Church Document
Dei Filius
Document of the First Vatican Council (1870)
The Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, approved in the third session of the First Vatican Council against the rationalism, pantheism and materialism of the nineteenth century. Four chapters treat God the Creator of all things, who made the world out of nothing by his free counsel; divine revelation, which it pleased God to give beyond what human reason could reach, so that the truths of religion may be known by all with firm certainty and no admixture of error; faith, the supernatural virtue by which we believe what God has revealed because of his authority, aided by grace and confirmed by the signs of credibility; and finally faith and reason, which can never be at variance since the same God gives both the light of reason and the gift of faith, though faith remains above reason and its mysteries are not demonstrable. Each chapter closes with canons. The Holy See publishes the text on vatican.va in Latin and Italian.
Key themes
God the Creator of all things
The fact and necessity of divine revelation
Faith as a supernatural gift
The harmony of faith and reason
Condemnation of rationalism, pantheism, and materialism
Document type
Council document
Issuing authority
Blessed Pope Pius IX / First Vatican Council
Issued date
Related documents
- pastor-aeternus
- aeterni-patris
- dei-verbum
- pascendi-dominici-gregis
- humani-generis
Content subtype
council_constitution
