The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (758 page)

 
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Faith
.

The disposition of believers toward commitment and toward acceptance of religious claims. It has a distinct importance in Christianity because of
Paul's
insistence on
justification
by faith alone (Romans 4. 5, 9. 30; Galatians 3. 2), and his inclusion of faith in the three paramount virtues (along with hope and love, 1 Corinthians 13. 13). In this sense, faith can only be received from God as a gift of
grace
, and becomes the means through which belief is formed (
fides qua creditur
, ‘faith by which it is believed’). But faith also becomes ‘the Faith’, the gradual accumulation through time of that which is believed by Christians, faith as
assensus
, assent (
fides quae creditur
, ‘faith which is believed’).
For faith in Buddhism, see
RADDH
; in Islam, see
M
N
.

 
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Fa-ju
:

see
SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN SCHOOLS
.

 
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Fa-jung
(Jap.,
H
y
)
,

594–657,
Ch'an Buddhist master, who founded the Gozu (‘Oxhead’) school, which is Ch'an/Zen related, but is not reckoned as belonging to the Five Houses/Seven Schools (
goke-shichish
) of the mainstream tradition. The Oxhead school appears to have been eclectic, drawing on what it regarded as wisdom in other traditions.