MODULE ONE Lesson 4 CHRISTIAN FAITH: MEANING, SOURCES, PILLARS, DIMENSIONS

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Meaning
Faith is derived from the Greek word pistis, and Latin word fides which is synonymously related to the following words: steadfast, trustful attitude towards
God, belief.

Christian faith means believing that Christ reveals God to us in and through the Catholic Church, the Body of Christ, united in the Holy Spirit. It our personal response
to God as “disciples of Christ” of accepting Him “as Lord and Savior.” (CFC 114).
Faith in human relations is a basic existential experience. We believe in authorities around us because they help us to become the best person we can be
somehow. Let us proceed by looking at the primary and secondary sources of our Christian faith.
Sources
Primary Sources – Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition
Catechism for Filipino Catholics teaches rightly by stating that “The Sacred Scriptures, collected in the Bible, are the inspired record of how God dealt with His
people, and how they responded to, remembered, and interpreted that experience. The Sacred Scriptures is the expression of the people’s experience of God and
as a response to their needs. Collectively, the Scriptures form ‘The Book of the People of God’ – the book of the Church. The Bible was written by persons from the
people of God, for the people of God, about the God-experience of the people of God.” (CFC 81).
“Sacred Tradition is the process by which divine revelation, coming from Jesus Christ through the apostles, communicated and unfolded in the community of
the Church, or as the content of the revelation so communicated. Thus the living Tradition of the Church which includes the inspired word of God in the Sacred
Scripture, is the channel through which God’ self-revelation comes to us. “(CFC 83).
“As the Sacred Scripture grew from Tradition, so it is interpreted by Tradition – the life, worship, and teaching of the Church. Tradition depends on Scripture as
its normative record of Christian origins and identity, while Scripture requires the living Tradition of the Church to bring its Scriptural message to the fresh
challenges and changing contexts confronting Christians in every age.” (CFC 84).
“The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living
teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."47 This means that the task of interpretation has been
entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.”(CCC 85).
"Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help
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of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn
from this single deposit of faith."(CCC 86).
Secondary Source – Human experience
“We experience life as personal, self-aware beings. The Bible teaches that God is a personal, self-aware person and that mankind is created in his image.
We are capable of knowledge. God is revealed in Scripture as a person with knowledge, and mankind is created in his image.
We have a sense that there is an actual transcendent existence. Human beings in virtually every society throughout the ages have had a sense that there is an
afterlife and that there is a God. Based on the Biblical revelation, God is understood to be a transcendent person who exists in a spiritual reality outside of the
physical universe.
We experience life in relationships. The structure of the human psyche and social organization is based on human relationships. Scripture teaches that God desires
personal interaction with mankind and has provided a means by which individuals may know him in a personal relationship. The Biblical account of creation also
indicates that mankind was created to live in relationship with his fellow human beings.”
Four Pillars of Faith
1. CREED
2. SACRAMENTS
3. COMMANDMENTS/ BEATITUDES
4. PRAYER
Essential Dimensions

Believing – “Faith involves our basic convictions as Christians. ‘For if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead; you will be saved’ (Rom 10:9). Faith then, is knowing, but not mere ‘head knowledge’ of some abstract truths. It is like the deep knowledge we have
of our parents, or of anyone we love dearly. Christian faith then is personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as ‘my Lord and my God’ (Jn. 20:28). Christ solemnly assures
each of us: ‘Here I stand knocking at the door. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house, and have supper with him, and he with me.’”
(Rev. 3:20, CFC 129).
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Doing – “Besides believing, faith is also doing. Faith is a commitment to follow (obey) God’s will for us. It is our ‘witnessing’ through ‘loving service’ to our
neighbors. In concrete situation, particularly urgent is the call for deeds of justice and love, protecting and caring for our endangered earth’s environment. Here are
the biblical examples pointing us to the need for living out our faith. Before faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he
must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts. (CFC 130, PCP2 78-80, DV 5).

“My brothers, what good is it to profess faith without practicing it?” (Jas. 2:14).
“None of those who cry out ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of God, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Mt. 7:21).
“I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.” (Lk. 1:38).
“This is how all will know you for my disciples: your love for one another.” (Jn. 13:35).

Entrusting/Worshipping – “Beyond believing and doing, faith is also entrusting oneself into God’s hands. Abraham, our father in faith, at God’s command left
everything to set out for a foreign land. Against all odds Moses trusted Yahweh to free the Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt. In the New Testament, Jesus
worked signs and cures only with those who trusted in him. (CFC 132).

“Faith then, is from the heart – the loving, trusting and hoping in the Lord that comes from God’s own love flooding our hearts. This trusting faith ‘lives and
grows through prayer and worship’ – personal heartfelt conversation with God that is opposite of mindless, mechanical repetition of memorized formulas. Genuine
personal and group prayer find both their inspirational source and summit of perfection in the liturgy, the Catholic community’s official public Trinitarian worship of
the Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (CFC 133).

WHAT  is  believed? (Content of Faith) ACT  of  believing (Act of faith)

Saving truths  /  revealed truths Response to God’s revelation
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Objective content of Faith Faith as a way of life

Objective dimension of Faith Subjective dimension of Faith

The Christian message: the Gospel in daily life:

Doctrine:  The Creed Doctrine:      act of paniniwala
Understanding, believing

Morals:     Ten Commandments, Beatitudes Morals    :    act of pagtalima
living out of Faith,      witnessing

 Worship:   Prayer,  Liturgy,  Sacraments Worship  :   act of pagtitiwala,
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   entrusting,  praying

Faith can be summed up through the table below.

Faculties of a Person Dimensions of Faith Expressions of the Faculties Object of the faculties
of a Person of a Person and Faith
Mind Doctrine Knowing Truth
Body Morals Doing Goodness
Heart Worship Entrusting/Worshippin Beauty/Love
g