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also needs to be planted in the fertile soil: the Church. True faith
needs to be preserved and cared for in loving fellowship of the
people of God. In this context, the Holy Spirit will sanctify us and
purify our faith with his Word to make us fruitful. The is the main
thrust of pastoral theology.
The Meaning and the Effect of Faith
Speaking from theological standpoint, faith means total
commitment and trust in the Truth and having life union with the
One True God---- an ontological return to the Creator. This return
should not be understood in a pantheistic or panentheistic structure
mindset of returning to the origin, as in contemplative parareligious
exercises, a return to the deity within. Nor should it be
understood as being able to attained the Word in order to be as god,
or to become god. Instead, it is an essential return to God in
Christian salvific context. The correct understanding of
Christianity is that Christ was the Word became flesh in order for
us to become man, not to become god. As we return to God, we
become children of God. Our faith in Christ generates the certainty
and assurance within us in the following manners in the
understanding of reality:
The Certainty In the Understanding of the Goodness of God
and the Perfect Nature of Man and His Salvation
The problem of evil in philosophy can only be explained in
the context of Christian faith, where faith provides the correct
reading and interpretation of the reality as a whole. Without faith
and belief in the Word of God, there will never be meaning for any
existence. Our faith in Christ assured us the certainty of goodness,
whereas evil is vain. In Christianity, evil has no real existence. In
fact, evil is not the negation of goodness, but the absence or
privation of good. The creation and the act of a perfect God are
always good. Such good is the foundation of all-good. Therefore,
in faith, what we have and what we experienced are good and