“Faith is different from proof; the one is human, the other is a gift of God. Justus ex fide vivit. It is this faith that God Himself puts into the heart, of which the proof is often the instrument, fides ex auditu; but this faith is in the heart, and makes us not say scio, but credo.”(248)
Do you even need me to expound on this particular Pascal quote? In our last post, we walked through how we try to prove the existence of the infinite, but instead land on a doctrine of chance. We know that in the end, we are limited in our proof. Not because God is limited, but because we are. The existence of God does not hinge on us. This is why Pascal points us to faith as the great connector. It is with faith that God helps us bridge this last gap. We can see the evidence for God, reason from His creation, and study minute metaphors, but we can't make the leap without faith.
It is no wonder that Hebrews says, 'without faith it is impossible to please God.' God puts faith into us so that at the end of the day we can't say that we've done anything to bring our own salvation. We can't even fully understand it without God imparting this faith to us. Non scio, credo. Remember what the mathematician Pascal has to say:
If we submit everything to reason, our religion will have no mysterious and supernatural element. If we offend the principles of reason, our religion will be absurd and ridiculous.(273)
- Justus ex fide vivit — The just shall live by faith
- fides ex auditu — faith comes by hearing
- scio — I know
- credo — I believe