YOUCAT Question n. 25 - Part II. Why does the faith require definitions and formulas?
(Youcat answer - repeated) Faith is not about empty
words but about reality. In the Church, condensed formulas of faith developed
over the course of time; with their help we can contemplate, express, learn,
hand on, celebrate, and live out this reality.
A deepening through
CCC
(CCC 173) "Indeed, the Church, though scattered
throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, having received the
faith from the apostles and their disciples… guards [this preaching and faith]
with care, as dwelling in but a single house, and similarly believes as if
having but one soul and a single heart, and preaches, teaches and hands on this
faith with a unanimous voice, as if possessing only one mouth" (St.
Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 1, 10, 1-2: PG
7/1, 549-552).
Reflecting and
meditating
(Youcat comment)
Without fixed forms, the content of the
faith would dissipate. That is why the Church attaches great importance to
definite sentences, the precise wording of which was usually achieved
painstakingly, so as to protect the message of Christ from misunderstandings
and falsifications. Furthermore, creeds are important when the Church’s faith
has to be translated into different cultures while being preserved in its essentials,
because a common faith is the foundation for the Church’s unity.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 174) "For though languages differ throughout the
world, the content of the Tradition is one and the same. The Churches
established in Germany have no other faith or Tradition, nor do those of the
Iberians, nor those of the Celts, nor those of the East, of Egypt, of Libya,
nor those established at the centre of the world…" (St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 1, 10, 1-2: PG 7/1,
552-553). The Church's message "is true and solid, in which one and the
same way of salvation appears throughout the whole world" (St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 5, 20, 1: PG 7/2, 1177). [End]
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