Understanding Faith

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The Catechism of Christian Doctrine (The Penny Catechism) states that:

“Faith is a supernatural gift of God, which enables us to believe without doubting whatever God has revealed” (question 9)

This indicates the state of a person’s faith is binary, either one has faith or one does not. A doubt regarding the faith would necessarily mean that a person does not have faith.

In the gospel of Matthew, when Peter attempts to walk on water toward Jesus and begins to sink he is rebuked:

“Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘O man of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:31)

This passage seems to indicate that faith can have a magnitude, allowing one to increase or decrease in faith. Again, doubt is important in indicating the presence or strength of faith. This seems to be in the common understanding of faith.

While these two views cannot be contradictory, how should I understand faith as taught by the church and scripture?
 
Penny I presume is short version, just to start.
I would say the faith like that is perfect Faith that we are striving to attain.
To know more about faith read from proper Catechism:

150 Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As personal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature.

and this:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PX.HTM
 
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Here is a definition of Faith that I live by:
FAITH - Being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see…Hebrew 11:1Amen…
 
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