Faith involves God's revelation – God's action (self-communication) in the dynamic of faith.1 There is both an experience of faith, as well as a content of faith. Kelly refers to the experience of faith as fides qua (the [subjective] faith by which we believe) and the content of faith as fides quae (the [objective] faith that is believed).2 This short essay describes these two dimensions of faith – experience and content – and shows why Catholic theology emphasizes their unity.
             In describing the experience of faith, a defining characteristic is that it is "a response to God's desire to be known by human beings"3 in human experience. The capacity to experience faith, then, is granted supernaturally by God – "it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8). It is an act of grace – something given to us by God. Augustine supports this premise, of which Kelly writes, "he [Augustine] acknowledges that all his own efforts to encounter God were worthless without an initiative on God's part to open his eyes and ears".4 Furthermore, the experience of faith occurs in daily living.5 To summarize, the experience of faith is an experience of being drawn into the life of God, of being "divinized".6
             Constituting the content of faith is God's self-revelation or self-communication – and, what God reveals is God himself. This self-revelation consists of God's works and God's word.7 From the record of the sacred Scriptures, one may conclude that God's self-disclosure to human beings takes place in the context of life and history. For example, Kelly observes that Abraham's personal history was the vehicle for the encounter with God.8 From the self-revelation of God, the naming of God becomes possible.9 "When the fullness of time had come" (Gal 4:4), through Jesus Christ – his words and works, as well as through his very person &nd...