The Decrees of the Vatican Council/Part 2/Chapter 3

 

III. Of Faith

1. If anyone shall say that human reason is so independent that faith cannot be enjoined upon it by God; let him be anathema.

2. If anyone shall say that divine faith is not distinguished from natural knowledge of God and of moral truths, and therefore that it is not requisite for divine faith that revealed truth be believed because of the authority of God who reveals it; let him be anathema.

3. If anyone shall say that divine revelation cannot be made credible by outward signs, and therefore that men ought to be moved to faith solely by the internal experience of each, or by private inspiration; let him be anathema.

4. If anyone shall say that miracles are impossible, and therefore that all the accounts regarding them, even those contained in Holy Scripture, are to be dismissed as fabulous or mythical; or that miracles can never be known with certainty, and that the divine origin of Christianity is not rightly proved by them; let him be anathema.

5. If anyone shall say that the assent of Christian faith is not a free act, but necessarily produced by the arguments of human reason; or that the grace of God is necessary for that living faith only which worketh by charity; let him be anathema.

6. If anyone shall say that the condition of the faithful and of those who have not yet attained to the only true faith is on a par, so that Catholics may have just cause for doubting, with suspended assent, the faith which they have already received under the teaching (magisterio) of the Church, until they shall have obtained a scientific demonstration of the credibility and truth of their faith; let him be anathema.