Lumen Fidei - page 13

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who receives God’s own name: both are called
“faithful”.8 As Saint Augustine explains: “Man is
faithful when he believes in God and his prom-
ises; God is faithful when he grants to man what
he has promised”.9
11. A final element of the story of Abraham
is important for understanding his faith. God’s
word, while bringing newness and surprise, is not
at all alien to Abraham’s experience. In the voice
which speaks to him, the patriarch recognizes a
profound call which was always present at the
core of his being. God ties his promise to that
aspect of human life which has always appeared
most “full of promise”, namely, parenthood,
the begetting of new life: “Sarah your wife shall
bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac”
(Gen 17:19). The God who asks Abraham for
complete trust reveals himself to be the source
of all life. Faith is thus linked to God’s father-
hood, which gives rise to all creation; the God
who calls Abraham is the Creator, the one who
“calls into existence the things that do not ex-
ist” (Rom 4:17), the one who “chose us before
the foundation of the world… and destined us
for adoption as his children” (Eph 1:4-5). For
Abraham, faith in God sheds light on the depths
of his being, it enables him to acknowledge the
wellspring of goodness at the origin of all things
and to realize that his life is not the product of
8 Cf. Catechesis V, 1: PG 33, 505A.
9 In Psal . 32, II, s. I, 9: PL 36, 284.