buried, present the same difficulty, so that if one be accepted, it is
not difficult to accept the others; wherefore all these belong to one
article.

Reply Obj. 1: Some things are proposed to our belief are in
themselves of faith, while others are of faith, not in themselves but
only in relation to others: even as in sciences certain propositions
are put forward on their own account, while others are put forward in
order to manifest others. Now, since the chief object of faith
consists in those things which we hope to see, according to Heb.
11:2: "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for," it follows
that those things are in themselves of faith, which order us directly
to eternal life. Such are the Trinity of Persons in Almighty God
[*The Leonine Edition reads: The Three Persons, the omnipotence of
God, etc.], the mystery of Christ's Incarnation, and the like: and
these are distinct articles of faith. On the other hand certain
things in Holy Writ are proposed to our belief, not chiefly on their
own account, but for the manifestation of those mentioned above: for
instance, that Abraham had two sons, that a dead man rose again at
the touch of Eliseus' bones, and the like, which are related in Holy
Writ for the purpose of manifesting the Divine mystery or the
Incarnation of Christ: and such things should not form distinct
articles.

Reply Obj. 2: The formal aspect of the object of faith can be taken
in two ways: first, on the part of the thing believed, and thus there
is one formal aspect of all matters of faith, viz. the First Truth:
and from this point of view there is no distinction of articles.
Secondly, the formal aspect of matters of faith, can be considered
from our point of view; and thus the formal aspect of a matter of