Fundamentals of Faith II

LESSON 1 – The Profession of Faith

 Humans are called to communion with God… Faith is our response to God, who reveals
himself and gives himself to us. (CCC 26)

 The desire for God is written in the human heart. (CCC 27)

Faith means to obey (Latin ob - audire): to hear, to listen to

 To submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God
who is Truth itself.
 “Anyone who wants to believe needs a heart that is ready to listen.” (1 Kings 3:9)
 “Faith comes from hearing, and by hearing the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

The Characteristics of Faith (CCC 153-165)

I. Faith is a Grace

 Before faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him;
He must have the interior help of the Holy Spirit who moves the heart and converts it to
God, who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and believe in
the truth.
 Faith is a gift from God, a supernatural virtue infused by him.

II. Faith is a Human Act

 Acts that proceed from the reason and free will are rightly called “personal acts.”
 Believing is an authentically human act.
 In faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace: “Believing is an act of
the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through
grace.”

III. Faith and Understanding

 What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and
intelligible in the light of our natural reason; we believe “because of the authority of God
himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.” (CCC 156)
 Thus, the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and
holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability “are the most certain signs of divine
Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all” (CCC 156)
 Faith is certain: Faith is founded on the very words of God who cannot lie… “the
certainty that the divine light gives is greater than that which the light of natural reason
gives” (CCC 157).
 Faith seeks understanding: The grace of faith opens the “eyes of the heart” to a lively
understanding of the contents of revelation. (CCC 158)
 “The Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts so that Revelation may be more and
more profoundly understood.”
 St. Augustine: I believe in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe.
 St. Thomas Aquinas: In knowing comes loving.
  Faith and science: All branches of knowledge carried out in a truly scientific manner
can never conflict with faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive
from the same God. (CCC 159)

IV. Freedom of Faith

 Man’s response must be free, nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his
will. The act of faith is of its very nature a free act.
 “God calls men and women to serve him in spirit and in truth, they are bound to him in
conscience, but not coerced...
 Jesus invites people to faith and conversion, but never coerced them…
 His kingdom grows by love with which Christ, lifted up on the cross, draws men to
himself.

V. The Necessity of Faith

 Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for
obtaining that salvation. Since without faith it is impossible to please God and to attain to
the fellowship of his sons. (CCC 161)

VI. Faith – the beginning of eternal life

 Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey
here below. Then we shall see God face to face, as he is. (CCC 163)

Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God, yet faith
is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. (CCC 166)

Hence… WE BELIEVE
 Whoever says “I believe” says “I pledge myself to what we believe.”
 Communion in faith needs a common language of faith, normative for all, and uniting all
in the same confession of faith.

Professions of Faith
 Such “syntheses of faith” are called “professions of faith” - they summarize the faith that
Christians profess.
 They are called “creeds” (Lat. “credo” which means, “I believe”).
 They are also called “symbols of faith.”

The Symbols of Faith

 The Greek word Symbolon means half of a broken object presented as a token of
recognition.
 It is a sign of recognition and communion of believers
 Symbolon also means “a gathering, collection or summary.”
 A symbol of faith is a summary of the principal truths of the faith and therefore serves as
the first and fundamental point of reference for catechesis.
The Two Creeds that occupy a special place in the life of the Church.

1. Apostles’ Creed
o The faithful summary of the apostles’ faith.
o It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome; adopted by the Early
Church before the middle of the 2nd Century.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth;

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the
Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended
into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, is seated at the
right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the
dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness
of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

2. Niceno-Constantinopolitan or Nicene Creed

o The Creed used by both Churches in the East and West. It draws it great
authority form the first two ecumenical councils in 325 and in 381.

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and
invisible.

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all
ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our
salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and
was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into
heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the
living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness
of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen.