The Christian faith proposes many things to be believed, which are so beyond all understanding that it is most difficult to give our consent to them; and yet are we commanded to believe them so firmly that we should be prepared (if necessary) to die a thousand times rather than deny one article of faith. This is a difficult duty, and no wonder so few comply with it. This is the reason why so many go over to Mahometanism and other heresies,
because they cannot bear the strictness of faith, but have made the gate very wide, which nevertheless leads, not to life, but to destruction, according to the words of our Lord in St. Matthew: “
Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat.“(chap, vii.13)
--St. Robert Bellarmine,
The Eternal Happiness of the Saints
