by Orestes J. Gonzalez

Created on: July 24, 2009   Last Updated: May 07, 2012

The activity of believing has a profound significance for human beings. Not only do we believe in God, we also believe in our parents, in our teachers, in our superiors, in our friends and colleagues. Through the activity of believing, we entrust ourselves to the knowledge acquired by other people.

Belief is a source of knowledge and, more particularly, the light of faith is the means whereby human beings rely on knowledge by belief.

With the light of faith we trust God.

In general, however, knowledge by belief is a kind of knowledge that man cannot not have. Life would be impossible if we didn't exercise the activity of believing. We have to trust the sources from which knowledge reaches us.

Consider, for example, the following question: Who could personally examine the flow of information which comes day after day from all parts of the world and which is generally accepted as true?

No one can possibly check by himself all the elements that need to be taken into account to reach the truth.

There are in the life of a human being many more truths which are simply believed than truths which are acquired by way of personal verification. Human beings not only seek the truth, human beings live by belief.

The power of human reason and personal verification can certainly establish valid points of reference concerning what is true, but there are issues on which reason alone is not enough.

According to "Fides et Ratio," [1] on which this paper is based, to be true to itself, reason must remain open to that which it cannot reach.

That is essentially the reason why people believe in God.

Knowledge by belief involves a profound interpersonal relationship and brings into play not only a person's capacity to know but also the deeper capacity to entrust oneself to other human beings and to God.

Through knowledge by belief we enter into a person-to-person relationship with others and with God. Trust is based on knowledge by belief.

Particularly related to the issue of why people believe in God are the ultimate questions for which man finds no immediate answer. What is the meaning of existence? What is the meaning of evil? What is the meaning of death? What is the meaning of suffering? What is immortality? Is there an afterlife?

These and similar questions have been a constant challenge for human beings throughout the history of mankind.

In this regard, the desire for knowledge is so great and it works in such a way that the human heart, despite its experience of insurmountable limitations, yearns for the infinite riches which lie beyond.

And it is in this context that the revelation of God within history becomes indispensable, for revelation has made available to man a new set of points of reference which human intelligence cannot neglect.

God himself has offered signs of his presence in salvation history. God has revealed his existence and provided satisfying answers for the ultimate questions.

God has made himself known to man and continues to make himself known. That is why almost instinctively people develop a sense of trust in God.

God has not changed throughout history. God's power has not diminished throughout history. God is equally powerful today as when he created the world, as when he spoke to Moses, or as when he revealed himself in Nazareth and Capharnaum.

People believe in God because God exists. And the signs of God - equally valid and accessible to everyone today as they were in times past - call for a deep personal involvement. That is why people believe in God.

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