Example: Believing in Jesus, means...
If you use initial premises that include the English word "believe",
you need to use a definition that matches the language of the New Testament.
(You need to de-sloganize your language....)
One of the main words in the Greek New Testament indicating belief, is pisteuw.
(BDAG 816-818)
Different meanings of pisteuw are:
1 "to consider something to be true and therefore worthy of one's trust, believe"
2 "to entrust oneself to an entity in complete confidence, believe (in), trust"
3 "to entrust (such as something to someone)"
4 "to be confident about"
5 "think/consider possible"
Note that these historical usages are quite broad, and go far beyond the
religious slang of "believing in Jesus".
Specific examples of these meanings are (a sample)
(1)
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 1:41–45.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 13:7.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Heb 11:6.
(2)
34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ac 16:34.
8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Tt 3:8.
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 8:31–32.
16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 3:16.
(3)
10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 16:10–11.
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 3:1–3.
7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ga 2:7.
(4)
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 14:2.
(5)
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 14:2.
18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 9:18.
26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ac 9:26.
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Note that a single use in the New Testament, may have the sense of more than one of these
meanings.
NOTE that if you are going to use an English phrase such as "believe in Jesus"
in the initial premises of a proof/argument, you REALLY should replace that
phrase with a more precise definition (one of the 5, above).
If you do not, then you argument/proof will be ambiguous, as to what you
are trying to assert (even though, in your denomination, the phrase "believe
in Jesus" may have a very unique meaning).
In Christian apologetics, we should ground our definitions in the original
language of the Bible, and what it meant, when the biblical authors
wrote.
If we use English denominational slang, such as "believe in Jesus",
we cut ourselves off from this grounding in the language of the New
Testament (and the Old Testament). And, this will result in proofs that
are Unsound, as they are not using biblical definitions.
(Sorry for any mangling by the FB word corrector.)