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Objection 1: It would seem that faith is not one. For just as
faith is a gift of God according to Eph. 2:8, so also wisdom and
knowledge are numbered among God's gifts according to Is. 11:2.
Now wisdom and knowledge differ in this, that wisdom is about eternal
things, and knowledge about temporal things, as Augustine states
(De Trin. xii, 14,15). Since, then, faith is about
eternal things, and also about some temporal things, it seems that
faith is not one virtue, but divided into several parts.
Objection 2: Further, confession is an act of faith, as stated
above (Question 3, Article 1). Now confession of faith is not
one and the same for all: since what we confess as past, the fathers
of old confessed as yet to come, as appears from Is. 7:14:
"Behold a virgin shall conceive." Therefore faith is not one.
Objection 3: Further, faith is common to all believers in Christ.
But one accident cannot be in many subjects. Therefore all cannot
have one faith.
On the contrary, The Apostle says (Eph. 4:5): "One Lord,
one faith."
I answer that, If we take faith as a habit, we can consider it in
two ways. First on the part of the object, and thus there is one
faith. Because the formal object of faith is the First Truth, by
adhering to which we believe whatever is contained in the faith.
Secondly, on the part of the subject, and thus faith is
differentiated according as it is in various subjects. Now it is
evident that faith, just as any other habit, takes its species from
the formal aspect of its object, but is individualized by its subject.
Hence if we take faith for the habit whereby we believe, it is one
specifically, but differs numerically according to its various
subjects.
If, on the other hand, we take faith for that which is believed,
then, again, there is one faith, since what is believed by all is one
same thing: for though the things believed, which all agree in
believing, be diverse from one another, yet they are all reduced to
one.
Reply to Objection 1: Temporal matters which are proposed to be
believed, do not belong to the object of faith, except in relation to
something eternal, viz. the First Truth, as stated above
(Question 1, Article 1). Hence there is one faith of things
both temporal and eternal. It is different with wisdom and knowledge,
which consider temporal and eternal matters under their respective
aspects.
Reply to Objection 2: This difference of past and future arises,
not from any difference in the thing believed, but from the different
relationships of believers to the one thing believed, as also we have
mentioned above (FS, Question 103, Article 4; FS,
Question 107, Article 1, ad 1).
Reply to Objection 3: This objection considers numerical diversity
of faith.
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