36
of fidelity who keeps his promises and makes pos-
sible, in time, a deeper understanding of his plan.
Through the experience of the prophets, in the
pain of exile and in the hope of a definitive re-
turn to the holy city, Israel came to see that this di-
vine âÂÂtruthâ extended beyond the confines of its
own history, to embrace the entire history of the
world, beginning with creation. Faith-knowledge
sheds light not only on the destiny of one particu-
lar people, but the entire history of the created
world, from its origins to its consummation.
Faith as hearing and sight
29.âÂÂPrecisely because faith-knowledge is linked
to the covenant with a faithful God who enters
into a relationship of love with man and speaks
his word to him, the Bible presents it as a form
of hearing; it is associated with the sense of
hearing. Saint Paul would use a formula which
became classic:
fides ex auditu
, âÂÂfaith comes from
hearingâ (
Rom
10:17). Knowledge linked to a
word is always personal knowledge; it recogniz-
es the voice of the one speaking, opens up to
that person in freedom and follows him or her
in obedience. Paul could thus speak of the âÂÂobe-
dience of faithâ (cf.
Rom
1:5; 16:26).
23
Faith is
23
âÂÂâÂÂThe obedience of faith (
Rom
16:26; compare
Rom
1:5,
2 Cor
10:5-6) must be our response to the God who reveals.
By faith one freely submits oneself entirely to God making the
full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals, and
willingly assenting to the revelation given by God. For this faith
to be accorded, we need the grace of God, anticipating it and