Journal 4: Faith

The key idea to remember in this section about Faith are the seven major characteristics that Catholic Faith is composed of.  First, Faith is a grace that God gives to us, but we do not deserve.  It is only through God's loving mercy that we are able to receive His Grace.  Second, Faith requires that each us freely respond to God and accept him.  This is made possible through another gift God has given to us, free will.  Thirdly, Faith is a risk, in the same sense that a marriage is a risk.  In either, we as humans cannot predict the future, so we must put our trust in our thinking that we have done the right thing. Fourth, Faith is a reasonable thing.  We believe that as Catholics, our beliefs are good reasons to put our Faith in God.  Fifth, Faith is certain and with it we are able to have a firm foundation in our love of God.   Sixth, Faith seeks understanding.  With the Faith that we have we are able to easily further our pursuit of knowledge and devotion toward God.  Finally, Faith is a virtue because people have not fallen prey to the trials that are presented to them and their reason overcomes all else.

Top 3 Ideas:

1.  There are both four basic virtues and in addition there are three theological virtues.  The fundamental virtues are justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance.  Justce is equality to other humans, prudence is the making of good judgements, fortitude is the courage to continue, and temperance is being mindfull not to go overboard in areas.  These four virtues are also known as the cardinal virtues.  The theological virtues are faith hope and love. 2.  The difference between radicalism and nihilism is very important.  In fact, these two words are quite opposites.  Radicalism is blindly accepting something without thinking about it or asking questions.  Nihilism, on the other hand, doesn't accept anything at all.  The only truth that they believe in is that there are no truths!! 3.  The Biblical idea of Faith is that it is a trust and not purly intellectual.  Second,Faith will not always come easy.  There will be times where we may questiona and challenge what we believe.  Third, Faith is a continuing risk that we must battle through even though it may sometimes be tough.  Lastly, we must always make decisions to further ourselves and our beliefs.

-An image that reminds me of Faith is the Constitution of the U.S..  The framers of the constitution didn't know whether this document would still be in use in five years, let alone over 200 years!  So, it was on faith alone that gave the framers hope and dedication to this great document.

Pictue link

-A question that comes to mind after studying this section on Faith is, "how is it that there are still nihilists and radicals in the world today?"  It is illogical because there is so much information available to people and to disregard it and either blindlessly believe or not believe at all is wrong.  There should be a place for faith in people's lives.

-I have learned that Faith is a vital aspect of people's lives.  The characteristics of Faith truly describe what it means to me and it makes sense.  But, I must strive to avoid nihilist and radical methods of thinking, while instead using my reason and faith to guide my actions in life.