Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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WILL TO BELIEVE
In Catholic theology the doctrine that in order to assent to God's revealed word a person must receive supernatural grace for the will. The Church calls it "the devout readiness to believe," pius credulitatis affectus (Denzinger 375). Also in the psychology of religion the innate tendency of the human will to believe in other people as a precondition for social living. On a higher level the willingness to believe in God beyond all human calculation and with phenomenal results in the achievement of personal sanctity and service of humanity.
