Theosophical Correspondence.
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
Question: — “What is faith?”
Answer: — True faith is, as the Bible also teaches, a spiritual power; it is the spiritual-divine life within ourselves. Simply believing an opinion is only an intellectual process, a game of the imagination, as it were. Just as one could not make a lump of ice understand what heat is, even if it were capable of thinking, one cannot make someone who does not have the power of spiritual faith understand what it is. Believing theories belongs to the animal, intellectual human being, the magical, living power of faith belongs to the divine spirit, and only through the union of the human spirit with the divine spirit can faith work magically.
One of the greatest mystics, Dr. Joh. Pordaedsche [R.H.—Dr. John Pordage], says in his work “Metaphysica”:
“This almighty power of God is an omnipresent power, otherwise it could not be almighty. Just as the spirit of eternity can spread through all worlds and through all things, so this spiritual power must also be able to spread through all worlds and all creatures, to be in all things and to extend through everything. God in his power working in us and through us is so close to us in ourselves that no words can express it. Therefore we must not look out of ourselves to know and find God, but we must turn our eyes inward into ourselves, into our mind, will, sense and heart. If we can find the divine power there and feel the effect and virtue of this power in our mind and heart, then we will truly and really find and feel God in ourselves. God himself, in his divine power, dwelling in us, living and working and moving, is thus the great mystery of godliness.”
—This power is faith.
Note
[1] Theosophical Correspondence. The magical power of faith. By Dr. Franz Hartmann. [Theosophische Korrespondenz. Von Dr. Franz Hartmann. Die magische Kraft des Glaubens. Theosophischer Wegweiser 8, no, 5 (February 1907), 166-167] {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than minor typos, translation from German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}