Msg Base:  AREA 3  - ASK FATHER (AMDG)
  Msg No: 186.  Sun 12-13-92  4:18  (NO KILL)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Jeremy Lancey
 Subject: doubt in matters of faith

JL|Dear Father Mateo,
  |I am a Roman Catholic who has been interested in Catholic apologetics for
  | a number of years now.  I was hoping you could answer some questions
  | that have been bothering me for some time.
  |I had always believed that to doubt the Catholic faith is a grevious sin
  |against God, but recently it seems I have been getting entirely different
  |answers from presumably conservative Catholic authors.  One case in point
  |is Father William G. Most's "Catholic Apologetics Today".  In this book
  |Most states: "...before anyone can or should believe, he should go through
  |a process of discovery based on reason, not on faith."  It seems to me
  |from the context of this statement in the book that Most is talking about
  |both Catholic and non-Catholics.  This statement seems to be in direct
  |opposition to what I read in the "New Catholic Encyclopedia".  Under the
  |heading "Doubt in Matters of Faith", the encyclopedia states: "The
  |Catholic child accepts God's message as communicated to him by his parents
  |and teachers.  But as he mature he wants fuller evidence that these truths
  |are indeed from God.  Meanwhile, can he suspend belief?...Vatican Council
  |I flatly rejects this [idea], and denies that Catholics can have good
  |reason for suspending thier assent and calling into question the faith
  |received from the Church, until completing a scientific demonstration of
  |its credibility."  This issue was brought to the forefront for me when an
  |Evangelical Protestant boasted to me during a discussion about the
  |Catholic Church that Protestants are willing to admit thir
  |interpretation of the Christian faith is wrong.  He implied that
  |Protestant have faith in Christ while Catholics have faith in the
  |teachings of the Church instead.
  |Do you have any suggestions or knowledge you could share with me that
  |would help me solve my dilemma?  I would indebted to you for any help you
  |may be able to give.
  |Sincerely Yours in Christ Jesus,
  |Jeremy Lancey
 
 
Dear Jeremy,
 
Let me begin by reviewing some of what Scripture tells us about
doubt.  Matthew tells us that after the Resurrection the disciples
went to Galilee as Jesus had instructed them.  When they saw him,
"they worshiped, but some doubted" (28:17).  In Matthew 14:29-31,
Peter walks on the water at Jesus invitation, but when he became
frightened he began to sink.  Jesus caught him and lovingly rebuked
him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (the same Greek
verb as in 28:17).  Here Matthew clearly contrasts doubt and faith.
Mark 11:23 attaches the efficacy of prayer to the faith of anyone who
"does not doubt in his heart, but believes."  Paul in Romans 4:20
contrasts doubt with Abraham's faith, who "did not doubt God's promise
in unbelief; rather he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God."
 
James (1:5-6) is eloquent in contrasting doubt and faith: "If any of
you lacks wisdom, he should ask God ... and he will be given it.  But
he should ask in faith, not doubting."  The whole passage should be
read (vv. 2-8).  One who doubts "is a man of two minds" (James 1:8).
He is reluctant to assent, in some cases because he sees no compelling
evidence, in others because of fear, in others because he feels
threatened or hemmed in by God's claims upon him.
 
Because faith must be a reasonable service, everyone needs reasonable
motives to believe.  Once a person sees that it is reasonable for him
to believe, then he is positioned to believe.
 
To pass from this stage to actual saving faith, God must intervene.
Faith is God's free gift, or rather, the grace needed to make a
supernatural act of faith is God's free gift.  When someone assisted
by God's grace accepts Jesus Christ and entrusts himself to him as
Lord and Savior, he is challenged to keep all his commandments, which
in faith and love he will not find burdensome nor beyond his strength
(1st John 5:3; 1st Corinth. 10:13).  Keeping Christ's commandments
means also accepting all his teaching.  The whole teaching of Christ
includes the Mass, the sacraments, the Church, all the doctrines. His
total gift of himself to us meets our total gift of ourselves to
him.  And faith is the ground of our meeting.  That is why without
faith no one can please God (Hebrews 11:6).
 
If Father Most writes (and I have not read his book), "Before anyone
can or should believe, he should go through a process of discovery
based on reason, not on faith," I agree, if we are talking about
adult inquirers who are seeking reasonable motives upon which to base
the faith they as yet do not profess.  Others whether children who were
baptized in infancy or adult Catholics who are seeking a maturer
knowledge of their religion, must also be convinced of the
reasonableness of the faith they already profess.  But they are ready
to go further because they already have the virtue and grace of faith
by reason of their baptism.  But no one who has made his commitment to
Christ in faith can, without sin, then withhold his assent pending further
study.  He must believe all the while he studies.
 
Someone has said (was it Augustine?), "Ten thousand difficulties in the
faith do not make one doubt."  Difficulties are a challenge to study,
to confer, to pray.  They tend toward the strengthening of our faith.
But doubt is always some kind of hesitancy to believe even though God
has spoken and the Church proclaims his revelation.  Faith is certain
knowledge, because it rests on God's wisdom and truthfulness as
Revealer.  But the truths of our religion are not like the truths of
geometry or history.  Our minds can never perfectly cope with the
mysteries of God.  Here below, we can arrive at a certain understanding
of them, but not a total comprehension.
 
Your evangelical friend is not wise to attempt to dichotomize Christ
and the Church he founded to proclaim him and to preach his
doctrines.  He does an injustice to his Bible, which tells him that
the Church is the Body of Christ (Col. 1:24) and the Pillar and
Foundation of Truth (1st Timothy 3:15).  To say that one's own
interpretation of the Christian faith can be wrong is to admit being out
of touch with the Pillar and Foundation of Truth.  It is also to call
into doubt Christ's promise to send the Holy Spirit. But we know that
the Father has given us the Spirit to be with us always (John
14:16).  He teaches us everything and reminds us of all that Christ
told us (14:26).  He leads us to faith in Christ and keeps us there.
 
St. Joseph Communications -- P.O. Box 720 West Covina, CA 91793
publishes a tape series of 8 tapes entitled "Becoming a Catholic Even
If You Happen To Be One". In that set there is a tape by Peter
Kreeft: "Faith: To Believe or Not To Believe".  I recommend it highly.
The set costs $39.95 plus $4.00 PH plus 8-1/4% sales tax for Calif.
residents.  Maybe they'll sell you just the one tape.  Call them at
818-331-3549.  Credit card orders only: 1-800-526-2151.
 
                                        Sincerely in Christ,
                                                Father Mateo
 
 
 * OLX 2.1 TD * Cry out with joy and gladness;  for among you
                is the great and Holy One of Israel.
 
.ORIGIN: 043/001 - THE ANGELUS,      -the Word became flesh                     
                                and made his dwelling among us -                
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