The word is mentioned together with such other personifications as Elpis (Hope), sophrosyne (Prudence), and the Charites, who were all associated with honesty and harmony among people.
The first mode is the "subject matter capable of inducing a state of mind within the audience.
[6] Whereas, the Greeks took the notion of pistis as persuasive discourse that was elliptical and concentrated on the "affect and effect rather than on the representation of the truth".
[7] The evolution of pistis in Christianity as a persuasive rhetorical technique starkly contrasts with its meaning used by the Greeks.
[6] More recent scholarship has argued for a more robust understanding of pistis that moved beyond a concept of "belief".