believe, beleve, bileve, by leve, byleyve, bylyve

t. & i. [A.S. gelefan, gelyfan = to believe. Compare also believed-bell Dut. gelooven ; Ger. glauben; M. H. Ger. glou- | be-lie'v-ing-ly, adv . [Eng. believing ; -ly.] ben, gelouben; O. H. Ger. gala up jan ; O.S. gilobian; Goth. galanbjan , laubjan . Compare also A.S. laef = permi ion.] A. Trans.: To accept as true, not on one's personal knowledge, but on the testimony of others, or on reasonings which appear more or le conclusive. It is used when the a ent to the statement or proposition is of a very firm character, and also when it is weak and wavering. (It may be followed by the objective of the person whose word is accepted as true, or by the objective of the statement made.) "That Ca io loves her, I do well believe it." -Shakesp.: Othello, ii. L "Ten you sand things there are, which we believe merely upon the authority or credit of those who have spoken or written of them."- Watts : Logic. B. Intransitive: I. Ordinary Language: 1. Gen.: To accept a statement or proposition as true on the evidence afforded by the testimony of another person, or on reasonings of one's own. 2. Specially : (a) Colloquial : To accept with some degree of doubt. (b) To exercise the grace of Christian faith. [See II.] II. Theology: 1. To a ent to the claim which Jesus Christ put forth to be the Me iah, the Son of God, and the Saviour, and place confidence in the efficacy of his sacrifice for sin. In Rom. x. 10 this belief is attributed to the heart. The opposition in that verse is not, however, so much between the heart and the intellect as between what is secret and personal and what is openly profe ed by the lips. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousne ;..."- Rom . x. 10. It is followed (a) by in or on placed before the person or Being who is the object of faith. xiv. 1. ye believe in God, believe also in me."-John "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."- Acts xvi. 31. Or (6) by the clause of a sentence expre ive of the tenet or proposition to which one publicly or tacitly a ents. "And Philip said, If thou be lievest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."- Acts viii. 37. 2. To expre such faith by the public enunciation of a creed. Thus the "Apostles' Creed, to be sung or said by the minister and the people," in the Liturgic worship of the Church of England, commences thus:-" I believe in God, the Father Almighty,..."