Two Main Expressions of Faith
Mark 10:46-52
Illustration
by Christopher D. Marshall

In Mark's story it is possible to distinguish two main expressions or applications of faith, which we may call "kerygmatic faith" and "Petitionary faith."

(a) Kerygmatic faith denotes the believing acceptance of Jesus' proclamation of the dawning kingdom, a response entailing ethical conversion and a commitment of reliant trust upon Jesus as the bearer of the Kingdom. (1:15)

(b) Petitionary faith denotes the concrete act of believing trust required of those who seek the operation of kingdom power.

The very fact that Mark uses the response of Bartimaeus to illustrate simultaneously petitionary faith and kerygmatic faith (10:46-52) is clear evidence that he conceives of no fundamental structural difference between both expressions of "pistis."

Cambridge University Press, pp. 228-230., Faith as a Theme in Mark's Narrative, by Christopher D. Marshall