Tuesday 19th March 2024

Home » Our Catholic Faith » Currently Reading:

The Theological Virtues — Faith

December 8, 2018 Our Catholic Faith No Comments

By DON FIER

As we transitioned last week from a lengthy treatment of the four cardinal virtues (and a brief overview of sanctifying grace) to the theological virtues, emphasis was given to the fittingness of the term “theological” (as derived from the Greek Theos and logos), for these virtues have God Himself as their Author, motive, and direct object.
“Infused with sanctifying grace, they bestow on one the capacity to live in a relationship with the Trinity,” explains the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “They are the foundation and the energizing force of the Christian’s moral activity and they give life to the human virtues. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being” (n. 384).
Fr. Francis Spirago, in a comprehensive volume entitled The Catechism Explained (TCE) which was originally published in 1899, symbolizes the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity with a flame: “Faith is signified by the light it emits, hope by its upward tendency, and charity by the heat it radiates.”
He goes on to suggest that a tree is also emblematic of the theological virtues: “Faith is its root, hope its stem, charity its fruit.”
A third analogy Fr. Spirago proposes is the construction of a temple: “Faith lays the foundation of the temple of God, hope raises the walls, and charity crowns the structure” (TCE, p. 442).
Their underlying importance cannot be overstated, for as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) affirms, they make the faithful “capable of acting as [God’s] children and of meriting eternal life” (n. 1813).
The Catechism now examines each of the theological virtues, beginning with faith, which it defines as “the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself” (CCC, n. 1814).
Vatican Council I defined faith as “a supernatural virtue whereby, inspired and assisted by the grace of God, we believe that what he has revealed is true, not because the intrinsic truth of things is recognized by the natural light of reason, but because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither err nor deceive” (Denzinger, Enchiridion Symbolorum, n. 3008).
In Sacred Scripture, faith is defined as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1); its fundamental importance is emphasized a few verses later with the inspired declaration: “Without faith, it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb. 11:7).
It would be helpful to look at the nature of faith in general in order to understand supernatural faith. As defined by Dr. Lawrence Feingold, STD, a general definition for faith is “the assent of the mind to truths, not motivated by their intrinsic evidence, but motivated rather by a firm impulse of the will, based on the testimony of a witness” (Course Notes for Fundamental Moral Theology [FMT], December 2009, p. 136).
In other words, it is not possible to speak of faith unless two elements are present: (1) the object of faith must be unseen, and (2) there must be an act of belief by the mind characterized by firmness. How is this firmness of mind justified? It is motivated by the authority of a witness whom one perceives to be worthy of trust.
If we think about it, we make many acts of human faith each day of our lives. For example, it is an act of human faith to know the identity of one’s parents; it is by human faith in teachers and textbooks that we learn. Even though a person has not personally visited a city in a foreign land and viewed its attractions, he believes in their existence based on the testimony of a trusted friend who has been there.
Countless examples can be given of acts of human faith where one gives firm assent of mind to things because of the trustworthiness of those who communicate them — indeed, societies could not function without continuous acts of human faith by its members.
The theological virtue of faith is distinguished from human faith on account of the authority of the witness in whom we believe. Since divine Revelation rests directly on the omniscience of God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, the certainty of divine faith infinitely exceeds that of human faith. “The great difficulty, however, is to determine where God has spoken” (FMT, p. 137).
In other words, before a man believes, he must inquire whether what he is asked to believe was really revealed by God. This inquiry is a duty, for God exacts of us a reasonable service (cf. Romans 12:1), and warns us that “one who trusts others too quickly is lightminded” (Sirach 19:4) (cf. TCE, p. 88). This is precisely where “motives of credibility” enter into the picture, a topic that was examined earlier in this series (see volume 145, n. 31; August 2, 2012).
As a quick refresher, let us recall that the Catechism, in its exposition on “The Profession of Faith,” provides a brief sampling of the countless motives of credibility on which we can base our firm assent to all that God has revealed: “The miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church’s growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability” (CCC, n. 156).
Our Lord Himself appealed to the importance of the miracles He wrought: “Even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand” (John 10:38). Moreover, despite the fact the many tenets of faith are mysteries that surpass the finite ability of our intellect to understand (e.g., Most Holy Trinity, Incarnation, etc.), they are never contrary to reason. Through the motives of credibility, then, our Lord has powerfully demonstrated His veracity.
The Catechism refers to an insightful paragraph in the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican Council: “By faith ‘man freely commits his entire self to God’ (Dei Verbum [DV], n. 5)” (CCC, n. 1814).
To be precise, it is stated in the conciliar constitution that an “obedience of faith is to be given to God who reveals, an obedience by which man commits his whole self freely to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals, and freely assenting to the truth revealed by Him” (DV, n. 5).
How are we to understand this definition of faith?
The “obedience of faith” is an act of obedience by which one commits his whole self freely to God, with God’s aid. It is a gift of the mind to God, offering one’s full submission of intellect and will to God’s Revelation because He has revealed it. It is embracing the entire Deposit of Faith because of the authority of the Revealer, and not because it seems reasonable to us or because we prefer it. It wouldn’t be a gift of self if we retained the power of private judgment to pick and choose what appeals to us (i.e., cafeteria Catholicism). It is only a gift of self to God if we truly give ourselves in such a way that we believe whatever He says, whether it conforms to our understanding or not.
Man has free will — the act of faith or “obedience of faith” is thus a free interior act that we give whenever we see God has spoken. Although we’re free in the sense that we can say no, we are not morally free to say no to God who reveals because He is Truth itself.
Closely connected to “obedience of faith” is a principle formulated by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman in his great work An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, which he wrote during the process of his conversion to Catholicism. Developed at a time when religious liberalism was rampant (which Newman perceived as a great danger to the future of Christianity), his “dogmatic principle” taught that “the act of supernatural faith requires articles of faith or dogmas to which we are obliged to consent because of God’s authority” (FMT, p. 145).
The connection between the “dogmatic principle” and the “obedience of faith” is clear. It is a necessary foundation for divine faith and precludes our power of choice — private judgment (or cafeteria Catholicism) goes against the “dogmatic principle” and thus makes the “obedience of faith” impossible.
If one personally reserves the right of judgment about matters of faith, it is not submission of mind and will to God. It is by adherence to the “dogmatic principle” that one is enabled to realize true liberty, true freedom. Any departure from the Deposit of Faith as it has come down to us through the mediation of Christ, the apostles, and the Church founded on the apostles and the Apostolic Tradition is not true development but corruption of the faith.

Corruption, Not Development

In an outstanding online article in First Things magazine entitled “Development, or Corruption?” former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Gerhard Cardinal Mueller shows how Newman’s dogmatic principle, properly applied, “prevents us from speaking of a ‘paradigm shift’ regarding the form of the Church’s being and of her presence in the world” (see www.firstthings.com, February 20, 2018).
His Eminence states that “a paradigm shift, by which the Church takes on the criteria of modern society to be assimilated by it, constitutes not a development, but a corruption.”
True development in doctrine “means a growth in the understanding of spiritual and theological realities, guided by the Holy Spirit (cf. DV, n. 8).”

+ + +

(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is a Consecrated Marian Catechist.)

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

Walgreens and CVS Will Start Selling Abortion Pills That Kill Babies

The two largest pharmacies in America will start selling abortion pills this month that end the lives of unborn children by starting them to death. Walgreens and CVS will both sell the abortion pills despite the fact that they kill a developing human being and have killed at least dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more. They plan to initially roll out abortion drug sales in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California…Continue Reading

Cardinal Burke announces novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Raymond Cardinal Burke has announced the start of a global, nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, calling on Catholics to beseech Mary’s intercession on the Church and the world in the face of the “crises of our age.” In a new endeavour published online over the weekend, Cardinal Burke announced a novena beginning in March, and culminating on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

Texas attorney general targets Catholic nonprofit, alleges it facilitates illegal immigration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 21:15 pm Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down a Catholic nonprofit organization in El Paso based on allegations that the group may be facilitating illegal immigration, harboring immigrants who entered the country illegally, and engaging in human smuggling.  Paxton filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Annunciation House, which has operated in the state for nearly 50 years. The lawsuit asks the District Court of El Paso…Continue Reading

Irreverent funeral service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for trans activist sparks outcry

A raucous funeral liturgy for a high-profile trans activist and sex-worker advocate was held Thursday in New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, sparking an outcry on social media that the iconic church was misused to advance an ideological agenda at odds with Catholic teaching. The Manhattan cathedral hosted the Feb. 15 funeral service for Cecilia Gentili, an activist who helped to decriminalize sex work in New York, lobbied for “gender identity” to be added as…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)