Is it licit to believe in Catholicism probabilistically?

[Eark]

Suppose I believed with absolute faith that Christ died and was resurrected, that He was God and man, that the gospels are God-breathed, all that. But I only believed in Catholicism probabilistically, as in, I thought it more likely than not that Catholicism is the correct form of Christianity, and so chose to practice it. Would this be sufficient belief? If not, what would the consequences be?

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Unless I’m missing what you’re driving at, that seems to be okay.

Faith is a funny thing—it’s not a static once-for-all assertion. Sometimes it’s accompanied by great emotion, sometimes we barely “feel” anything at all, some folks are spiritually fed by intellectual arguments, others are inspired by the example of others.

Then our faith gets tested by adversity. Or it gets weakened by too little adversity because we think our success is due entirely by our efforts.

Always keep learning

 

[Neithan]

The Eucharist is central to the Catholic (and Orthodox) faith and if there is no certainty there (not absolute certainty, but somewhere well beyond “probably”) it’s worth examining with the help of a spiritual director. It’s difficult to quantify certainty, that’s for certain. The legal field still can’t quite figure it out for criminal (beyond a reasonable doubt) vs. civil (balance of probabilities) cases. Faith is a supernatural certainty that is above the rational faculty, so, treat the psychology of it similar to a person in authority: if the Catholic Church was a person, would you trust them with your life? Even more, with your soul? That kind of certainty.

 

[Magnanimity]

believed with absolute faith

I second and third what’s been said above. There are degrees of certainty and only very few beliefs that you hold which are actually undeniable (cannot not be true). So there is a possibility of error in almost every belief you’ll ever hold about anything. That’s not to say that being hyper-skeptical is the best route. It’s just to acknowledge that, as in other areas of life, the religious beliefs you hold are more or less probable. This is true, even if you think your faith is a gift from God.

My beliefs about God and about the Catholic Church are all probabilistic. I have very good reasons, but is error impossible? No.

 

[Genesis315]

With regard to the OP, it sounds ok without any further information because there is the certainty of faith in Christ.

The Holy Office (now Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) condemned the following propositions in 1679 and 1907 respectively (See Denzinger 1171 and 2025, older numbering):

Assent to faith is supernatural and useful to salvation with only the probable knowledge of revelation, even with the fear by which one fears lest God has not spoken.

The assent of faith ultimately depends on an accumulation of probabilities.

Faith is “a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed.” (CCC 150). By faith “we believe because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived” (CCC 156). In particular, this means faith in Christ, since Christ “is the Father’s one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one” (CCC 65); “what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son” (CCC 65, quoting St. John of the Cross).

But even if one has faith in Christ, deliberately denying or culpably doubting any revealed truth destroys faith altogether, since one is no longer assenting to God the revealer, but trusting one’s own judgment: “Since faith is one, it must be professed in all its purity and integrity.” (Pope Francis, Lumen Fidei 48).

On the flip side, because faith is one, if one has faith in Christ–who is the fullness of revelation–faith is not destroyed by innocent ignorance or innocent uncertainty about the various articles of faith: “there is no difference in the faith of ‘those able to discourse of it at length’ and ‘those who speak but little’, between the greater and the less: the first cannot increase the faith, nor the second diminish it.” (Lumen Fidei 47, quoting St. Irenaeus).

 

[Dan_Defender]

IMO this is a good start. Next pray for the gift of faith so that you overcome any doubts.