Secondly, faith also involves belief in what Jesus reveals to us in the creeds and scriptures. Divine revelation has occurred gradually. Divine revelation is God's unveiling of Himself and His plan for us. God's plan is revealed to us in the traditions handed down to us. Tradition has two elements, the content of revelation and the process by which the revelation is handed down to us. Content is both the teaching and the practice. Some teachings are essential to our faith, while some are nonessential. Ultimately, the Church guided by the Holy Spirit decides what is essential and that which is nonessential. The process of tradition takes two forms" oral and written. Scripture, part of the written tradition, is the most important form since God has inspired it. Because the Bible is inspired, we can conclude that it is "error free in the matters that relate to our salvation. It is through the traditions that we are taught about our faith. Through the gospel and the homily at mass, the teachings of the Lord are revealed to us.".
Faith also involves the reasons for our beliefs. In attempting to help explain why we believe and should believe as we do, Saint Thomas of Aquinas wrote that the human mind functions on two distinct levels. The first is one in which the mind uses mental imagery to process what it perceives. The second level is that which Thomas refers to as the four levels of reasoning and judging. The first level, doubt, is when one is unable to decide whether a given set of facts or a situation is true or not. Saint Thomas tells us that opinion is having enough evidence to discover but not of sufficient quantity to convince. To have knowledge, Saint Thomas teaches is to be able to ascertain whether or not something is true or false. The fourth and highest level of reasoning and judging is faith. Faith is having evidence that is so overwhelming that one is thoroughly convinced even though the conclusion cannot be proved.
