How do we
Believe in the Person of Jesus
To believe in a divine Person is the fundamental and authentic meaning of faith in the Old Testament and the New Testament. To believe that a statement or doctrine is true is the secondary or derived meaning of faith.
- In his Gospel St. John uses the verb "to believe" 94 times.
- Jesus or John is speaking of "believing in a divine Person", 55 times or 59% of the times.
- Jesus or John is speaking of believing that statement is true 39 times or 41% of those times.
- St. Paul speaks 22 times of faith in the Person of Jesus—a faith relationship that is a personal and life-giving surrender to Jesus Himself.
- The other authors of the New Testament also speak of believing in the divine Persons and believing that statements are true.
To believe in a Divine Person is to entrust oneself to Him, to surrender to Him, to put oneself completely at His disposal, to be totally available to that Divine Person. Of course the three Divine Persons are worthy of such faith in Them and we are called to such a surrendered relationship with Them. But since original sin has left us with a relentless tendency to put our faith in ourselves, we are commanded to put our faith in the Person of Jesus Christ:
"Let not your hearts be troubled believe in God, believe also in me". (John 14:1)
"And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us". (1 John 3:23)
Catholic teaching requires such faith in the Divine Persons.
