Question Three: On the Necessity of Faith

St. Thomas, II-II, q. 2, a. 3 and 5-8; De Verit., q. 14, a. 10-12.

706. A twofold necessity: one of means, the other of precept. - It must be noted beforehand that something is said to be necessary for the end either by necessity of means, or by necessity of precept. Necessary by necessity of means is a means which positively flows into obtaining the end, and indeed in such a way that without it, even if omitted involuntarily, the end cannot be obtained. Necessary by necessity of precept is not a means to the end, but that which is imposed by precept in such a way that, when the precept is known, its observance is a condition, just as voluntary transgression is an obstacle to attaining the end; whence it flows in not positively but negatively, by not placing an obstacle. From this definition it follows that invincible ignorance excuses from necessity of precept, because it excuses from sin, which would be an obstacle to attaining the end; but no ignorance or impossibility whatever liberates from necessity of means, for this does not supply the necessary influx of the means for attaining the end.

Necessity of means is one thing from the nature of the thing, another from positive institution; likewise one is necessity of means in reality, when the means itself is always necessary, another is necessity of means in desire, when the defect of the means can be supplied by another thing together with the desire of it. Examples for salvation are sanctifying grace and Baptism.

707. Faith is necessary by necessity of means.

I. By necessity of means for salvation, both for little children and for adults, from the nature of the thing, the habit of faith is necessary, because without it charity cannot be had. Council of Trent, sess. 6, c. 7.

II. By necessity of means for justification and in this way for salvation,1 for adults, that is, those having the use of reason, from the nature of the thing, in all times altogether, the act of faith properly so called is necessary, by which they explicitly believe, on account of divine revelation, that God, the institutor and end of the supernatural order, exists, and is a rewarder.

It is proved: 1. From Scripture, which rather often declares the absolute necessity of the voluntary reception of faith properly so called (for it recognizes no other as necessary) for attaining justification (Heb. X, 38 sq.; Rom. I, 17; III, 26; IV, 5; Gal. II, 16; Mk. XVI, 16), and professedly teaches at Heb. XI, 6, that "without faith it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe (the act of faith) that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."

2. From the perpetual doctrine of the Church, which is established from Trent, sess. 6, c. 6, 7, 8; from the Vatican Council, sess. 3, c. 3, can. 2; and from the condemnation of propositions 22 and 23 by Innocent XI.1

3. From reason: a) No one can order himself and tend to the supernatural end, which nevertheless is required for justification, unless he know that end. But we cannot know the supernatural end by reason, but only by revelation, to which faith responds. Therefore.

b) Likewise no one can hope for salvation and have supernatural contrition concerning sin, unless he know the supernatural end and reward. But hope and supernatural contrition are required for justification (Council of Trent, sess. 6 and 14). Therefore for justification it is required that we believe the supernatural end.

From what has been said it follows a) that some true concept of one God is required, by which namely He is distinguished from creatures, and is known at least as creator, or omnipotent, or a necessary or most perfect being; otherwise we would not tend to the true God;

b) that knowledge of God as natural end and rewarder does not suffice: for although it is not required that we know distinctly and formally as supernatural the end or reward, nevertheless we must believe the reward which in fact is supernatural;

c) that practically there is no difficulty in this: whoever by faith on account of the authority of God revealing believes that God is and rewards, by that very fact believes God revealing Himself in a supernatural mode, that is, communicating with us beyond the exigencies of nature, and believes that God will reward with the reward which He promised by His revelation.

III. Before the Gospel was promulgated, explicit faith in the Incarnation (and at the same time in the passion, death, redemption, resurrection, and glorious reign of Christ in heaven) and in the Most Holy Trinity was not necessary by necessity of means for justification, but implicit faith sufficed; but whether after the Gospel has been promulgated it is required from the positive institution of God is disputed. Although the affirmative opinion of St. Thomas and St. Alphonsus is more probable and more conformable to the mode of speaking of Sacred Scripture and the Holy Fathers,¹ nevertheless it is not altogether certain, because the texts which are brought forward to prove it, and which, according to them, proclaim the necessity of faith in Christ, perhaps can also be understood either of the efficacy alone of faith in Christ; - or of the necessity of precept alone; - or of necessity of means, but of the merits and grace of Christ, or of faith by which we are united to Christ, or at least of implicit faith in Christ. Yet because in things necessary for the end, in the case for salvation, it is illicit to choose a merely probable opinion, but the safer course must be taken (cf. n. 215, 3), therefore in practice these two mysteries must be considered as to be believed by necessity of means.

¹ Cf. Martin, De Necessitate credendi et credendorum.

1. It is said thus and not simply for salvation, because if someone was baptized in infancy, and afterwards arrived at the use of reason, and it should happen that faith is not sufficiently proposed to him, and at the same time that he does not sin mortally, he will be saved without an act of faith. Here, nevertheless, for adults it will regularly be a necessary means for preserving justice, namely, for fulfilling Christian duties, so that they may persevere in justice.

1. "Only faith in one God seems necessary by necessity of means, but not explicit faith in a Rewarder." - "Faith broadly so called, from the testimony of creatures or from a similar motive, suffices for justification."

708. Practical corollaries. - 1. Since he who is ignorant of the existence of God as supernatural end and rewarder is incapable of justification and certainly indisposed, the sacraments, even of Baptism or Penance, can never be given to him. Indeed confessions made with ignorance even invincible of these truths are null (from defect of contrition) and therefore must be repeated.

2. Nor can these sacraments be administered to one who is ignorant of the mystery of the Incarnation or of the Trinity; but he must first be instructed concerning these, because it is illicit to expose a sacrament to danger of fruitlessness, or even Penance to danger of nullity (Holy Office, January 25 and May 10, 1703, renewed March 30, 1898; Innocent XI, prop. 64 and 65).² The case of extreme necessity is excepted, when the means or time of instruction is lacking; in which case the sacrament of Penance is administered under condition: if you are capable, provided that the other requisites are present, but with these given, the other sacraments absolutely.

² "A man is capable of absolution, however much he labors under ignorance of the mysteries of faith and even if through negligence, even culpable, he does not know the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ." - "It suffices to have believed those mysteries once."

3. Especially let canon 752, § 2 be noted: an adult "in danger of death, if he cannot be instructed more diligently in the chief mysteries of faith, it is sufficient, for conferring Baptism, that he show in some way that he assents to the same and seriously promise that he will observe the commands of the Christian religion."

4. Since confessions made with ignorance not gravely culpable of the Incarnation or of the Most Holy Trinity by one who in good faith thought that he was rightly disposed, are not certainly invalid, although more safely they are repeated, nevertheless the faithful cannot be strictly obliged to this.

5. When it is a question of the half-witted or the very ignorant, an act of faith in God one and three, and in Christ the redeemer, is to be suggested to them before they are absolved; by which the validity of absolution becomes safer.

6. Hence St. Alphonsus notes, Theologia Moralis, l. 2, c. 1, n. 2: if someone were so unlearned that he could in no way perceive the aforesaid mysteries, and therefore did not explicitly believe, as to this he would be assimilated to infants and the insane; but if he cannot retain them, it will suffice that he explicitly believe the individual articles while they are proposed to him. The case, besides, is rare even in barbarous regions.

7. For justification implicit faith on the part of the act does not suffice, or faith in desire or broadly so called, but faith in reality is required, by which we explicitly believe God revealing; yet implicit faith on the part of the object suffices insofar as revealed truths are apprehended confusedly, but explicit faith is required as to truths necessary by necessity of means.

709. Faith is necessary by necessity of precept.

A. By necessity of precept under grave obligation all must explicitly know as to substance, that is, so that they have a common understanding of these things, and, if questioned concerning them, can answer the substance, although they hold in memory neither the precise words nor the order of the words:

1. Those things which are required for believing and thinking rightly, namely, the Apostles' Symbol, as is established from the perpetual use of the Church, requiring this knowledge before Baptism; besides, a Christian must summarily know the doctrine of Christ as to the principal truths, namely, the articles of faith, and be able to distinguish it from others.

Those things, however, of lesser importance which are contained in the symbol are obligatory only under light obligation, such as the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; circumstances of time: under Pontius Pilate, the third day; the burial of Christ, and descent into hell, and sitting at the right hand of the Father; the judgment of the living and the dead; the communion of saints, etc.

2. Those things which are required for living rightly, namely:

a) the universal precepts of law, namely, the precepts of the decalogue and the five precepts of the Church, which all must observe;

b) the proper duties of state or condition.

3. Those things which are required for rightly using the special helps of salvation, namely:

a) the Lord's prayer, concerning which they ought at least to know that God is to be prayed to for the individual good things to be acquired and evils to be avoided which are enumerated there;

b) the sacraments, as much as is necessary that they be received well, namely, Baptism, Penance, and Eucharist always, because they pertain to all, but the rest when someone wishes to receive them.

The Symbol, the Lord's prayer, and the sacraments are to be explicitly believed; the rest can also be sufficiently known explicitly by reason alone; the decalogue, as revealed, can be explicitly believed, and at least implicitly must be believed.

B. By necessity of precept under light obligation all must explicitly know from custom and the common use of the faithful:

1. the sign of the cross, which is the distinctive sign of a Christian;

2. the angelic salutation, at least as to substance, because the Blessed Virgin is mediatrix of grace;

3. the symbol, the precepts of the decalogue and of the Church, the Lord's prayer, as to the words.

710. Practical corollaries. - 1. Parents and superiors, to whom it belongs to instruct others in faith, are gravely obliged, as soon as they arrive at the use of reason, gradually to teach them those things which must be known by necessity of means and of precept. This office in parish priests is of justice.

2. Hence greater explicit faith is required in certain persons by reason of office, condition, and state, for example, in those who must instruct others, as in the bishop, parish priest, preacher, confessor, a man of greater knowledge, a judge, a magistrate, etc.

3. If the confessor, on account of probable reasons, doubts whether the penitent is ignorant of things necessary to be known by necessity of means or precept, he is bound to question him concerning these. This today often happens.

4. "The confessor will conjecture that ignorance from the weakness of a younger or older age, from dullness of mind, from defect of education and letters, and from the mode of confessing, from the confession itself, for example, from long neglect of prayer, of frequenting the church, sermons, sacraments, and, while doubt remains, from prudent and discreet questioning" (Waffelaert, o. c., n. 191).

5. Yet St. Alphonsus notes, Praxis Confessarii, n. 22: "St. Leonard of Port Maurice, speaking of urban persons negligent of their own salvation, who hold it to be a great labor and insult to themselves to be questioned concerning these things, says that it befits the confessor to say to them: Come, let us elicit the Christian acts together at once; say with me...," namely, adding the act of faith with the principal mysteries.

6. Those ignorant of things necessary by necessity of precept only are to be admonished that they learn them, and if they seriously propose this, they can be absolved. But if they have already proposed it rather often, it must be investigated whether the preceding confessions were not invalid from defect of purpose; and sometimes absolution must be deferred for them. - But if they do not have the opportunity of learning those things, let the confessor propose to them the substance to be believed, with the burden of learning it more perfectly, or of returning to learn it.

7. St. Alphonsus notes, Theologia Moralis, l. 2, n. 3, 3: In practice, those who are ignorant word for word of the symbol, prayers, etc., especially if they are more unlearned, are to be admonished that they learn them; otherwise they will expose themselves to the great danger also of not retaining the substance, and scarcely otherwise will they satisfy the precept of prayer.