Section — Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis
§ 3. On the properties of faith
The properties of faith are not enumerated in the same way by different theologians; some enumerate more, some fewer. But among all the properties of faith the following four seem to be more principal: supernaturalness, freedom, infallibility, firmness or constancy, each of which must be briefly explained. These properties belong not only to the act, but also to the habit of faith.
487. 1. The supernaturalness of faith. That the act of faith is supernatural on the part of the object and on the part of the objective motive (or on the part of the formal object which and by which) has already been sufficiently said above; it remains that we show that it is also supernatural on the part of the principle. That the act of faith is entirely supernatural, so that it cannot be elicited except from the powers of grace, is proved:
a) Very many texts of Sacred Scripture manifestly announce this: "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."61 "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; for it is the gift of God."62
b) This truth has been defined several times in Councils, especially in the Second Council of Orange:63 "If anyone says that without the grace of God mercy is divinely conferred on us when we believe ... but does not confess that it happens in us that we believe ... through the infusion and inspiration of the Holy Spirit; and either subjects the help of grace to human humility or obedience, and does not agree that it is the gift of grace itself that we are obedient and humble, he resists the Apostle saying: 'What do you have that you have not received?'64 and 'By the grace of God I am what I am.'"65 - But the Vatican Council66 expressly says: "Faith is a supernatural virtue by which, with grace assisting and inspiring, ... we believe. ... No one can consent to the evangelical preaching as is necessary for obtaining salvation without the illumination and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who gives to all sweetness in consenting to the truth." But the grace which is necessary for faith is referred both to the intellect and to the will; or it is the illumination of the intellect and the motion of the will. This grace elevates the intellect by means of the light of faith, that it may assent to truths exceeding its capacity; it heals and strengthens the will, that it may induce the intellect to assent firmly to truths which for practical life not rarely demand fairly hard sacrifices; for true faith is that which works the works of all the virtues. Therefore theological faith is a special gift of God, which can in no way be acquired by natural powers.
c) The same can easily be proved by theological reason: For "faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of all justification."67 Moreover, it is impossible that man by merely natural powers place the beginning of supernatural salvation. For natural powers cannot produce a supernatural effect. Hence the Council of Trent68 defined: "If anyone says that without the prevenient inspiration of the Holy Spirit and his assistance man can believe ... as he ought, so that the grace of justification may be conferred on him, let him be anathema."
61 John 6, 29.
62 Eph. 2, 8.
64 1 Cor. 4, 7.
65 1 Cor. 15, 10.
66 Sess. 3, Const. de fide cath. c. 3 (Denz. n. 1789, 1791).
488. 2. The freedom of faith. Here we are not treating of moral freedom, as if no moral obligation existed of eliciting acts of faith; for it is certain that man is wholly bound, and indeed by necessity of means, to elicit acts of faith, as we shall prove below, n. 495. We are speaking at present of physical freedom; this indeed is twofold, namely freedom of exercise, consisting in the possibility of turning thought away from the object considered; and freedom of specification, consisting in the possibility of doubting about the truth to be believed, indeed even of denying it. But now it is certain that the act of theological faith is free not only by freedom of exercise, but also by freedom of specification. (Hermes alone seems to have taught the contrary.69)
a) For in Sacred Scripture those not believing are reproved, believers are praised, the faithful are rewarded; all these things show that the act of faith is something free; for no one is reproved or punished for acts which he cannot avoid. Let only one or another text be brought forward here: "Going into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned."70 "He who believes in him is not judged; but he who does not believe is already judged, because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God."71
b) The same is clear from Councils; e.g. the Council of Trent72 teaches: "They are disposed to justice when, awakened and assisted by divine grace, conceiving faith from hearing, they are freely moved toward God, believing those things to be true which have been divinely revealed and promised"; and the Vatican Council73 says: "Its act [namely of faith] is a work pertaining to salvation, by which man gives free obedience to God himself, by consenting to and cooperating with his grace, which he could resist," and:74 "If anyone says that the assent of Christian faith is not free, but is produced necessarily by arguments of human reason, let him be anathema."
c) The Angelic Doctor writes to the point:75 "The assent of science is not subject to free choice, because one who knows is compelled to assent by the efficacy of the demonstration; and therefore the assent of science is not meritorious. But the actual consideration of a thing known is subject to free choice; for it is in man's power to consider. ... But in faith each is subject to free choice, and therefore as to each the act of faith can be meritorious."
d) The intrinsic reason why the assent of faith has freedom, both of exercise and of specification, is that the object of faith is not something evident, but something obscure, as being "the evidence of things not appearing." But what is obscure does not compel the intellect to assent; therefore it would not assent unless it were induced to this by the free will. Although the truths of faith which we believe are in themselves obscure and inevident, or as the Vatican Council76 says, "covered by a veil and wrapped in a certain as it were darkness," nevertheless they are evidently credible on account of the extrinsic motives of credibility; hence the Psalmist says: "Your testimonies have been made exceedingly credible."77
69 Cf. Christkath. Dogmatik 3. Teil (Münster 1834), § 28 s. Hermes distinguishes faith of cognition (Vernunftglaube) from faith of the heart (Herzensglaube). The former is necessary, but not the latter.
70 Mark 16, 15 sq.
71 John 3, 18.
72 Sess. 6, c. 6 de iustif. (Denz. n. 798).
73 Sess. 3, Const. de fide cath. c. 3 (Denz. n. 1791).
74 Ib. can. 5 (Denz. n. 1814).
75 S. theol. 2, 2, q. 2, a. 9 ad 2.
76 L. c. c. 4 (Denz. n. 1790).
77 Ps. 92, 5.
489. 3. The infallibility of faith. This property follows from the quality of the formal object by which, which is the veracity of God revealing. For God is supreme truth, which can neither deceive nor be deceived. Moreover, the magisterium of the Church, which proposes to us the truths to be believed, and divine grace, which illuminates us and moves us to assent, can in no way lead us into error; hence Richard of St. Victor78 could truly say: "Lord, if there is error [in faith], we have been deceived by you."
From this complete infallibility of faith there follow three corollaries, namely:
a) That an appreciatively most firm assent, or most perfect certainty, is begotten in the mind of the believer. Certainty is the state of a mind firmly adhering to some truth without any fear of erring. Certainty admits degrees, not indeed on the part of fear of erring, since any true certainty excludes every fear of erring, but on the part of adhesion; for a man can adhere to one truth more firmly than to another. Faith is more certain than every natural cognition by reason of adhesion.79
b) Since the firmness of the assent of faith depends on grace illuminating the intellect and moving the will, in diverse men the firm adhesion of faith is not equal, but is diverse according to the diverse fervor by which each one, with grace assisting, elicits acts of faith.80
c) He who has rightly embraced the right Catholic faith can never have sufficient reasons for falling away from or even doubting about the faith; therefore not only heresy, but also voluntary doubt about some revealed truth is a grave sin. Discussion will return concerning doubt in faith below, n. 520.
78 De Trin. l. 1, c. 2 (Migne, Patr. lat. 196, 891).
79 Cf. St. Thomas, De verit. q. 14, a. 1 ad 7, and S. theol. 2, 2, q. 4, a. 8.
80 S. theol. 2, 2, q. 5, a. 4.
490. 4. The firmness or constancy of faith. St. Paul admonishes "that henceforth we be no more little children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine in the wickedness of men, in craftiness unto the circumvention of error."81 Therefore Christian faith must be so firm and constant that man is prepared to lose life rather than faith. All the Martyrs of every age and sex have given wonderful examples of constancy in the profession of faith, e.g. St. Agnes, St. Lawrence, St. Peter Martyr.
81 Eph. 4, 14.
491. Scholion. On the divisions of faith. After the nature of faith has been briefly set forth, as by way of a crown certain divisions of faith, which are sometimes brought forward by authors, are added here. Therefore there are distinguished:
Explicit faith and implicit faith. To believe something explicitly is to believe it known in particular and according to its proper terms; but to believe something implicitly is to believe it as contained in another, as in a universal principle explicitly known.82 All are bound to believe explicitly, e.g. the existence of a personal God. But uneducated men believe the individual articles of faith implicitly, although they do not know them clearly; for they believe whatever the Catholic Church proposes to be believed.
Formal faith and virtual or exercised faith. An act of faith is formally elicited when someone explicitly gives assent to some revealed truth, e.g. by reciting the Apostolic Symbol. But someone virtually elicits an act of faith when he indeed performs another act which nevertheless includes a profession of faith, e.g. when someone, by genuflecting before the altar, manifests his faith concerning the presence of the Eucharistic Christ.
Formed faith (perfect, living) and unformed faith. Faith is called formed or living when it is joined with supernatural charity, or with the state of sanctifying grace. But if that charity is lacking, faith is called unformed.
Besides these divisions, another division is assigned by some authors, namely faith properly so called and faith broadly so called. Faith properly so called is that which we have explained up to this point; but faith broadly so called is that which does not rely upon the testimony of positive divine revelation, but which is a cognition of God existing and rewarding, acquired by natural powers and possessed perfectly with the help of actual grace. We shall prove in the following chapter, n. 498, that such faith broadly so called by no means suffices for obtaining salvation.
Several modern authors in addition bring forward other distinctions of faith, e.g. divine faith, Christian faith, Catholic faith, theological faith, etc. For moral practice all these divisions are of little utility, since ordinarily there is not given except one salvific faith, namely Catholic faith. Under the name of divine faith these authors understand that faith which was had in the Old Testament and which is had by certain saints who receive private revelations. Christian faith is that which was handed down to us through Christ. Catholic faith is the dogmas which are proposed by the Catholic Church as divinely revealed. Finally, theological or supernatural faith is opposed to natural or human faith. For the rest, as was already said above, these expressions are not taken in the same sense by diverse authors; therefore confusions must diligently be avoided.
82 Cf. St. Thomas, De verit. q. 14, a. 11.