Chris Burgwald at Veritas asks "Is Christian Faith a mental work?"

I became interested in this topic several months ago. I noticed an interesting dichotomy between Catholics and Protestants on this subject. Protestants to whom I put the question, such as my Mennonite partner and others, would view "faith" and "works" as hermetically sealed categories. Catholics, on the other hand, would acknowledge that faith was a kind of choice or act of will, and therefore would view "faith" as involving "work."

The source of the Catholic view obviously has its root in the historic and contemporary distinction between "living faith" and "dead faith." A faith without works is a "dead faith" which is tantamount to no faith. Catholics are therefore more inclined to see faith as involving a choice or a commitment and therefore a kind of "work."