Some claim that faith is not part of repentance.
Some claim that faith is not part of repentance.
§ 49. Let us proceed to Bellarmine’s second proposition which he shapes from the parts of repentance: “Faith is not a part of penance, though it is required necessarily to effect it.” On this point the Council of Trent (sess. 14, canon 4), Calvin (Instit., bk. 3, ch. 3, § 5), Martyr [Vermigli] (Loc., class. 3, ch. 8, p. 603), and Bucanus (Loci, p. 288) agree with Bellarmine.
** The Catech. Rom. (f. 245) states: “In no way can faith rightly be called a part of penance.” **
We respond. (1) We demonstrated earlier [§ 42] that faith cannot be crossed off from the number of essential parts of repentance.
(2) When Bellarmine concedes that faith is required for repentance,7 he does not mean the confidence which rests upon Christ’s merit and hopes for the free remission of sins for Christ’s sake. Instead, he means historical faith, which claims that whatever is set before us in the Word that God has revealed is true, for he writes in this way (De justific., bk. 1, ch. 9): “When we confess in the Creed that we believe in the forgiveness of sins, the meaning of the words is this: ‘I believe that the gift of forgiveness is flourishing in the church, but I do not believe that my sins have been forgiven.’ ” Let us see the arguments with which he fights.