belief, beleve, bileve, byleve, by lyve

[A.S. geleafa = consent, a ent, confidence, belief, faith; leaf a = belief (compare also geleaf leaf, leave, license, permi ion); Dut. geloof = faith, creed, belief, credit, trust; Ger. glaube, glauben = faith, good faith.] [BELIEVE.] IMG:content-1210.png:[blocks in formation] " Belief is great, life-giving."-Carlyle: Heroes and Hero-worship, Lect. ii. 2. Specially : (a) Religious belief, a creed, the system of doctrines held by the profe ors of any faith; yet more specially, Christianity. "In the heat of general persecution, whereunto Christian belief was subject upon the first promulga. tion, it much confirined the weaker minds, when relation was made how God had been glorified through the sufferings of martyrs."-Hooker. (b) The statement of such system of doctrine. (Used specially of the Apostles' Creed.) 3. Christian Theol. The implicit acceptance, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, of every statement which there is reason to believe comes from God. Spec ., the acceptance of all that He has revealed regarding the divinity and sonship of Jesus Christ, His mi ion to the earth, His life, His death, His resurrection and ascension. For this faith is used more frequently than belief . [FAITH.] "Faith is a firm belief of the whole word of God, of his gospel, commands, threats, and promises."--Wake. Crabb thus distinguishes between the terms belief , credit, trust, and faith :-"Belief is generic, the others are specific terms; we believe when we credit and trust , but not always vice vers a. Belief rests on no particular person or thing; but credit and trust rest on the authority of one or more individuals. Everything is the subject of belief which produces one's a ent: the events of human life are credited upon the authority of the narrator; the words, promises, or the integrity of individuals are trusted ; the power of persons and the virtue of things are objects of faith . Belief and credit are particular actions or sentiments: trust and faith are permanent dispositions of the mind. Things are entitled to our belief , persons to our credit ; but people repose trust or have faith in others. "Belief, trust, and faith have a religious application, which credit has not. Belief is simply an act of the understanding; trust and faith are active moving principles of the mind in which the heart is concerned. Belief does not extend beyond an a ent of the mind to any given proposition; trust and faith are lively sentiments which impel to action. Belief is to trust and faith as cause to effect: there may be belief without either trust or faith ; but there can be no trust or faith without belief. We believe that there is a God, who is the creator and preserver of all His creatures; we therefore trust in Him for His protection of ourselves. We believe that Jesus Christ died for the sins of men; we have therefore faith in His redeeming grace to save us from our sins." (Crabb: Eng. Synon.) Profe or Bain considers that belief largely depends upon the will. He says, "It will be readily admitted that the state of mind called belief is, in many cases, a concomitant of our activity. But I mean to go farther than this, and to affirm that belief has no meaning, except in reference to our actions; the e ence or import of it is such as to place it under the region of the will. We shall soon see that an intellectual notion or conception is likewise indispensable to the act of believing ; but no mere conception that does not directly or indirectly implicate our voluntary exertions, can ever amount to the state in question." (Bain: The Emotions and the Will , chap. "Belief," p. 524.)