Saturday, July 31, 2010

Values

FAITH 

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
And Faith is taking a step even though you don't see the staircase.

 

According to Roman Catholic theology, in an objective sense faith is the sum of truths revealed by God in Scripture and tradition and which the Church presents to us in a brief form in its creeds. Subjectively, faith stands for the habit or virtue by which these truths are assented to.

Faith is a supernatural act

Faith is claimed to be a supernatural act performed by Divine grace. It is "the act of the intellect assenting to a Divine truth owing to the movement of the will, which is itself moved by the grace of God" (St. Thomas, II-II, Q. iv, a. 2). And just as the light of faith is a gift supernaturally bestowed upon the understanding, so also this Divine grace moving the will is, as its name implies, an equally supernatural and an absolutely gratuitous gift. Neither gift is due to previous study, neither of them can be acquired by human efforts, but "Ask and ye shall receive."
Because the virtue is "infused" and not reachable by human efforts, it is therefore one of the theological virtues.

Faith is blind

  • Whatever God reveals is true



    • but, God has revealed the Holy Trinity, which is mystery



      • therefore this mystery is true.
Roman Catholics accept the major premise as being beyond doubt, a presupposition upon which reason is based and thus intrinsically evident to reason; the minor premise is also held to be true, based on belief in the infallibility of certain Church declarations, and also because, as the Vatican Council says, "in addition to the internal assistance of His Holy Spirit, it has pleased God to give us certain external proofs of His revelation, viz. certain Divine facts, especially miracles and prophecies, for since these latter clearly manifest God's omnipotence knowledge, they afford most certain proofs of His revelation and are suited to the capacity of all." Hence Thomas Aquinas writes: "A man would not believe unless he saw the things he had to believe, either by the evidence of miracles or of something similar" (II-II:1:4, ad 1). Thomas is here speaking of the motives of credibility, the causes which give rise to belief. and infinite. 



Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life.
In a religious context, it is not considered as a physical emotion but as a spiritual grace. Hope is distinct from positive thinking, which refers to a therapeutic or systematic process used in psychology for reversing pessimism. The term false hope refers to a hope based entirely around a fantasy or an extremely unlikely outcome.




LOVE


Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) 




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