ON THE NECESSITY OF FAITH.

S. Th. II-II, q. 2, a. 3 and 5-8 ; De Verit., q. 14, a. 10-12.

706. A twofold necessity: one of means, the other of precept. — It should be premised that something is said to be necessary for an end either by necessity of means, or by necessity of precept. What is necessary by necessity of means is the means which positively influences the attainment of the end, and indeed in such a way that without it, even involuntarily omitted, the end cannot be attained. What is necessary by necessity of precept is not a means for the end, but that which is imposed by precept, so that, when the precept is known, its observance is a condition, as voluntary transgression is an obstacle to attaining the end ; hence it does not positively but negatively influence, by not placing an obstacle. From which definition it follows that invincible ignorance excuses from the necessity of precept, because it excuses from the sin which would be an obstacle to attaining the end ; but it does not free from the necessity of means any kind of ignorance or impossibility, for this does not supply the necessary influence of the means to attain the end.

Necessity of means is either from the nature of the thing, or from positive institution ; likewise, necessity of means is either in the thing itself when the means itself is always necessary, or in desire when the defect of the means can be supplied by something else together with the desire of it. Examples for salvation are : sanctifying grace, and Baptism.

707. Faith is necessary by necessity of means.

I. By necessity of means for salvation, both for little ones and for adults, from the nature of the thing, the habit of faith is necessary, because without it charity cannot be had. Council of Trent, sess. 6, c. 7.

II. By necessity of means for justification and in this way for salvation¹], for adults, i.e. those having the use of reason, from the nature of the thing, at all times for all, the act of faith properly so called is necessary, by which they explicitly believe, on account of divine revelation, that God, the institutor and end of the supernatural order, exists, and that He is a rewarder.

It is proved : 1° From Scripture, which frequently declares the absolute necessity of the voluntary reception of faith properly so called (for it recognizes no other as necessary) for obtaining justification (Heb. X, 38 ff. ; Rom. I, 17 ; III, 26 ; IV, 5 ; Gal. II, 16 ; Mk. XVI, 16), and expressly teaches in Heb. XI, 6, that « without faith it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God (the act of faith) must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who seek Him ».

2° From the perpetual doctrine of the Church, which is evident from Trent, sess. 6, c. 6, 7, 8 ; from Vat., sess. 3, c. 3, can. 2 ; and from the condemnation of prop. 22 and 23 by Innocent XI²].

3° From reason : a) No one can order and tend himself to a supernatural end, which nevertheless is required for justification, unless he knows that end. But we cannot know the supernatural end by reason, but only by revelation, to which faith corresponds. Therefore.

b) Likewise no one can hope for salvation and have supernatural contrition for sin, unless he knows the supernatural end and reward. But for justification supernatural hope and contrition are required (Council of Trent, sess. 6 and 14). Therefore for justification it is required that we believe the supernatural end.

From what has been said it follows a) that a true concept of the one God is required, by which namely He is distinguished from creatures, and is known at least as creator, or almighty, or necessary or most perfect being ; otherwise we would not tend to the true God ; b) that a knowledge of God as natural end and rewarder does not suffice : for although it is not required that we distinctly and formally know as supernatural the end or the reward, nevertheless we must believe the reward which in fact is supernatural ;

c) in practice there is no difficulty in this : whoever believes by faith on account of the authority of God revealing that God exists and rewards, by that very fact believes that God is revealing Himself in a supernatural manner, i.e. communicating with us beyond the demands of nature, and believes God to be a rewarder of the reward which He has promised by His revelation.

III. Before the promulgation of the Gospel, explicit faith in the Incarnation (and at the same time in the Passion, death, redemption, resurrection, and glorious kingdom of Christ in heaven) and in the Holy Trinity was not necessary by necessity of means for justification, but implicit faith sufficed ; whether, however, after the promulgation of the Gospel it is required by positive divine institution, is disputed. Although the affirmative opinion of S. Thomas and S. Alphonsus is more probable and more conformed to the manner of speaking of Holy Scripture and the holy Fathers³], it is nevertheless not altogether certain, because the texts which are brought forward to prove it, and which preach the necessity of faith in Christ according to them, perhaps can also be understood either of the sole efficacy of faith in Christ ; — or of the sole necessity of precept ; — or of necessity of means, but of the merits and grace of Christ, or of the faith by which we are united to Christ, or at least of implicit faith in Christ. However, since in things necessary for the end, in the present case for salvation, it is illicit to choose a merely probable opinion, but the safer course must be followed (cf. n. 215 ; 3°), therefore in practice these two mysteries are to be considered as to be believed by necessity of means.

708. Practical corollaries. — 1. Since one who is ignorant of the existence of God as supernatural end and rewarder is incapable of justification and certainly indisposed, the sacraments, even of Baptism or Penance, can never be given to him. Indeed confessions made with ignorance, even invincible, of these truths are null (from defect of contrition) and therefore must be repeated.

2. Neither can these sacraments be administered to one who is ignorant of the mystery of the Incarnation or of the Trinity ; but he must first be instructed about these, because it is illicit to expose the sacrament to the danger of unfruitfulness, or Penance to the danger of nullity (Holy Off. 25 Jan. and 10 May 1703, renewed 30 March 1898 ; Innocent XI, prop. 64 and 65). The case of extreme necessity is excepted, when the means or time for instruction is lacking ; in which case the sacrament of Penance is administered under the condition : if you are capable, provided the other requisites are present, but with these given, the other sacraments absolutely.

3. Especially let can. 752, § 2 be noted : An adult « in danger of death, if he cannot be carefully instructed in the chief mysteries of faith, it is sufficient for the conferring of Baptism that he in some way show that he assents to them and seriously promise that he will keep the commands of the Christian religion ».

4. Since confessions made with ignorance, not through grave fault, of the Incarnation or of the Holy Trinity, by one who in good faith thought himself to be rightly disposed, are not certainly invalid, although they may more safely be repeated, nevertheless the faithful cannot be strictly obliged to this.

5. When it concerns the half-witted or very ignorant, an act of faith in the one and triune God, and in Christ the Redeemer, is to be suggested to them before they are absolved ; that the absolution may more safely become valid⁴].

6. Hence S. Alphonsus notes, Th. M., b. 2, c. 1, n. 2 : If someone were so unlearned that he could not in any way perceive the foregoing mysteries, and therefore does not explicitly believe them, as to this he would be likened to infants and the demented ; if he cannot retain them, it would suffice that he explicitly believe the individual articles as they are proposed to him. This case is otherwise rare, even in barbarous regions.

7. For justification, faith implicit on the part of the act, or faith in desire or broadly so called, is not sufficient, but faith in act is required, by which we explicitly believe God revealing ; nevertheless implicit faith on the part of the object suffices, inasmuch as the revealed truths are grasped in a confused way, but explicit faith is required as to the truths necessary by necessity of means.

709. Faith is necessary by necessity of precept.

A. By necessity of precept under grave obligation, the following must be explicitly known by all as to their substance, i.e. so that they have a common understanding of them, and when questioned about them can answer the substance, although they may not retain either the precise words or the order of the words in memory :

1° What is required for rightly believing and thinking, namely the Apostles' Creed, as is evident from the perpetual practice of the Church, which demanded this knowledge before Baptism ; moreover a Christian should have a summary knowledge of Christ's doctrine as to the chief truths, namely the articles of faith, and be able to distinguish it from that of others.

Those things, however, which are contained in the creed and are of lesser moment, are only obligatory under venial sin, such as the perpetual virginity of the B.M.V. ; the circumstances of time : under Pontius Pilate, on the third day ; the burial of Christ, and His descent into hell, and His sitting at the right hand of the Father ; the judgment of the living and the dead ; the communion of saints, etc.

2° What is required for rightly living, namely

a) the universal precepts of law, namely the precepts of the decalogue and the five precepts of the Church, which all are bound to keep ;

b) the duties proper to one's state or condition.

3° What is required for rightly using the special helps of salvation, namely

a) the Lord's prayer, about which they ought at least to know, for each of the goods to be acquired and evils to be avoided which are enumerated there, that God is to be prayed to and can help, and to ask the saints for their intercession for the things that are difficult for us ;

b) the sacraments, insofar as is necessary to receive them well, namely Baptism, Penance, and the Eucharist always, because they pertain to all, but the others when one wishes to receive them.

The Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the sacraments are to be explicitly believed ; the rest can sufficiently also be explicitly known by reason alone ; the decalogue, as having been revealed, can be explicitly believed, and at least implicitly ought to be.

B. By necessity of precept under venial sin, the following must be explicitly known by all from custom and common usage of the faithful :

1° the sign of the cross, which is the distinctive sign of a Christian ;

2° the angelic salutation, at least as to its substance, because the B.V. is the mediatrix of grace ;

3° the Creed, the precepts of the decalogue and of the Church, the Lord's Prayer, as to the words.

710. Practical corollaries. — 1. Parents and superiors, whose duty it is to instruct others in the faith, are gravely bound, as soon as they have reached the use of reason, to teach them gradually those things which must be known by necessity of means and precept. This duty in parish priests is one of justice.

2. Hence greater explicit faith is required in some by reason of office, condition, and state, e.g. in those who must instruct others, such as a bishop, a parish priest, a preacher, a confessor, a man of greater learning, a judge, a magistrate, etc.

3. If the confessor, on probable grounds, doubts whether the penitent is ignorant of what must be known by necessity of means or precept, he is bound to question him about these. This often happens today.

4. « The confessor conjectures that ignorance from the weakness of younger or older age, from dullness of mind, from lack of education and literacy, and from the manner of confessing, from the confession itself, as from long-continued neglect of prayer, attendance at church, sermons, sacraments, and remaining in doubt from a prudent and discreet questioning » (Waffelaert, o.c. n. 191).

5. S. Alphonsus notes, however, Pr. Conf., n. 22 : « S. Leonard of Port Maurice, speaking of urban persons neglecting their own salvation, who consider it a great labor and insult to be questioned about these things, says it is fitting for the confessor to say to them : Come, let us elicit together the Christian acts, say with me... », adding namely the act of faith with the principal mysteries.

6. Those ignorant of what is necessary only by necessity of precept are to be admonished to learn it, and if they seriously propose it, they can be absolved. But if they have already been often admonished, it is to be investigated whether the previous confessions were not invalid from defect of purpose ; and sometimes absolution is to be absolutely deferred to them. — But if they do not have opportunity to learn those things, the confessor should propose to them the substance to be believed, with the burden of learning it more perfectly, or of applying themselves to learn it.

7. S. Alphonsus notes, Th. M., b. 2, n. 3, 30 : In practice, those who do not know the Creed, the prayers, etc., by heart, especially if they are unlearned, are to be admonished to learn them ; otherwise they expose themselves to the great danger of not even retaining the substance, and will scarcely otherwise satisfy the precept of prayer.