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I deleted the YouTube video question I had
proposed for you after I originally sent it,
however,
I have summed up the statements and questions
in it below:
What are your reader's reasons for believing
in God?
Many people just say, faith and
leave it at that, but I believe they are misusing
that definition.
Whenever faith is brought up
by Jesus in the Bible, He is referring to
the third definition
of faith, which is:
loyalty or fidelity to a (promise|covenant).
The first definition
is:
belief without proof
Jesus uses faith in the third definition even
to His disciples. He tells them that they
have little faith and that is why they
could not cast out demons. He is not telling
them they lacked a belief in God! That would
be ridiculous.
They obviously have a belief in God.
Jesus is telling them that they have a lack
of fidelity or loyalty to God's covenant,
or a lack of trust in God.
The reason I asked this question is because
I wanted a reason for their belief in a Catholic
God while avoiding faith in their
answers, because that leaves no room for logic
and reason.
Also, I pointed out that the Catechism of the Catholic Church requires that one finds reason for
their belief in God. My friend is borrowing
my Catechism right now but whenever it is
returned to me I will cite what I'm talking
about.
Without the first definition of faith,
(belief without proof, which is not being
used in the Bible) why do you believe in
God?
What makes believing in God with no proof
a good thing?
What makes it virtuous?
What is virtue?
What did I think of my ending song in
the video?
Thank you for your time.
Hunter
{
Why believe in the Catholic God, what makes believing in God good, and what makes it virtuous? }
Paul
replied:
Hunter,
Good question.
I understand it this way. That belief
and faith are a bit different in
meaning. We believe in facts, but
have faith in persons. Regarding
the two powers of the soul, belief
springs more from the intellect and
faith, more from the will. With Catholicism,
you have faith in God, or the Person
of Christ, which includes putting
your trust in Him. You believe in
the things He says and in the doctrines
of the Church because He revealed
them. That said, it would make sense
that we believe in the things, that
The One we have faith in said.
The first definition you mention,
to believe in the existence of someone
or something, is not enough to save;
both definitions are needed. Even
the devil acknowledges that God exists.
So do many of those unrepentant in
mortal sin on earth. It is faith
in God, trusting in His goodness
and love, (or as you say in the
covenant) that enables His grace
to work through us and bring us to
salvation.
Also, belief without reason is very
different than belief without proof.
Both faith and belief are very reasonable;
in fact, they have to be if God is Logos (Reason)
as Christians believe Him to be, but
that doesn't mean we have empirical
proof of His existence. God's nature
as pure Spirit and eternal Being
does not lend itself to that kind
of sensual or empirical proof; nor
does our limited creaturely nature.
Belief in His existence can follow
from a proper use of human reason,
as in Aquinas'
five proofs. Faith in Him is
more an act of the will than the
intellect and requires our assent
to love and obey.
Peace,
Paul
Mike
replied:
Hi, Hunter —
First I was really impressed by the
quality of your video and the sincerity
contained in it.
I really thought it was cool!
I would also encourage others, reading
this posting, to send us questions
in the form of a YouTube video. The
only thing I would require is that
you either permanently keep the video
on your e-mail provider's web site
or send it to me so I can permanently
save it on our site.
Note: Sometimes I use Catholic sources
to define certain words so you know
exactly what I mean by the word.
If you truly want the Catholic Answer,
I recommend reading it here:
The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church
84 The apostles entrusted the Sacred deposit of the faith (the depositum fidei), (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 10 § 1; cf. 1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:12-14 [Vulgute]), contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church.
"By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practicing and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful."
(Vatican II, Dei Verbum 10 § 1; cf. Acts 2:42 (Greek); Venerable Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution, Munificentissimus Deus, November 1, 1950: Acta Apostolicae Sedis 42 (1950), 756, taken along with the words of St. Cyprian, Epistile 66, 8: Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 3/2,733: The Church is the people united to its Priests, the flock adhering to its Shepherd.)
These questions are from the Compendium
of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church and I think they will help
answer your questions. If NOT, just
follow-up with us. That's what we
are here for.
25. How does man respond to God who reveals himself?
Sustained by divine grace, we respond to God with the obedience of faith, which means the full surrender of ourselves to God and the acceptance of his truth insofar as it is guaranteed by the One who is Truth itself.
26. Who are the principal witnesses of the obedience of faith in the Sacred Scriptures?
There are many such witnesses, two in particular: One is Abraham who when put to the test “believed in God” (Romans 4:3) and always obeyed his call. For this reason he is called “the Father of all who believe” (Romans 4:11-18). The other is the Virgin Mary who, throughout her entire life, embodied in a perfect way the obedience of faith: “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
27. What does it mean in practice for a person to believe in God?
It means to adhere to God himself, entrusting oneself to him and giving assent to all the truths which God has revealed because God is Truth. It means to believe in one God in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
28. What are the characteristics of faith?
Faith is the supernatural virtue which is necessary for salvation. It is a free gift of God and is accessible to all who humbly seek it. The act of faith is a human act, that is, an act of the intellect of a person - prompted by the will moved by God - who freely assents to divine truth. Faith is also certain because it is founded on the Word of God; it works “through charity” (Galatians 5:6); and it continually grows through listening to the Word of God and through prayer. It is, even now, a foretaste of the joys of heaven.
29. Why is there no contradiction between faith and science?
Though faith is above reason, there can never be a contradiction between faith and science because both originate in God. It is God himself who gives to us the light both of reason and of faith.
We Believe
30. Why is faith a personal act, and at the same time ecclesial?
Faith is a personal act insofar as it is the free response of the human person to God who reveals himself. But at the same time it is an ecclesial act which expresses itself in the proclamation, We believe. It is in fact the Church that believes: and thus by the grace of the Holy Spirit precedes, engenders and nourishes the faith of each Christian For this reason the Church is Mother and Teacher.
No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother. (Saint Cyprian)
31. Why are the formulas of faith important?
The formulas of faith are important because they permit one to express, assimilate, celebrate, and share together with others the truths of the faith through a common language.
32. In what way is the faith of the Church one faith alone?
The Church, although made up of persons who have diverse languages, cultures, and rites, nonetheless professes with a united voice the one faith that was received from the one Lord and that was passed on by the one Apostolic Tradition. She confesses one God alone, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and points to one way of salvation. Therefore we believe with one heart and one soul all that is contained in the Word of God, handed down or written, and which is proposed by the Church as divinely revealed.
To your questions:
You said:
Without the first definition of faith,
(belief without proof, which is not being
used in the Bible) why do you believe in
God?
Why do you believe in God (and the Catholic Church)?
I believe in God because (See
#28 above) with my intellect,
which God freely created, I
have chosen through human reason
to believe that He sent his
Son, Jesus Christ, to die on
the Cross for my sins and the
sins of mankind. I also have
chosen to believe the historical
account that He, a man like
us in all things but sin,
unlike any other church founders,
rose from the dead gloriously
thus overcoming death itself.
This chosen belief is one I
can prove historically and
whose fruits I can attest to
as having been beneficial in
my life through the sacraments
and prayer life of the Catholic
Church.
Christ established one Church
on St. Peter and his successors
before ascending into Heaven gloriously
and despite the scandalous behavior
of some of our members, the teachings
of the Church remain as pure as
God Himself. In a culture like
ours, you could say that
is a miracle.
Side
note: The first
definition of faith in your
video is not my favorite,
but the one you left out:
2. belief in God (Webster
dictionary)
You said:
What makes believing in God with no proof
a good thing?
What makes it virtuous?
We have loads of proofs. Just Google
this or type in these word in the
Google search box:
As a Catholic Christian, I have at
least two types of proofs:
Historical
Experiential
Historical proof: ancient
manuscripts, writings of the Early
Church Fathers who lived immediate
after Christ's Ascension but the BIGGEST proof is the Resurrection!
651 "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:14) The Resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all Christ's works and teachings. All truths, even those most inaccessible to human reason, find their justification if Christ by his Resurrection has given the definitive proof of his divine authority, which he had promised.
and
Experiential proof based on
living a sacramental life in a state
of grace in the Church.
1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8)
A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.
The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.
(St. Gregory of Nyssa, De beatitudinibus, 1: PG 44,1200D)
Note: St. Gregory says: like God, not God.
Since God creates us and God is good,
if not very good, virtuous acts draw
us closer to what we are meant to
be.
You said:
What did I think
of my ending song?
I loved it! and your Firestone sign:
The Bible is to be demonstrated,
not debated.
I agree. Sadly the main reason it
is debated is because people have
decided to break away from the one
Church Jesus established on St. Peter
and his successors.
