For when Damascene says, viz., “Faith is the hypostasis of things that are hoped for and the proof of things that are not seen,” it is manifestly obvious that this is the same thing that the Apostle says. On the other hand, when Damascene goes on to add, “The unshakable and unquestionable hope in the things that have been announced to us by God and in the efficacy of our prayers,” this is a sort of explication of what the Apostle had said, viz., “the substance of things to be hoped for.” For the things to be hoped for are, first of all, the rewards that have been promised to us by God and, secondly, any other things we seek from God as necessary for [obtaining] those rewards, things with respect to which a firm hope is had through faith. This hope cannot fail, and this is why it is called unshakable; nor can it be justifiably be reprehended as a vain hope, and this is why it is called unquestionable.

Moreover, when Dionysius says, “Faith is the enduring foundation of those who believe, putting them in the truth and putting the truth in them,” this is the same thing that the Apostle means by “the substance of things to be hoped for.” For the cognition of truth is a thing to be hoped for, since beatitude is nothing other than a rejoicing in the truth, as Augustine says in the Confessions.