Bible Verses About Faith
Faith in the Catholic understanding is not merely intellectual assent to doctrines, nor is it simply a feeling of trust. The Catechism (§1814) defines faith as the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, moved by the authority of God himself. It is at once a gift from God and a free human act — the two cooperating rather than competing.
Hebrews 11, often called the great "Hall of Faith," illustrates this through a long procession of Old Testament figures who acted on God's word before seeing its fulfillment. James, by contrast, insists that faith without works is dead — not contradicting Paul but insisting on the visible, embodied form that living faith takes. The Catholic tradition holds both together: faith is a living reality that expresses itself in love and action.
Note: 1 verse on this page is from the deuterocanonical books — books included in the Catholic Bible but absent from most Protestant translations (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1–2 Maccabees).
9 verses — Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 Challoner revision) — Public domain
Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.Hebrews 11:1 — Douay-Rheims
The classical biblical definition of faith — often cited in the Catechism and by Church Fathers.
For the justice of God is revealed therein, from faith unto faith, as it is written: The just man liveth by faith.Romans 1:17 — Douay-Rheims
Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 to state the thesis of Romans: justification is by faith, from beginning to end.
So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself.James 2:17 — Douay-Rheims
James corrects a misunderstanding of Paul: genuine faith necessarily produces visible action and love.
And immediately the father of the boy crying out, with tears said: I do believe, Lord: help my unbelief.Mark 9:24 — Douay-Rheims
The father of a possessed boy gives perhaps the most honest prayer in the Gospels — faith and doubt held together before Christ.
Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.Matthew 17:20 — Douay-Rheims
Jesus explains the disciples' failure to cast out a demon — even small genuine faith is potent before God.
For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God.Ephesians 2:8 — Douay-Rheims
Paul insists that even the faith by which we receive salvation is itself God's gift, not a human achievement.
Therefore thou chastisest them that err, little by little, and admonishest them, and speakest to them, concerning the things wherein they offend: that leaving their wickedness, they may believe in thee, O Lord.Wisdom 12:2Deuterocanonical — Douay-Rheims
The Book of Wisdom presents God's merciful correction as ordered toward bringing people to faith — a distinctively Catholic deuterocanonical view.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.2 Timothy 4:7 — Douay-Rheims
Paul's farewell, written from his final imprisonment — keeping faith is presented as the great achievement of a Christian life.
But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?Luke 18:8 — Douay-Rheims
Jesus closes the parable of the persistent widow with a haunting question about the persistence of faith.
Related Topics
Related Catholic Prayers
Source
All verse texts from the Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 Challoner revision), public domain. The Douay-Rheims is the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate.