PART L

ON FAITH.

§ 1. Acceptation, Object, and Rule of Faith.

1.What is Faith as possessed by a Catholic Christian? Faith is a virtue infused by God into our souls, by which we believe, without doubting, all those things which God has revealed, and proposes by His Church to our belief.

'To believe' means, in general, to hold to be true what another says, and for this reason, because he says it. To believe God means, therefore, to hold firmly and without doubting what God has revealed, and because He has revealed it, although we can neither see nor comprehend it; for faith is founded, not on our seeing or comprehending, but on the word of God. 'Faith is the evidence of things that appear not' (Hebr. xi. 1).

2. Why do we say that faith is infused by God into our souls?

Because it is a gift of God, and an effect of His grace, which enlightens our understanding and moves our will to believe, without doubting, all those things which God has revealed.

For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves for it is the gift of God' (Eph. ii. 8).

3. Why must grace not only enlighten our under、 standing, but also move our will?

Because a good will also belongs to faith; for no one can believe but he who is willing to believe.

Therefore faith is also rewarded by God, and infidelity puntshed. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned' (Mark xvi. 16).

4. Why must we believe all that God has revealed? Because God is the eternal and infallible truth.

30

5. What means, 'all that God has revealed'?

It means all that God has made known for our salvation by the Patriarchs and Prophets, and at last by His Son Jesus Christ and the Apostles.

'God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the Prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by His Son' (Hebr. i. 1, 2).

6. Was it necessary that God should have revealed to us the truths of salvation, in order that we might know them?

Yes, because without Divine Revelation we should have known some of them only with great difficulty, and very imperfectly; and most of them would have remained entirely unknown to us.

'And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth and with labor do we find the things that are before us. But the things that are in Heaven, who shall search out? And who shall know Thy thought, except Thou give wisdom, and send Thy Holy Spirit from above?' (Wisd. ix. 16, 17).

7. How did Divine Revelation come down to us? Divine Revelation came down to us partly by writing-that is, by the Holy Scripture or the Bible; partly by word of mouth-that is, by Tradition.

8. What is the Holy Scripture ?

The Holy Scripture is a collection of books which were written by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and acknowledged by the Church as the Word of God.

'Prophecy came not by the will of man at any time; but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost' (2 Pet. i. 21).

9. How is the Holy Scripture divided?

The Holy Scripture is divided into the books of the Old and New Testament, or of the Old and new Law.

10. What Revelations does the Old Testament contain?

The Old Testament contains the Divine Revelations which were made to man before the coming of Christ.

11. Of what books does the Old Testament consist? The Old Testament consists, 1. Of Twenty-one Historical Books, which relate the Creation of the world, the lives of the Patriarchs, and the History of the Jewish nation; 2. Of Seven Moral Books, which are collections of Psalms, of holy maxims, and of rules of life; and 3. Of Seventeen Prophetical Books, which mostly contain prophecies.

The Historical Books are: The Pentateuch, or five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy); the Book of Josue; the Book of Judges; the Book of Ruth; the four Books of Kings; the two Books of Chronicles or of Paralipomenon; the Book of Esdras; the Book of Nehemias, which is also called the Second of Esdras; the Book of Tobias; the Book of Judith; the Book of Esther; and the two Books of the Machabees.

The Moral Books are: The Book of Job; the Psalms; the Proverbs; Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher; the Canticle of Cantieles; the Book of Wisdom; and Ecclesiasticus, or Jesus, the Son of Sirach.

The Prophetical Books: Isaias; Jeremias; Baruch; Ezechiel; Daniel; Osee; Joel; Amos; Abdias; Jonas; Micheas; Nahum Habacuc; Sophonias; Aggeus; Zacharias; and Malachias.

12. What Revelations does the New Testament contain?

The New Testament contains the Revelations which we have received through Jesus Christ and the Apostles.

13. Of what books does the New Testament consist?

The New Testament consists, 1. Of the four Gospels according to St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, which relate the history of Jesus; 2. Of the Acts of the Apostles, by St. Luke; 3. Of fourteen Epistles of St. Paul, and seven by other Apostles, which contain dogmatical and moral instructions; and 4. Of the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of St. John, which foretells the combats and victories of the Church.

The Epistles of St. Paul are: One to the Romans; two to

the Corinthians; one to the Galatians; one to the Ephesian one to the Philippians; one to the Colossians; two to the Th salonians; two to Timothy; one to Titus; one to Philemo and one to the Hebrews.

The other Epistles are: One of St. James; two of St. Pet three of St. John; and one of St. Jude, surnamed Thaddeus.

14. Is it enough to believe only those doctri which are contained in the Holy Scripture ?

No; we must also believe Tradition-i.e., those vealed truths which the Apostles preached, but d not commit to writing.

St. Paul, therefore, exhorts the first Christians by sayin "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions wh you have learned, whether by word or by our Epistle' (2 The ii. 14).

15. Have not, then, the Apostles written all th Jesus Christ has taught?

No; the Apostles have not even written all th Jesus has done, far less all that He has taught; f Christ did not commission them to write, but preach His doctrine (Mark xvi. 15; Matt. xxviii. 1

Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of His discipl which are not written in this book' (John xx. 30).

The Bible, therefore, does not contain the entire Revelati of God. The Bible nowhere tells us how many Divine bod there are, and which they are; if we did not know this certain from Tradition, we should not even have a Bible.-T Bible does not, in doubtful passages, decide upon the true mea ing of its words; therefore, all sects have always appealed to t Bible, in order to prove their contradictory doctrines, and ea one of them pretended to have hit on its true meaning.—If would consult the Bible only, without Tradition, we ought, instance, still to keep holy the Saturday with the Jews, inste of Sunday, and to refrain ourselves from things strangled, a from blood (Acts xv. 20); moreover, we ought, with the Ar baptists, to let little children, who are incapable of being structed, die without Baptism; since, according to the m words of the text, Christ has commanded, first to teach, a then to baptize (Matt. xxviii. 19).

16. Why is the unwritten doctrine of the Apost called Tradition'?

It is called Tradition—that is, a handing down because, since the times of the Apostles, it has, wit

out interruption, been handed down in the Catholic Church from generation to generation.

‘And the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also' (2 Tim. ii. 2).

17. How has Tradition been handed down to us? In the beginning it was handed down by word of mouth, and by the rites of the Church. Since then it has also been declared in writing, as occasion required, in the decrees and definitions of the Church, and in the writings of the Holy Fathers.

18. What is to be thought of the writings or of the doctrine of the Holy Fathers?

The uniform doctrine of the Holy Fathers is the doctrine of Jesus Christ, which they have received from the Apostles or their successors; therefore, we are never to deviate from it.

19. But why must we believe Tradition, as well as what is contained in the Holy Scripture?

Because Catholic Tradition was revealed by God, as well as that which is contained in the Holy Scripture. 20. What, then, must the Catholic Christian in general believe?

He must believe all that God has revealed and the Catholic Church proposes to his belief, whether it be contained in the Holy Scripture or not.

The Church is considered to propose a truth to our belief when she recognizes it to be revealed by God, and commands us to believe it.

21. Why is it necessary that the Catholic Church should propose the revealed truths to our belief?

Because it is only from the Catholic Church that we can infallibly know what God has revealed.

22. Why can we infallibly know from the Catholic Church alone what God has revealed?

1. Because it is only from the Catholic Church that we have the Scripture and Tradition, which contain the Divine Revelations; and 2. Because it is