De fide

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For De Fide written by Ambrose of Milan for the Emperor Gratian, see Ambrose.


De fide (of the faith) is a "theological note" "theological qualification" that indicates that some religious doctrine is an essential part of Catholic faith and that denial of it is heresy.[1] The doctrine is de fide divina et ecclesiastica (of divine and ecclesiastical faith), if contained in the sources of revelation and therefore believed to have been revealed by God (de fide divina) and if taught by the Church (de fide ecclesiastica). If a doctrine has been solemnly defined by a pope or an ecumenical council as a dogma, the doctrine is de fide definita.[1][2]

What is believed to be a truth contained in the sources of revelation thus becomes a "dogma", in the present ecclesiastical sense of this word, only when enunciated by the Church: "According to a long-standing usage a dogma is now understood to be a truth appertaining to faith or morals, revealed by God, transmitted from the Apostles in the Scriptures or by tradition, and proposed by the Church for the acceptance of the faithful."[3]

Ludwig Ott's work 'Fundamentals of Catholic dogma'[4][5] characterizes statements of catholic faith including de fide dogma. Some examples, from a total of around 238 dogmatic statements, are given below with their respective page numbers:

  • God, our Creator and Lord, can be known with certainty, by the natural light of reason from created things. (pg 13)
  • God’s existence is not merely an object of natural rational knowledge, but also an object of supernatural faith. (pg 17)
  • God’s Nature is incomprehensible to men. (pg 20)
  • The blessed in Heaven possess an immediate intuitive knowledge of the Divine Essence. (pg 20)
  • The Divine Attributes are really identical among themselves and with the Divine Essence. (pg 28)
  • God is absolutely perfect. (pg 30)
  • God is absolutely immutable. (pg 35)
  • Christ’s Divine and Human characteristics sad activities are to be predicated ofthe one Word Incarnate. (pg 160)
  • Baptism can be validly administered by anyone. (pg 356)
  • The Baptism of young children is valid and licit. (pg 359)
  • The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are truly, really and substantially present in the Eucharist. (pg 373)
  • For children before the age of reason the reception of the Eucharist is not necessary for salvation. (pg 396)
  • The power of consecration resides in a validly consecrated priest only. (pg 397)
  • All temporal punishments for sin are not always remitted by God with the guilt of sin and the eternal punishment. (pg 434)
  • The Sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation to those who, after Baptism, fall into grievous sin. (pg 438)

References[]

  1. ^ a b Karl Rahner, Theological Notes, in Encyclopedia of Theology
  2. ^ Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic dogma
  3. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Dogma
  4. ^ "Dogmas of the Catholic Church from "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" by Dr. Ludwig Ott". traditionalcatholic.net/. Archived from the original on 2003-12-15.
  5. ^ Ott, Ludwig (1960). Fundamentals of Catholic dogma. Translated by Lynch, Patrick. Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and publishers, Inc.

Sources[]

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