Third, [that] believing is an act of faith, not of repentance.
Third, [that] believing is an act of faith, not of repentance.
§ 52. (III) “The parts that flow from the virtue of repentance must be considered the parts of repentance. But believing is not an act of repentance, which is a moral virtue, but rather it is an act of faith, a theological virtue.”
We respond. The argument proceeds from a false hypothesis, under which inner repentance is claimed as a moral virtue rising from man’s free choice, and outward repentance or acts of the penitent are claimed to be material parts of a sacrament. We discussed this earlier [§§ 19–32, 37–38].