Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/2574

2574 Freedom of belief.... what is faith....

December 4, 1942: Book 33

Man must not be forced to believe because otherwise perfection would be impossible, for something forced is something imperfect.... Therefore, freedom of faith must be left to people, and that is why God can neither lead them to faith through evidence nor cause them to believe through miracles. He can only impart certain teachings to them and try to influence them to use the gifts of the intellect so that they can decide for themselves for or against the teachings imparted to them, whether they want to accept them in their thoughts and affirm them with their heart.... Then their faith is free and therefore also beneficial. As soon as people are pushed into a certain school of thought, as soon as they are systematically educated into a belief, this belief is worthless as long as the person himself has not mentally taken a stand on it. An acquired belief cannot yet be called faith; it is the attitude of the heart towards it that determines whether a person may call himself a believer. He must also be given complete freedom as to how he decides, for he alone is responsible for this decision, he must not be pressurized by people, nor is he given compelling evidence from God which causes him to have to believe something. The only guide is the inner voice, the divine help, which gives the person small hints so that he can easily find the right faith. As soon as God's love expresses itself through a person in an extraordinary way, this will always happen in such a way that the person is nevertheless not forced. He will also always be able to find a natural explanation if he lacks the will, thus he will never need to accept something against his will under the impression of such extraordinary working which he cannot inwardly affirm. And therefore it is irrelevant in which school of thought a person is brought up, for only his own thinking makes him responsible, because this thinking forms the belief in him according to his will. The truth-desiring person will reject of his own accord that which does not correspond to the truth and thus arrive at the right faith in all freedom of will. But so that he can come to the right decision through reflection, the truth must also be presented to him by people who are in the truth themselves. He has the duty to examine everything before he accepts it, and through this examination and reflection he takes a stand on it, and he can now also make a decision, he can choose which of the teachings presented to him appears to be the truth. This is only faith if he can then stand up for it because he is firmly convinced of it within himself.... And such a conviction cannot be forcibly taught to a person, but is gained through his own reflection, and only such a belief corresponds to God's will....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers