Is belief in God an act of the will?

[Alex1]

I read about the brilliant scientist John Von Neumann who converted to Catholicism during his final sickness. Friends of his, as well as the priest that attended to him, weren’t convinced he actually believed in God.

The father of Game Theory was well aware of Pascal’s Wager and may have decided that it was better to die as a believer than a non-believer.

If interiorly he didn’t think there was a God, but by an act of will, chose to be a practicing Catholic, would this be acceptable? I hope so.

 

[Petaro]

I believe we all struggle with belief in God given just one issue alone - the existence and continued success of evil. However, the tenuous struggle of will to understand even the basics of quantum physics show how we must struggle with the incongruity of truth; and the counter-intuitive nature of the wisdom of God.
This foolishness in man can be called “belief” as having no real evidence beside the authority of the Bible and the Church Fathers in accepting the outlandish call to faith from the Apostles. Or it can be called probable given the logical demands of an ordered world and our inherent quest to find pattern in such structured Universe.

Whatever way we come to the realisation of our understanding of the Presence of God in our lives, we should cherish it. If that means a brave act of the will in the face of doubt then so be it. Many Saints such as Mother Teresa have lived their whole lives in the dark night of the soul. Such heroic virtue is not outside our personal endeavour to know, love and serve Him.

 

[Sacred_Heart_1]

I read about the brilliant scientist John Von Neumann who converted to Catholicism during his final sickness. Friends of his, as well as the priest that attended to him, weren’t convinced he actually believed in God.

The father of Game Theory was well aware of Pascal’s Wager and may have decided that it was better to die as a believer than a non-believer.

If interiorly he didn’t think there was a God, but by an act of will, chose to be a practicing Catholic, would this be acceptable? I hope so.

Jesus says, to paraphrase, no one has seen God but the Son of Man (who is God); and to whoever the Son of God wishes to reveal Him to. Coming to Faith is not an act of will. God only reveals Himself to those he chooses to reveal himself to. Therefore, it is God’s will to reveal Himself to an individual person. Not the person’s act of will.

 

[hicetnunc]

If interiorly he didn’t think there was a God, but by an act of will, chose to be a practicing Catholic, would this be acceptable? I hope so.

Yes, faith–like all virtue–is an act of the will. Virtue is nothing less than a habit of the will which disposes the will to chose in accordance with right reason.

In his treatise on faith, St Thomas tells us that, “The intellect of the believer is determined to one object, not by the reason, but by the will, wherefore assent is taken here for an act of the intellect as determined to one object by the will.” (ST II-II, q.2, a.1, ad.3).

Whether or not someone’s act of faith is supernatural (that is, infused with grace) or purely natural, we can’t say: that’s between the person and God. In order for faith to be “infused”, it must have as its form love of God. Love, by the way, is also an act of the will, so it is possible that someone would will to love God even though such an act of willing is difficult for them.

But as a general principle, St Thomas teaches that a genuine (free) assent of the will to the propositions of the Faith is likely to be a sign of grace: “Now the act of believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the Divine truth at the command of the will moved by the grace of God, so that it is subject to the free-will in relation to God; and consequently the act of faith can be meritorious.” (ST II-II, q.2, a.9).

 

[Flopfoot]

Jesus says, to paraphrase, no one has seen God but the Son of Man (who is God); and to whoever the Son of God wishes to reveal Him to. Coming to Faith is not an act of will. God only reveals Himself to those he chooses to reveal himself to. Therefore, it is God’s will to reveal Himself to an individual person. Not the person’s act of will.

So what happens to people who God chooses not to reveal himself to?

To the op: I have heard that “wanting to believe something is typically not a good reason for believing it”. But on the other hand, if belief is not a choice, then how could we be judged on it?

 

[schaeffer]

I think it’s worth looking at the flip side of belief…denial.

There is both willful and unconscious denial. People in denial don’t always choose it, will it or are aware of it. I think it’s the same with belief.

Sometimes we don’t truly discover what we believe or don’t believe until we are up against some powerful challenge or experience.

There are people who seek God and never find Him, sometimes even after decades of practicing a faith, prayer etc. Others are adamantly against even the idea of a god, and yet come to believe.

Clearly there is much more than will involved.