卷一 信仰的宣認 - 第一部分 - 第三章 人對天主的回應/MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD

第三章 人對天主的回應

142. 藉著啟示，「無形的天主，以祂無窮的愛，像朋友般與人交談往來，為邀請他們與自己自己共融契合」。對這項邀請的相稱回應就是信仰。

143. 藉著信仰，人把自己的理智和意志完全交付於天主。人以其整個存在向啟示的天主表示自己的同意。人對啟示的天主所作的此種回應，聖經稱之為 「信德的服從」。

CHAPTER THREE

MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD

142 By his Revelation, "the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company."¹ The adequate response to this invitation is faith.

143 By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God.² With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, "the obedience of faith".³

第一條 我信

一、信德的服從

144. 在信德中服從 (服從，拉丁文 ob-audire意指聽從)是自由地順從所聽到的聖言，因為它的真理是由天主所保証，而天主就是真理本身。聖經給我們提示亞巴郎是這服從的典範，童貞瑪利亞則是這服從最完美的實現者。

亞巴郎 ──「所有信者的父親」

145. 希伯來書在極力褒揚先人們的信德時，特別強調亞巴郎的信德：「因著信德，亞巴郎一蒙召選，就聽命往他將要承受為產業的地方去了；他出走時，還不知道要到那裡去」(希 11:8)。因著信德，他以外鄉僑民身分居住在預許的福地。因著信德，撒辣得以懷孕生下所許的兒子。最後，因著信德，亞巴郎把他的獨子獻作祭品。

146. 這樣，亞巴郎就實現了希伯來書對信德所下的定義：「信德是所希望之事的擔保，是未見之事的確証」(希 11:1)。「亞巴郎信了天主，天主就以此算為他的正義」(羅 4:3)。靠著這堅強的信德，亞巴郎成了所有信者的「父親」(羅 4:11,18; 4:20)。

147. 舊約中充滿這類信德的見証。希伯來書褒揚了先人們的模範信德，他們都因這褒揚而「作了良好的見証」(希 11:2,39)。可是，「天主為我們早已預備了一件更好的事」，就是相信祂的聖子、「信德的創始者和完成者耶穌」(希 11:40; 12:2)。

瑪利亞 ──「那位信了的真有福」

148. 童貞瑪利亞以最完美的方式實現了信德的服從。藉著信德，瑪利亞接納了天使加俾厄爾向她報告和許下的事，相信「在天主前沒有不可能的事」(路 1:37)，並表示了自己的同意：「我是上主的婢女，願照你的話成就於我吧！」 (路 1:38)。依撒伯爾讚美她說：「那信了上主傳於她的話必要完成的，是有福的」(路 1:45)。因著這個信德，萬世萬代的人都要稱她有福。

149. 在瑪利亞的一生中，直至最後的考驗、 即她的聖子耶穌死在十字架上時， 她的信德從未動搖過。她從未中止相信天主的話「必會完成」。因此教會尊崇瑪利亞為信德最純正的實現者。

Article 1

I BELIEVE

I. The Obedience of Faith

144 To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to "hear or listen to") in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. the Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.

Abraham - "father of all who believe"

145 The Letter to the Hebrews, in its great eulogy of the faith of Israel's ancestors, lays special emphasis on Abraham's faith: "By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go."⁴ By faith, he lived as a stranger and pilgrim in the promised land.⁵ By faith, Sarah was given to conceive the son of the promise. and by faith Abraham offered his only son in sacrifice.⁶

146 Abraham thus fulfils the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen":⁷ "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."⁸ Because he was "strong in his faith", Abraham became the "father of all who believe".⁹

147 The Old Testament is rich in witnesses to this faith. the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims its eulogy of the exemplary faith of the ancestors who "received divine approval".¹⁰ Yet "God had foreseen something better for us": the grace of believing in his Son Jesus, "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith".¹¹

Mary - "Blessed is she who believed"

148 The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings and promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that "with God nothing will be impossible" and so giving her assent: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word."¹² Elizabeth greeted her: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."¹³ It is for this faith that all generations have called Mary blessed.¹⁴

149 Throughout her life and until her last ordeal¹⁵ when Jesus her son died on the cross, Mary's faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfilment of God's word. and so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of faith.

二、「我知道我所信賴的是誰」(弟後 1:12)

相信唯一的天主

150. 信仰首先是人對天主的個人依附，同時，與此分不開的，就是自由地認同天主所啟示的全部真理。由於個人對天主的依附及對祂所啟示的真理的認同，基督徒的信仰有別於對一般人的信任。完全依賴天主及絕對相信祂所說的話，是正確和合理的事。反之，把同樣的信心放在一個受造物身上， 卻是虛幻和錯謬的行為。

相信耶穌基督、天主子

151. 對基督徒來講，相信天主與相信祂所派遣的那一位、祂「所喜悅的愛子」 (谷 1:11)，是分不開的；天主要求我們聽從祂。主親自對自己的門徒們說過：「你們要信賴天主，也要信賴我」(若 14:1)。我們能信奉耶穌基督，因為祂本身是天主，是降生成人的聖言：「從來沒有人見過天主，只有那在父懷裡的獨生子，給我們詳述了」(若 1:18)。因為「祂看見過父」(若 6:46)，只有祂認識父，並把父啟示出來。

相信聖神

152. 若非分沾祂的聖神，我們無法相信耶穌基督。是聖神向人啟示耶穌是誰。 因為「除非受聖神感動，沒有一個人能說：『耶穌是主』」(格前 12:3)。「聖神洞察一切，連天主的深奧事理祂也洞悉……除了天主聖神外，誰也不能明瞭天主的奧秘」(格前 2:10-11)。只有天主完全認識天主。我們相信聖神，因為祂是天主。

II. "I Know Whom I Have Believed"¹⁶

To believe in God alone

150 Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As personal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature.¹⁷

To believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God

151 For a Christian, believing in God cannot be separated from believing in the One he sent, his "beloved Son", in whom the Father is "well pleased"; God tells us to listen to him.¹⁸ The Lord himself said to his disciples: "Believe in God, believe also in me."¹⁹ We can believe in Jesus Christ because he is himself God, the Word made flesh: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known."²⁰ Because he "has seen the Father", Jesus Christ is the only one who knows him and can reveal him.²¹

To believe in the Holy Spirit

152 One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without sharing in his Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to men who Jesus is. For "no one can say "Jesus is Lord", except by the Holy Spirit",²² who "searches everything, even the depths of God. . No one comprehends the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God."²³ Only God knows God completely: we believe in the Holy Spirit because he is God.

The Church never ceases to proclaim her faith in one only God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

三、信德的特色

信德是恩寵

153. 當聖伯多祿宣認耶穌是「基督、生活的天主之子」時，耶穌對他說：「不是血和肉啟示了你，而是我在天之父」(瑪 16:17)。信德是天主的恩賜，是祂所賦予的超性德行之一。「為達成這樣的信德，必須有天主恩寵的引導和協助，以及聖神內在的助佑。聖神感動人心，使它歸向天主，開啟心目， 賜給『眾人同意與信服真理的喜悅』」。

信德是人性行為

154. 只有靠聖神的恩寵和祂內在的助佑，人才能信，但信也的確是真正的人性行為。信賴天主及順從祂所啟示的真理，既不違反人的自由又不違反人的理智。即一如在人際關係中，相信別人所說有關他自己或自己意願的話， 並信賴他們的許諾(如男女在結婚時)，從而建立彼此間的共融，也不違反我們的尊嚴。因此，「我們的理智和意志，以信德來向自我啟示的天主，表示完全的服從」，從而與祂建立親密的共融，更不會違反我們的尊嚴。

155. 在信德中，人的理智和意志與天主的恩寵合作：「相信是一種理智的行為，在意志受到天主恩寵的推動下，對天主的真理表示同意」。

信仰與理智

156. 相信的動機並不在於啟示的真理，在我們的本性理智之光下，顯得是真實和可理解的。我們相信是「由於啟示真理的天主本身的權威，祂既不能錯誤，也不會欺騙」。「不過，為使我們信仰的順從配合理性，天主願意聖神的內在助佑由啟示的外在証據陪伴」。例如基督和聖人們的奇跡、預言、教會的擴展和聖德、她的繁衍和穩定，「都是天主啟示極確實的標記，適合每人的理智」，這些外在證據都是「可信性的動機」，給我們證明信德的認同「絕非心靈的盲目衝動」。

157. 信仰是確實的，比任何人類知識更為確實，因為信仰奠基於天主的話，祂是絕不騙人的。當然， 啟示的真理可能對人類的理智和經驗顯得不明確，但「天主神光給予的確實性卻大於本性理智之光所能給予的」。「一萬個困難也構成不了一個疑惑」。

158. 「信仰尋求理解」；信仰的內在特色就是信者希望進一步認識他所信的那一位，並進一步理解祂所啟示的事。一分更深入的認識要求一分更大的信德及日益熱切的愛。信德的恩寵開啟「人的心目」(弗 1:18)，為對啟示的內容擁有活潑的領悟力，那內容就是天主的整體計劃和信德的奧跡，以及它們彼此之間與啟示奧跡的中心——基督——的密切聯繫。如今，「為使人更深入地理解啟示，同一的聖神不斷地用自己的恩寵，使信仰更完善」。 這樣，依照聖奧思定的說法：「我信是為理解，我理解是為信得更好」。

159. 信仰與科學。「即使信仰是在理智之上，但在信仰與理智之間，絕不能有真正的衝突；因為那啟示奧跡及傳授信仰的同一天主，也在人的心靈上賦予理智之光，祂不能否認自己，而真理也不能違反真理」。「因此，每門科學的研究方式，若真的依照科學方法和遵守倫理準則進行，決不會與信仰有所矛盾，因為俗世和信仰的事物，都來自同一的天主。再者，誰若謙虛和恆心地探討事物的奧秘，在不知不覺中，就會被那位保持萬物存在，使它們各得其所的天主的手所牽引」。

信德的自由

160. 為能符合人性，「人對天主所作的信仰回應該是自願的；所以不能強迫任何不願的人接受信仰。因為信仰的行為，由於本身的性質，該是自願的」。「天主召叫人們以心神和真理事奉祂，因此他們在良心上感到對祂有責任，並非被迫……這在耶穌基督身上全面地表現了出來」。事實上， 基督曾邀請人接受信仰和皈依，但絕不強迫他們去接受。祂曾為真理作証，但不願「勉強那些拒絕真理的人去接受。祂的神國……藉著愛的力量而擴展，基督就是憑著這愛被高舉在十字架上，以吸引眾人歸向祂」。

信德的必要性

161. 相信耶穌基督和相信派遣祂來救贖我們的那一位，為得救是必要的 。「因 『沒有信德，不可能中悅天主』(希 11:6)，也不可能分享天主子女的福分。沒有信德，不可能成義，且除非『在信德上堅持到底』(瑪 10:22; 24:13)，也沒有人能獲得永生」。

信德的持守

162. 信德是天主白白賜予人的恩寵，我們有可能失落這分無價之寶。關於這點，聖保祿鼓勵弟茂德說：「你要打這場好仗，保持信德和良心純潔；有些人竟擯棄了良心，而在信德上遭了覆舟之災」(弟前 1:18-19)。 為能在信德中生活、成長及恆心到底，我們必須用天主聖言滋養它；並祈求天主增強它；它該「以愛德行事」(迦 5:6)，以望德作支持及在教會的信德中植根。

信德是永生的開始

163. 信德使我們預嘗榮福直觀的喜悅和神光，那是我們在此世旅居的目標。那時我們將會「面對面地」(格前 13:12)看見天主，看見祂「實在怎樣」(若 一 3:2)。所以，信德已經是永生的開始：

聖巴西略•凱撒里亞，《論聖神》：現在我們有如在一面鏡子裡欣賞信仰的祝福，好像那些給我們許下的及我們在信德中希望享受的美妙事物就在眼前一樣。

164. 可是，如今「我們只是憑信德往來，並非憑目睹」(格後 5:7)，我們認識天主「猶如藉著一面鏡子，模糊不清」(格前 13:12)。雖然信德因所信的那位而受到光照，但卻經常生活在隱晦中。信德也能受到考驗。我們生活的世界似乎時常與信仰給我們所保証的相距甚遠，邪惡、痛苦、不義及死亡的體驗，似乎與福音的喜訊背道而馳，足以使我們的信仰動搖，並對它構成 一種誘惑。

165. 那時我們就該轉目注視信德的見証：亞巴郎「在絕望中仍懷著希望」(羅 4:18)而相信；童貞瑪利亞在「信德的路途上」，進入了「信德的黑夜」，參與了她聖子的痛苦及祂墳墓中的黑夜；此外還有許多其他信德的見証。「我們既有如此眾多的証人圍繞著我們，就該卸下各種累贅和糾纏人的罪過，以堅忍的心，跑那擺在我們面前的賽程，雙目常注視著信德的創始者和完成者耶穌」(希 12:1-2)。

III. The Characteristics of Faith

Faith is a grace

153 When St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come "from flesh and blood", but from "my Father who is in heaven".²⁴ Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. "Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and 'makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.'"²⁵

Faith is a human act

154 Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed is contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason. Even in human relations it is not contrary to our dignity to believe what other persons tell us about themselves and their intentions, or to trust their promises (for example, when a man and a woman marry) to share a communion of life with one another. If this is so, still less is it contrary to our dignity to "yield by faith the full submission of... intellect and will to God who reveals",²⁶ and to share in an interior communion with him.

155 In faith, the human intellect and will co-operate with divine grace: "Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace."²⁷

Faith and understanding

156 What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe "because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived".²⁸ So "that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit."²⁹ Thus the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability "are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all"; they are "motives of credibility" (motiva credibilitatis), which show that the assent of faith is "by no means a blind impulse of the mind".³⁰

157 Faith is certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie. To be sure, revealed truths can seem obscure to human reason and experience, but "the certainty that the divine light gives is greater than that which the light of natural reason gives."³¹ "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt."³²

158 "Faith seeks understanding":³³ it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. the grace of faith opens "the eyes of your hearts"³⁴ to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God's plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the centre of the revealed mystery. "The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood."³⁵ In the words of St. Augustine, "I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe."³⁶

159 Faith and science: "Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth."³⁷ "Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. the humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are."³⁸

The freedom of faith

160 To be human, "man's response to God by faith must be free, and... therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will. the act of faith is of its very nature a free act."³⁹ "God calls men to serve him in spirit and in truth. Consequently they are bound to him in conscience, but not coerced. . . This fact received its fullest manifestation in Christ Jesus."⁴⁰ Indeed, Christ invited people to faith and conversion, but never coerced them. "For he bore witness to the truth but refused to use force to impose it on those who spoke against it. His kingdom... grows by the love with which Christ, lifted up on the cross, draws men to himself."⁴¹

The necessity of faith

161 Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation.⁴² "Since "without faith it is impossible to please (God) " and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life 'But he who endures to the end.'"]

Perseverance in faith

162 Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: "Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith."⁴⁴ To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith;⁴⁵ it must be "working through charity," abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church.⁴⁶

Faith - the beginning of eternal life

163 Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God "face to face", "as he is".⁴⁷ So faith is already the beginning of eternal life:
When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy.⁴⁸

164 Now, however, "we walk by faith, not by sight";⁴⁹ we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part".⁵⁰ Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. the world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it.

165 It is then we must turn to the witnesses of faith: to Abraham, who "in hope... believed against hope";⁵¹ to the Virgin Mary, who, in "her pilgrimage of faith", walked into the "night of faith"⁵² in sharing the darkness of her son's suffering and death; and to so many others: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith."⁵³

第二條 我們信

166. 信仰是一項個人的行為：是人對那主動自我啟示的天主所作的自由回應。不過，信德並非一個孤立的行為；沒有人能夠單獨去信，正如沒有人能夠單獨生活。沒有人能由自己取得信仰，正如沒有人能由自己取得生命。信徒從他人身上接受信仰，也該把信仰傳給他人。我們對耶穌和對世人的愛，促使我們去向別人談論我們的信仰。這樣，信眾就像一條鎖鏈，每個信徒就像其中一環。若無別人信德的支持，我不能去信；同樣，藉著我的信德，我也支持別人的信仰。

167.「我信」：是每個信徒個別所宣認的教會信仰，尤其是在受洗的時候。「我們信」：是大公會議的主教們或更普遍地在信徒禮儀集會時所宣認的教會信仰。「我信」：也是我們的慈母教會，在信德中回應天主，並教導我們說：「我信」，「我們信」

Article 2

WE BELIEVE

166 Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone.
You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. the believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbour impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.

167 "I believe" (Apostles' Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. "We believe" (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. "I believe" is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both "I believe" and "We believe".

一、「主，懇請垂顧祢教會的信仰」

168. 是教會首先相信，並這樣支持、滋養、振奮我的信仰。是教會首先到處宣認上主，我們藉著教會並在她內，也被引領去宣認：「我信」、「我們信」。我們從教會接受信仰及透過洗禮接受基督的新生命。在《羅馬禮書》中，洗禮的施行者問慕道者說：「你向天主的教會要求甚麼？」答案是：「信德」；「信德給你甚麼？」「永生」。

169. 救恩只來自天主，但由於我們是藉教會而接受信德的生命，她是我們的母親：「我們相信教會是我們新生命的母親，而非相信教會是我們得救的創始者」。教會作為我們的母親，也是我們信仰的教育者。

I. "Lord, Look Upon the Faith of Your Church"

168 It is the Church that believes first, and so bears, nourishes and sustains my faith. Everywhere, it is the Church that first confesses the Lord: "Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you", as we sing in the hymn Te Deum; with her and in her, we are won over and brought to confess: "I believe", "We believe". It is through the Church that we receive faith and new life in Christ by Baptism. In the Rituale Romanum, the minister of Baptism asks the catechumen: "What do you ask of God's Church?" and the answer is: "Faith." "What does faith offer you?" "Eternal life."⁵⁴

169 Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of faith through the Church, she is our mother: "We believe the Church as the mother of our new birth, and not in the Church as if she were the author of our salvation."⁵⁵ Because she is our mother, she is also our teacher in the faith.

二、信仰的語言

170. 我們並不信某些公式，而是信那些公式所表達，及信德讓我們所「接觸到」的事實。「信徒的(信德)行為並不止於條文，而是(條文所表達的)事實」。可是，我們靠信仰公式的協助，才可以接近這些事實。信仰公式能讓我們表達和傳授信仰，在團體中加以慶祝、吸收及日益熱切地去生活。

171. 教會是「真理的柱石和基礎」(弟前 3:15)，忠信地保持「一次而永遠傳與聖徒的信仰」(猶 3)。教會牢記基督的話語，並把宗徒們的信仰宣認世世代代傳授下去。正如一個母親教導自己的子女說話，俾能去了解和溝通；同 樣，我們的慈母教會也教導我們信仰的語言，為使我們理解信仰及度信仰 的生活。

II. The Language of Faith

170 We do not believe in formulae, but in those realities they express, which faith allows us to touch. "The believer's act [of faith] does not terminate in the propositions, but in the realities [which they express]."⁵⁶ All the same, we do approach these realities with the help of formulations of the faith which permit us to express the faith and to hand it on, to celebrate it in community, to assimilate and live on it more and more.

171 The Church, "the pillar and bulwark of the truth", faithfully guards "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints". She guards the memory of Christ's words; it is she who from generation to generation hands on the apostles' confession of faith.⁵⁷ As a mother who teaches her children to speak and so to understand and communicate, the Church our Mother teaches us the language of faith in order to introduce us to the understanding and the life of faith.

三、信仰只有一個

172. 教會自古以來，就透過許多語言、文化、民族和國家，不停地宣認唯一的信仰來自一個主、由一個洗禮傳下來，深信眾人只有一個天主和大父。聖依勒內‧里昂是這種信仰的見証人，他聲明說：

173. 「事實上，教會雖已傳遍普世，直到地極，但她從宗徒及其門徒們接受了信仰……並小心保存[這信仰和宣講]，猶如同住一屋；以同一的態度去信奉，好像只有一個心靈；以一致的聲音去宣講、教導和傳授，就如具有同一口舌」。

174. 「因為，即使世上的語言不同，聖傳的內容卻是同一的。無論是在德國的教會，或在西班牙、法國、東方、埃及、利比亞及世界中心所建立的教會，都沒有另一個信仰或聖傳……」。「所以教會的訊息是真實和穩固的，因為她給整個世界指出了得救的唯一途徑」。

175. 「我們從教會領受的這個信仰，須小心地保管。因為它像一個極有價值的寶藏，藏在一個珍貴的器皿內，在天主聖神的推動下，能不斷地充滿朝氣，連容納它的器皿，也變得日新又新」 。

III. Only One Faith

172 Through the centuries, in so many languages, cultures, peoples and nations, the Church has constantly confessed this one faith, received from the one Lord, transmitted by one Baptism, and grounded in the conviction that all people have only one God and Father.⁵⁸ St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a witness of this faith, declared:

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."⁵⁹

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. . ."⁶⁰ The Church's message "is true and solid, in which one and the same way of salvation appears throughout the whole world."⁶¹

175 "We guard with care the faith that we have received from the Church, for without ceasing, under the action of God's Spirit, this deposit of great price, as if in an excellent vessel, is constantly being renewed and causes the very vessel that contains it to be renewed."⁶²

撮要

176. 信德是整個人對自我啟示的天主的個人的依附，要求理智和意志順從天主透過祂的工程和言語，所作的啟示。

177. 因此「信」涉及兩點，即信誰和信甚麼；相信真理(甚麼)是由於信賴那証實真理者(誰)。

178. 除了信天主，父、子、聖神外，我們不該信其他的神。

179. 信德是天主的超性恩寵。為能相信，人需要聖神內在的助佑。

180. 「信」是人的自由及有意識的行為，符合人性的尊嚴。

181. 「信」是教會的行為。教會的信德作前導，產生、支持及滋養我們的信德。教會是所有信徒的母親。「除非有教會為母，沒有人能有天主為父」。

182. 我們相信所有包含在天主聖言裡的訊息，無論筆錄或口傳，及教會視為上主啟示而要我們信從的一切」。

183. 信德為得救是必要的。天主親自肯定了此事：「信而受洗的必要得救，但不信的必被判罪」(谷 16:16)。

184. 「信德是對將認識之事的預嘗，這事在來生將使我們得到幸福」。

IN BRIEF

176 Faith is a personal adherence of the whole man to God who reveals himself. It involves an assent of the intellect and will to the self-revelation God has made through his deeds and words.

177 "To believe" has thus a twofold reference: to the person, and to the truth: to the truth, by trust in the person who bears witness to it.

178 We must believe in no one but God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

179 Faith is a supernatural gift from God. In order to believe, man needs the interior helps of the Holy Spirit.

180 "Believing" is a human act, conscious and free, corresponding to the dignity of the human person.

181 "Believing" is an ecclesial act. the Church's faith precedes, engenders, supports and nourishes our faith. the Church is the mother of all believers. "No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother" (St. Cyprian, De unit. 6: PL 4, 519).

182 We believe all "that which is contained in the word of God, written or handed down, and which the Church proposes for belief as divinely revealed" (Paul VI, CPG # 20).

183 Faith is necessary for salvation. the Lord himself affirms: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" (⇒ Mk 16:16).

184 "Faith is a foretaste of the knowledge that will make us blessed in the life to come" (St. Thomas Aquinas. Comp. theol. 1, 2).

信經

The Credo

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
Under Pontius Pilate He was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered died and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.