When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. (Mark 16:11)
The Word: Disbelieve
My word study last week took me on a trail of the opposite of believe that I couldn’t help but dig into further to share with you. We’re actually going to cover three different Ancient Greek words that are translated as disbelieve or unbelief.
In the New Testament Greek (KJV), the phrase “not believe” or disbelieve is translated from 4 different Ancient Greek words approximately 114 times. We also see these words translated as disobedient, unbelief, or untrustworthy.
Strong’s G569 | apisteō (ap-is-teh'-o)
to have no belief, believe not
“had full opportunity to believe and rejected it”
to be unfaithful, to betray a trust
In the example of Mark 16:11 above, it can be understood as the disciples “refused to believe”—specifically, they refused to believe Mary, Mary, and Simone’s testimony that they went to the tomb and the angel told them that Jesus had risen.
Just as belief is an active choice, so is disbelief.
Strong’s G570 | apistia (ap-is-tee'-ah)
want of faith, weakness of faith
disbelief, little faith, faithless
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. (Mark 16:14)
The implication of these definitions so far is that this idea of “disbelief” is those who have been presented with the gospel, given ample opportunity to come to faith, and rejected it. This draws a helpful line for us as many consider the theology of what happens to those who never had a chance to hear about God before they passed away. While no one can answer that fully, this gives me hope that God always seeks to give people an opportunity to believe.
Disobedience is Disbelief
Strong’s G544 | apeitheō (ap-i-theh'-o)
not allow one’s self to be persuaded
to willfully disbelieve
to disobey, obey not
This word is striking to me because it’s translated as “disbelieve” or “believe not” 9 times while being translated as “disobedient” or “obey not” 7 times.
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient (G544)? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief (G570). (Hebrews 3:18-19)
Strong’s G543 | apeitheia (ap-i'-thi-ah)
unbelief, disobedient
obstinate opposition to the divine will
This word is translated as unbelief 4 times and disobedient 3 times
Just as we discovered that belief is an active choice of trusting in God through how you make decisions, so disbelief is tied to the reality of disobedience.
If you are walking in opposition to the life God has called you to, your belief in God’s very existence and goodness is wavering at best, and I mean that in the physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental sense, not just vocational calling.
Before I get further into this idea of the disciples’ disbelief, I want to touch on one common thought here. There is a difference between doubt and disbelief. While they can be easily entangled, none of the original language for disbelief relates to the original words that are translated as doubt.
Doubt may be a precursor to disbelief, but it isn’t definitive. Doubt questions and probes (maybe sometimes disrespectfully), but it leaves space for belief. As we see through these definitions, disbelief is used to communicate a firm decision of faithlessness.
In the passages I shared above from Mark’s gospel, Jesus likened the disciples’ disbelief of his resurrection to a hardness of the heart (see Mark 16:14 above). Their stubbornness and callous hearts caused them to resist believing that what Jesus promised would actually come true.
But why might their hearts have been hardened in this moment?
While Jesus reproached them for their unbelief, he did so particularly pertaining to their resistance to their trusted friends’ testimonies, not necessarily reproaching them for disbelieving in Him.
It’s reasonable to consider that the disciples’ grief is what hardened their hearts and initially caused their unbelief. It was ultimately Jesus’ presence that transformed their belief.
Another important note in how the original language is used is to see that this concept of “unbelief” is changeable. The disciples didn’t believe Jesus actually came back to life (no matter the opportunities they were given to believe). It’s the same words used in Hebrews 4:6 when the author discusses those who disbelieve not entering God’s rest.
Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who previously had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience (G543)… (Hebrews 4:6)
But God is God, and He will always leave space for people to accept the truth of who He is and come to believe—that’s why He showed up for the disciples, and their disbelief turned to belief.
God’s presence goes with us so when we show the love of God to others, they have a chance to turn from their unbelief—not because of doctrines we shove down their throats, but because of the presence of God and the reflection of Him in our lives.
The presence of God is what transforms disbelief into belief—not doctrine or condemnation.
The disciples knew all the doctrine, they literally walked with Jesus for years, but that alone didn’t do the transforming work of softening their hearts to believe in the truth of the resurrection. It was the love of Jesus showing up where they were that opened the door to belief again.
Scripture I’m Meditating On
For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Song On Repeat
Saying I Can’t Stop Thinking About
Instead of just another saying this week, I wanted to share a recent blog post. It’s a short response on how we ought to respond to our cultural moment of doubt, deconstruction, and disbelief that I was inspired to write after working on these last two weeks of word studies. I hope you find it challenging or helpful!
As always, you can comment or reply with a different word you would love to see dissected and you can refer back to the previous words here.
Thank you for sharing. This is helpful information.
"God’s presence goes with us so when we show the love of God to others, they have a chance to turn from their unbelief—not because of doctrines we shove down their throats, but because of the presence of God and the reflection of Him in our lives." Good word!