2. What Is Faith?

"Faith then cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ." - Romans 10:17

Faith is the beginning of the Christian life. After the soul learns why God made man, it must learn how man receives what God has revealed. Man was made to know God, but he cannot know the mysteries of God by human reason alone. God must speak, and man must believe.

The catechism answer is simple: Faith is a supernatural gift of God by which we believe, without doubting, all that God has revealed, because He is Truth itself and can neither deceive nor be deceived.

This answer teaches several things at once. Faith comes from God. Faith believes what God has revealed. Faith excludes deliberate doubt. Faith rests not on human opinion, but on the truthfulness of God.

The question is not first, "What do I feel?" It is not first, "What seems reasonable to me?" It is not first, "What do most people think?" The question is: "What has God revealed?"

This places the soul in the right order. If God speaks, man must listen. If God reveals truth, man must receive it. The creature does not sit above the Creator as judge. The child does not correct the Father of lights.

Faith begins when the soul bows before God who speaks. This does not destroy reason. It heals reason by placing it under the light of divine truth.

Faith is supernatural. This means it is above the natural powers of man. A person can know some truths about God from creation: that God exists, that He is Creator, that order and goodness point beyond themselves. But the mysteries of the Trinity, the Incarnation, grace, redemption, the Church, the sacraments, heaven, hell, and the forgiveness of sins must be revealed by God.

Because faith is supernatural, it is also a gift. Man cannot manufacture it by cleverness. He cannot earn it by pride. He cannot possess it safely while despising the grace by which God draws the soul.

The beginner should therefore ask God for faith, thank God for faith, and guard faith carefully. A gift from God should not be treated carelessly.

Faith does not mean believing something because it is emotionally comforting. It does not mean believing because a family custom is familiar. It does not mean believing because a preacher is impressive or because a group feels sincere.

Faith means believing God because God is Truth itself. God cannot lie. He cannot be mistaken. He cannot deceive the soul. When God reveals, the proper answer is assent.

This is why faith is firmer than human opinion. Human opinions can change because men are limited and often wrong. Divine revelation does not change because God is eternal truth.

Faith believes all that God has revealed. It does not choose only the doctrines that seem easy. It does not keep the consoling parts and reject the hard parts. It does not believe the mercy of God while denying His justice, or honor Christ while despising His Church.

The Catholic must believe the whole deposit of faith: the truths revealed by God and taught by the Church He founded. This includes truths about God, creation, sin, Christ, grace, the sacraments, the commandments, the Church, judgment, heaven, hell, and eternal life.

This does not mean that a beginner understands everything at once. Understanding grows. But the will must be ready to receive all that God teaches.

God did not leave each soul to invent religion privately. Christ founded His Church to teach, govern, sanctify, and guard the truth. St. Paul calls the Church "the pillar and ground of the truth."[1]

This is important because many people imagine faith as private interpretation. They think each person may read, feel, choose, and assemble religion for himself. That is not Catholic faith. Catholic faith receives revealed truth through the authority Christ gave to His Church.

Private judgment easily becomes pride. The teaching Church protects the soul from making itself the measure of revelation.

Faith is not the same as religious feeling. A person may feel consolation and have faith. He may feel dryness and still have faith. Feelings rise and fall. Faith adheres to God who speaks.

This helps beginners. Sometimes prayer feels warm. Sometimes it feels empty. Sometimes a doctrine seems beautiful at once. Sometimes it seems difficult. The soul must not measure truth by emotion. It must hold to God because God is true.

This also protects the soul from false religion. Many errors spread by feeling merciful, broad, peaceful, or attractive. But if they contradict what God has revealed, they are not from faith.

Faith must lead to obedience. A man does not truly believe God while calmly refusing what God commands. Faith receives truth; obedience acts according to that truth.

This is why Scripture speaks of the "obedience of faith."[2] The believer must allow revealed truth to govern his mind, speech, worship, habits, family, and choices. Faith that never changes life is sick or dead.

The beginner should understand this early. Faith is not only agreeing that Catholic doctrine is correct. It is the soul's assent to God, opening into conversion, worship, prayer, and a life under divine authority.

Faith can be wounded. It is wounded by deliberate doubt, pride, neglect of instruction, bad reading, false teachers, irreverent speech, habitual sin, and friendship with error.

Deliberate doubt is not the same as a question asked humbly. A beginner may ask questions in order to learn. That can be good. But to hold oneself above God's revelation and refuse assent until every doctrine pleases the private mind is dangerous.

Faith is also wounded by religious indifference. A person who says that one religion is as good as another has not understood faith. If God has revealed truth, then truth matters. Error is not another path of equal value. It is a danger to souls.

Faith grows when the soul listens to God and obeys Him. The beginner should:

• learn the catechism;
• read Scripture with the mind of the Church;
• pray for an increase of faith;
• avoid teachers who contradict Catholic doctrine;
• receive correction humbly;
• keep company with faithful Catholics;
• act according to what he already knows.

Faith becomes stronger by use. A soul that obeys light receives more light. A soul that neglects light becomes dim.

Faith is a supernatural gift of God by which we believe, without doubting, all that God has revealed, because He is Truth itself and can neither deceive nor be deceived.

A beginner should memorize this answer and then live by it. He should ask: Do I believe God because He is true? Do I receive all that He has revealed? Do I let the Church teach me? Do I confuse faith with feeling? Do I obey the truth I already know?

Faith is the doorway into the Christian life. Without it, man cannot please God. With it, the soul begins to see by divine light and to walk toward the end for which God made him.