Morals of the Church
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Section — Marc, Institutiones Morales

§ 2. On the Formal Object of Faith

¶422.
  1. The FORMAL object of faith is the authority of God revealing, who, since he is the highest Truth, can neither be deceived nor deceive. Whence the most holy Vatican Council (l. c.) defined: "faith ... to be a supernatural virtue, by which ... we believe the things revealed by him to be true; not on account of the truth of the things seen through by the natural light of reason, but on account of the authority of God himself revealing, who can neither be deceived nor deceive."

From these things you will gather: 1. The assent of faith is formally resolved into the first truth revealing, or the very authority of God revealing (Becanus, de Virt. theol., c. 8, q. 8; Tanquerey, II, 618).

We said: resolved formally; for dispositively, it is resolved into the motives of credibility; directively, into the authority of the Church proposing and deciding what is to be believed; effectively, into God and the infused habit of faith. Cf. n. 423.

  1. The knowledge of faith is more certain than any natural knowledge. Thus St. Thomas (2.2, q. 5, a. 8, ad 2).

  2. Divine and Catholic faith is necessarily universal, that is, comprising all truths divinely revealed and proposed as such by the Church. The reason is that the formal object of faith is the authority of God revealing. Therefore he who knowingly rejects one article of faith, for example the eternity of the punishments of hell, cannot have theological faith as regards the others.

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