The common view that faith is purely subjective is not biblical Christian teaching. A purely subjective, Kierkegaardian leap of faith without objective content is impossible.
Turretin offers a helpful delineation of different elements in saving faith, namely, comprehension of factual data pertaining to the OBJECT of faith (notitia), mental ASSENT to those facts (assensus) and finally, a personal TRUST/relying on that object. (fiducia)
If I understand the Gospel report that Christ resurrected but I disagree with its historicity, I have notitia without assensus therefore I do not possess fiducia.(no personal trust in Christ)
Or I may have a personal fiducia in Zeus but it is not saving faith because my object
of faith is not based on notitia/assensus of Christ.
Demons have the notitia and assensus that God exists and He is awesome but they lack
fiducia. Perhaps we may know someone who has no intellectual problem with Christianity and agree with its reliability but simply refuse to commit their lives on what they know to be true. They lack the last element of personal fiducia.
Apologetics can help in the first two (OBJECTIVE) but not the last one (SUBJECTIVE). My point is, you can have notitia/assensus without fiducia by reading a lot. But you CANNOT have fiducia without some kind of notitia/assensus.
Turretin offers a helpful delineation of different elements in saving faith, namely, comprehension of factual data pertaining to the OBJECT of faith (notitia), mental ASSENT to those facts (assensus) and finally, a personal TRUST/relying on that object. (fiducia)
If I understand the Gospel report that Christ resurrected but I disagree with its historicity, I have notitia without assensus therefore I do not possess fiducia.(no personal trust in Christ)
Or I may have a personal fiducia in Zeus but it is not saving faith because my object
of faith is not based on notitia/assensus of Christ.
Demons have the notitia and assensus that God exists and He is awesome but they lack
fiducia. Perhaps we may know someone who has no intellectual problem with Christianity and agree with its reliability but simply refuse to commit their lives on what they know to be true. They lack the last element of personal fiducia.
Apologetics can help in the first two (OBJECTIVE) but not the last one (SUBJECTIVE). My point is, you can have notitia/assensus without fiducia by reading a lot. But you CANNOT have fiducia without some kind of notitia/assensus.
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