searches the heart, not the mind. A modicum of wit is guaranteed to all
to know that they can safely believe. Be one ever so unlettered and
ignorant, and dull, faith and heaven are to him as accessible as to the
sage, savant and the genius. For all, the way is the same.

CHAPTER XXI.
HOW WE BELIEVE.

FAITH is the edifice of a Christian life. It is, of itself, a mere
shell, so to speak, for unless good works sustain and adorn it, it will
crumble, and the Almighty in His day will reduce it to ashes; faith
without works is of no avail. The corner stone of this edifice is the
authority of the word of God, while His gratuitous grace, our
intelligence and will furnish the material for building. Now, there are
three features of that spiritual construction that deserve a moment's
consideration.

First, the edifice is solid; our faith must be firm. No hesitation, no
wavering, no deliberate doubting, no suspicion, no take-and-leave. What
we believe comes from God, and we have the infallible authority of the
Church for it, and of that we must be certain. That certainly must not
for a moment falter, and the moment it does falter, there is no telling
but that the whole edifice so laboriously raised will tumble down upon
the guilty shoulders of the imprudent doubter.

And of reasons for hesitating and disbelieving there is absolutely
none, once we have made the venture of faith and believe sincerely and
reasonably. No human power can in reason impugn revealed truths for
they are impervious to human intelligence. One book may not at the same
time be three books; but can one divine nature be at one and the same
time three divine persons? Until we learn what divinity and personality
are we can affirm nothing on the authority of pure reason. If we cannot
assert, how can we deny? And if we know nothing about it, how can we do
either? The question is not how is it, but if it is. While it stands
thus, and thus ever it must stand, no objection or doubt born of human
mind can influence our belief. Nothing but pride of mind and corruption
of heart can disturb it.

If you have a difficulty, well, it is a difficulty, and nothing more. A
difficulty does not destroy a thesis that is solidly founded. Once a
truth is clearly established, not all the difficulties in the world can
make it an untruth. A difficulty as to the truth revealed argues an
imperfect intelligence; it is idle to complain that we are finite. A
difficulty regarding the