..they should come safe. 1641Baker Chron. (1679) 32/2 King William..upon faith given returns to London. 1685H. Consett Prac. Spir. Courts 265 If the Plaintiff doth personally make Faith, that [etc.].
b. on the faith of: in reliance on the security of.
1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. 344 [They] traded there on the faith of treaties. 1839Thirlwall Greece VII. lvii. 204 On the faith of his oath they had placed themselves in his power. 1866Crump Banking i. 28 The bank-note is circulated entirely upon the faith of the issuing bank. 1890Sir R. Romer in Law Times' Rep. LXIII. 685/2 The plaintiff applied for shares..on the faith of the prospectus.
III. The obligation imposed by a trust.
9. a. The duty of fulfilling one's trust; allegiance owed to a superior, fealty; the obligation of a promise or engagement.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 2187 Bi ðe feið ic oȝ to king pharaon. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 333 Þe best were þan in his feith. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 39 The feyth þat þei owen to God. 14..Customs of Malton in Surtees Misc. (1890) 63 He schall never clame no thyng..bott alonly hys faythe for hys.. lande. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxv. 538 Vpon the feyth that ye owe to me. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 78 Untill he were returned unto his fayth. 1598W. Phillips Linschoten in Arb. Garner III. 15 The Lords..took their oaths of faith and allegiance unto Don Philip. 1671Milton Samson 987 Who to save Her countrey from a fierce destroyer, chose Above the faith of wedlock-bands. 1863M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer's Greece I. vii. 245 To give their faith and obedience to the French monarch.
b. In many phrases, in which the sense approaches that of 8: to engage, pledge, plight (one's) faith; † to swear, perjure one's faith; to keep († hold), break, violate (one's) faith; so breach of faith.
c1320Seuyn Sag. (W.) 3274 For glotonye he brake his fayth. c1374Chaucer Former Age 48 Everych of hem his feith to oother kepte. c1400Mandeville (1839) xii. 138 Non of hem holdethe Feythe to another. 1483Caxton Cato B j, A man ought..to kepe feyth unto his frendes. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 283 Berowne hath plighted faith to me. c1592Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. ii. Faith is not to be held with heretics. 1665Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 339 No Faith is to be held with such as differ from them. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. viii. 25, I my Nisa's perjur'd Faith deplore. 1700― Palamon & Arcite 78 For you alone, I broke my Faith with injur'd Palamon. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. II. 129 The two princes mutually engaged their faith never to [etc.]. 1874Stubbs Const. Hist. (1875) II. xv. 296 He led the way and kept faith.
10. The quality of fulfilling one's trust; faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty. † to bear faith: to be loyal to.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 2678 Ðat him sal feið wurðful ben boren. a1300Cursor M. 6980 (Cott.) Þair faith lasted littel space, þai..lefte þe lagh of hei drightin. c1391Chaucer Astrol. Prol. 2 Alle that him feyth bereth & obeieth. 1393Gower Conf. III. 70 Thus he..feigneth under guile feith. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 127 Bearing the badge of faith to proue them true. 1593― 2 Hen VI, v. i, 166 Oh where is Faith? Oh, where is Loyalty? 1649Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 40 Persons of great faith to his Majesty's cause. 1741Middleton Cicero I. vi. 492 Illustrious for victory and faith. 1810T. Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 137 Confidence..in our faith and probity. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 166 Indignant at his want of faith.
11. good faith, bad faith: = L. bona, mala fides, in which the primary notion seems to have been the objective aspect of confidence well or ill bestowed. The Eng. uses closely follow those of L.
a. good faith: fidelity, loyalty (= sense 10); esp. honesty of intention in entering into engagements, sincerity in professions, bona fides.
c1340Cursor M. 6778 (Fairf.) To vse gode faiþ god vs bede. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxv. 230 By good feyth and trust. 1824Mackintosh Sp. Ho. Com. 15 June Wks. 1846 III. 464 They have been able to observe good faith with their creditors. 1871Blackie Four Phases i. 37 Among what..men..are fellowship and good faith possible? 1885Sir J. Hannen in Law Reports 15 Q. Bench Div. 139 It is admitted that the magistrates..acted in good faith.
b. bad faith: faithlessness, treachery; intent to deceive. Punic (rarely Carthaginian) faith (= L. fides Punica): faithlessness.
1631Massinger Believe as you List ii. ii, The Punicque faith is branded by Our enemies. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xlvi. 179 The bad faith of the Chineses. 1711Steele Spect. No. 174 ⁋2 Carthaginian Faith was a proverbial Phrase to intimate Breach of Leagues. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 318 French faith became the same among us, as Punic faith had been among the Romans.
12. In asseverative phrases.
a. in (good) faith: in truth, really, ‘sooth to say’.
c1350Will. Palerne 858 And fayn sche wold þan is feiþ haue fold him in hire armes. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 91 He is to wys in feith, as I bileeue. 1393Gower Conf. III. 25 In good feith to telle soth I trowe..She wolde nought her eye swerve. c1400Destr. Troy 735 Þou failes not in faith of a fowle end. 1513More Rich. III in Grafton Chron. II. 769 In good fayth..I would not be he that [etc.]. 1599Minsheu Dial. Sp. & Eng. (1623) 28 In faith this mule hath taken degree in Zalamanca. 1755Smollett Quix. (1803) 107 In good faith, we have no poor kindred now.
b. in faith, i' faith, faith, good faith: used interjectionally.
c1420Sir Amadace (Camd.) xii, Nedelonges most I sitte him by. Hi-fath, ther wille him non mon butte I. 1513More Rich. III in Grafton Chron. I. 781 In faith man..I was never so sory. c1530Redforde Play Wit & Sc. (1848) 11 Do ye fle, ifayth? 1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 48 Faith sir..tis but as the wiser sort doe hold opinion. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, ii. iv. 16 Good faith, good faith, the saying did not hold. 1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. v. iii, Y'faith, we're well. 1709Tatler No. 110 ⁋4 Faith Isaac..thou art a very unaccountable old Fellow. 1777Sheridan Sch. Scand. iii. i, Speak to me thus, and i'faith there's nothing I could refuse you. 1795Burns For a' That iv, Gude faith, he mauna fa' that. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge v, I'd rather be in old John's chimney-corner, faith. 1849James Woodman v, Good faith, he has no choice. 1855Browning Bp. Blougram's Apol., Cool i'faith! We ought to have our Abbey back you see.
c. In quasi-oaths. by or on my, thy, etc., faith, by the faith of (my body, love, etc.). my faith (= Fr. ma foi!).
c1350Will. Palerne 275 Now telle me, felawe, be þi feiȝþ..sei þou euer þemperour? c1420Sir Amadace (Camd.) lxi, But, be my faythe, with-outun stryue. c1477Caxton Jason 36 b, By your faith seme ye good that I ought to go after him. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn xxiii. 75 On my feyth ye be well the man. 1588Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 5 By my faith, by my faith..this geare goeth hard with vs. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 450 By the faith of my loue, I will. 1601― All's Well ii. i. 84 Now by my faith and honour. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. vii. iv, Strange, by my faith! the Hermit said. 1871Browning Pr. Hohenst. 1421 Weapons outflourished in the wind, my faith!
¶13. An alleged designation for a company of merchants.
1486Bk. St. Alban's F vij a, A faith of Marchandis.
IV.
14. Comb. Chiefly objective, as faith-breach, faith-breaker, faith-philosophy, faith-state, faith-stretcher, faith-value; faith-definition, faith-reformation, faith-tradition; faith-breaking, faith-keeping n. and adj.; faith-confirming, faith-infringing, faith-shaking, faith-sown, faith-starved, faith-straining, † faith-workful adjs.; faith-wise adv.; faith-cure, a cure wrought by means of ‘the prayer of faith’ (Jas. v. 15); whence faith-curer, -curist, one who believes in or practises faith-cure; faith-fire, fig. the flame of faith; faith-healer = faith-curer; faith-healing, healing by faith-cure; faith-ladder (see quot. a 1910); faith-mark, one of the leading tenets of religion; faith-press, the Inquisition.
1605Shakes. Macb. v. ii. 18 Now minutely Reuolts vpbraid his *Faith-breach.
c1440Promp. Parv. 153 *Feythe breke(r), fidifragus. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. xx. (1634) 736 They are false Faith-breakers in their office. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. II Wks. (1711) 30 They declare the king, and those that abode with him, faith-breakers. 1852C. M. Yonge Cameos II. xxi. 236 He was..no faith-breaker.
1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis iii. vii. 174 The very instant of her *faith-breaking. 1654Gayton Pleas. Notes iii. viii. 123 The..covetous Faith-breaking Senate.
1645Quarles Sol. Recant. 56 *Faith-confirming Charity.
1885Century Mag. XXXI. 274 A *faith-cure is a cure wrought by God in answer to prayer.
1888Pop. Sc. Monthly XXXII. 507 The miracles claimed by the *faith-curers.
1888N.Y. Herald 29 July 16/6 Great preparations are being made by the *Faith-Curists..for their annual conference.
1665J. Sergeant Sure-footing in Chr. 209 But he will finde no such fopperies in *Faith-definitions made by the Catholick Church.
1890McCave & Breen Alcester Lect. 40 Neighbouring bishops were expected to keep the *faith-fire ablaze along their frontiers.
1885Century Mag. XXXI. 276 We claim that all *faith-healers should report as do our hospitals.
1885G. Allen in Longm. Mag. VII. 85 Persons who believe in *faith-healing.
1621R. Brathwait Natures Embassie (1877) 24 A *faith-infringing Polymnestor.
1605Verstegan Dec. Intell. viii. 253 This was..giuen..in recomendation of loyaltie or *faith-keeping. 1648Fairfax, etc. Remonstrance 30 For point of Faith-keeping..witnesse his Accords with the Scottish Nation. a1849J. C. Mangan Poems (1859) 383 The faith-keeping Prince of the Scotts.
1909W. James Pluralistic Universe viii. 328 In some of my lectures at Harvard I have spoken of what I call the ‘*faith-ladder’. a1910― Some Probl. Philos. (1911) App. 224 The following steps may be called the ‘faith ladder’: 1. There is nothing absurd in a certain view of the world being true, nothing self-contradictory; 2. It might have been true under certain conditions; 3. It may be true, even now; 4. It is fit to be true; 5. It ought to be true; 6. It must be true; 7. It shall be true, at any rate true for me. Obviously this is no intellectual chain of inferences, like the sorites of the text-books.
1822Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 8/2 When once the ancient *faith⁓marks of the Church are lost sight of.
1846J. D. Morell Hist. View Philos. II. vii. 311 Haumann had..attempted to found a system of *faith-philosophy..but it was Jacobi who first brought the faith-philosophy into repute.
1624T. Scott Lawfuln. Netherlandish War 14 That most intolerable..thraldome of the Inquisition, or *Faith-presse.
1665J. Sergeant Sure-footing in Chr. 233 The..most refin'd quintessence of all *Faith-Reformation.
1896Westm. Gaz. 21 Dec. 2/3 Could anything be more *faith-shaking than this halt of several weeks in the negotiations?
1844J. G. Whittier Wks. (1898) 197/2 *Faith-sown seeds Which ripen in the soil of love.
1946R. Campbell Talking Bronco 69 Where *faith-starved multitudes may quarry As in a mountain, and be fed.
1896Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. Apr. 315 The state of confidence, trust,..which we have found..in every conversion considered is the *Faith-state. 1924W. B. Selbie Psychol. Relig. 158 To induce what psychologists call the faith state may be a very great and wonderful thing if the object of faith is worthy, i.e. God or Christ.
1897‘Mark Twain’ Following Equator 172 Here are some *faith-straining figures.
1676Marvell Gen. Councils Wks. 1875 IV. 126 Those *faith-stretchers..that put mens consciences upon the torture.
1665J. Sergeant Sure-footing in Chr. 43 A compleat and proper notion of *Faith-Tradition.
1903G. Tyrrell Lex Orandi xxiii. 191 Mistakings of *faith-values for fact-values are to be ascribed to that almost ineradicable materialism of the human mind which makes us view the visible world as the only solid reality.
1869W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth (1875) 72 Salvation came intellect-wise, and not *faith-wise.
1604Broughton Corrupt. Handl. Relig. (1605) 93 Troup⁓full Gad was grauen in this *faithworkfull stone.
▸ faith-based adj. chiefly U.S. (a) based on religious faith; (b) designating or relating to a charitable institution, social program, etc., created or managed by a religious organization.
1874J. H. Vosburg Ralph Elmwood 71 All God's gifts are free, and hope is real, *Faith-based, to those who will not think, but feel. 1972Amer. Lit. 44 395 Ahab equates fear with orthodox belief, the faith-based laws of which he defies. 1986Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 7 Jan. b3/2 Witness for Peace is a grassroots, non-violent, faith-based movement committed to changing U.S. policy toward Nicaragua. 1998Newsweek 1 June 26/2 Congress..has swung behind a series of policy changes..which allow federal, state and local funds to flow to faith-based anti-poverty groups. 2001Newsday 1 Feb. a37 George W. Bush's 'faith-based' initiative could be the best, or the worst, new idea of his presidency. The idea is to put God to work solving social problems.
▸ act of faith n. an action demonstrating (religious) faith; cf. sense 5.
1582Bible (Rheims) Rom. iii. 22 (margin) To beleeue in him, here compriseth not only the act of faith, but of hope & charitie, as the Apostle explicateth him self. a1616R. Field Of Church Fiue Bks. (1628) iii. App. 211 If the priest therefore not onely outwardly, but inwardly also, by the acte of faith, present the sufferings of Christ in the body of his flesh to God,..hee bringeth much good vpon himselfe. 1705J. Collier Ess. Moral Subj. iii. 16 'Twas a noble Act of faith to throw themselves upon Providence. 1802Ann. Reg. 1801 (Otridge) i. 11 Money..has now..become..a metaphysical thing: and the Act of Faith, in which it consists, is expressed with great propriety on the thinnest paper. 1895Athenæum 23 Feb. 242/3 Pre-suppositions, axioms, postulates.., are discovered by analysis to be a necessary ingredient of knowledge; and their acceptance is an act of faith, which is justified by its results. 1939V. A. Demant Relig. Prospect vii. 186 The ‘existential theology’ declares that human life can gain religious meaning only by a bare act of faith. 2000J. Caughie Television Drama ix. 232 Critique is replaced by commentary, and by an act of faith in the capacity of consumers to do surprising and amazing things with what they daily receive.
▸ faith school n. Brit. a school attended by students belonging to a particular faith.
1990Independent 25 Mar. (Sunday Rev.) 44/1 They have recently joined forces with the Muslims to demand government funding for separate *faith schools against the prevailing trend of multi-faith education. 2002New Internationalist May 27/2 In Britain they have also succeeded in obtaining state funding for faith schools—putting them on a par with children from Christian and Jewish backgrounds.
▪ II. † faith, v. Obs.
[f. prec. n.]
a. intr. To place or rest one's faith on.
b. trans. To provide with a creed or standard of faith.
c. To utter upon one's word of honour.
d. To give credit to, believe, trust.
1430Lydg. Chron. Troy i. vi, By whose example women may well lere How they shuld faith or trusten on any man. 1547Hooper Declar. Christ v, These decrees that papistry of late days faithed the church withal. 1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices i. (1558) 10 It is called faithfulnes because it is fulfilled which was faithed [quia fiat quod dictum est]. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 221 He shall [not] have cause..to faith the other [opinion] unadvisedly. 1605Shakes. Lear ii. i. 72 Would the reposal of my trust..in thee Make thy words faith'd? |