Is faith just a collection of truths to be believed?
Faith involves both the ‘fides qua creditur’ (the faith with which one believes) and the ‘fides quae creditur’ (the faith which one believes, the content of the faith). There is a profound unity between the act by which we believe and the content to which we give our assent.
Saint Luke recounts that, Paul went on the Sabbath to proclaim the Gospel to some women; among them was Lydia and “the Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul” (Acts 16:14). Thus, knowing the content to be believed is not sufficient unless the heart, the authentic sacred space within the person, is opened by grace that allows the eyes to see below the surface and to understand that what has been proclaimed is the word of God.
Confessing with the lips implies public testimony and commitment. A Christian may never think of belief as a private act. Faith is choosing to stand with the Lord so as to live with him. This “standing with him” points towards an understanding of the reasons for believing. Faith, precisely because it is a free act, also demands social responsibility for what one believes.
The Church on the day of Pentecost, strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit, demonstrates this public dimension of believing and proclaiming one’s faith fearlessly to every person.
Profession of faith is an act both personal and communitarian. It is the Church that primarily believes. In the faith of the Christian community, each individual receives baptism.
“I believe” is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer. “We believe” is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. And the Church, our mother, teaches us to say both “I believe” and “we believe.”
Evidently, knowledge of the content of faith is essential for giving one’s own assent, that is to say for adhering fully with intellect and will to what the Church proposes. Knowledge of faith opens a door into the fullness of the saving mystery revealed by God. The giving of assent implies that, when we believe, we freely accept the whole mystery of faith, because the guarantor of its truth is God who reveals himself and allows us to know his mystery of love.
Yet many are still sincerely searching for the ultimate meaning and definitive truth of their lives and of the world. This search is an authentic “preamble” to the faith, because it guides people onto the path that leads to the mystery of God. Human reason, in fact, bears within itself a demand for “what is perennially valid and lasting.” This demand constitutes a permanent summons, indelibly written into the human heart, to set out to find the One whom we would not be seeking had he not already set out to meet us. To this encounter, faith invites us and it opens us in fullness.
Excerpts from Benedict XVI, Porta Fidei.
Pic: St Paul baptizes Lydia, the purple cloth dealer.
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