Faith as a Virtue from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century

Abstract

The paper is the introduction to the proceedings of the congress held in Padova in July 2011 on the theme "Fides virtus." The aim of the congress was to analyse 12th to 16th century doctrines specifically concerned with faith as a virtue, considered within the wider group of theological virtues (hope and charity) and also compared with the four cardinal virtues. The analysis has been developped at three different levels (biblical exegesis, systematic theology and pastoral and devotional literature) and isolated a number of recurrent problems: the most significant element, emerging from many papers is that of a tension intrinsic to the notion of faith itself, which on the one end derive from a special infusion of grace, on the other end requires a voluntary assent