*The opposite of “greater faith” need not be ignorant/weak/poor faith. What about the acceptance of a child? I often admire parishioners who love God with total abandon. They do not know the theology but they are totally committed in their belief. They have a strong dedication.

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Yes, I think it is important for one to have the humility of a child and avoid the arrogance of thinking Jesus does not speak the truth. For he said:
3 And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
(Matthew 18)
So, yes I should trust that what Jesus says is true, and I do. But this is different from discerning what Jesus meant by what he says. Knowing the true meaning of his words takes more than the faith of a child–it takes the maturity of wisdom. So the writer of Hebrews tells us:
13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
(Hebrews 5)
And Saint Paul the Apostel tells us:
4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
(1 Corinthians 2)
So a child-like faith is a good start, but not the place to stay. I want to not merely have faith in Christ, but to also receive more and more of the wisdom of Christ, so that I might:
…reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
(Ephesians 4:13)
My thinking, then is that I’m not so arrogant as to think I know more than the wise Saint Augustine. So he must surely know the same–we should have the faith of a child, but seek the understanding of a mature saint. Does this sound mature and wise to you, or am I showing my immaturity, lack of understanding and the wisdom of a child?