My Patheos series on Pope Francis’ first encyclical on faith, Lumen Fidei, continues…

All church teaching is based on Scripture, and chapter one of Pope Francis’ Lumen Fidei (LF) is no exception; its over-arching theme is from St. John’s First Epistle, “We know and believe the love God has for us” (cf. 1 Jn 4:16). Memorize that verse and you’ll have a very good definition of faith in the Christian life. Knowing and believing are the head and heart components of faith.

A powerful secondary theme that chapter one, “We Have Believed in Love,” introduces is that when one has faith one has the basis of understanding reality. That is, the “new eyes” of faith detect and experience God and discern the deepest meanings of life. Several selections from chapter one bear this out as it examines the profound history of faith, beginning with our “father in faith,” Abraham, and finding its completion in God’s Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ.

Read the entire piece here, and read the introduction to the series here. Subscribe to my column by RSS or email here.