I spoke with certain souls who thought they had had faith, and that their mental belief would save them, or was the saving kind of faith; and they did not want to withdraw from this thinking. For they insisted that belief by itself saves, and that [salvation] goes hand in hand with it, no matter what their life was like-an opinion held by many. I was prompted to tell them that that kind of belief absolutely does not save a person, that it is not belief, because their life shows what their belief is, and that that kind of faith is only a matter of memory, entirely unproductive; since the life of faith is love from the Lord. And when I had read the passage in Mark 12:28, where a certain scribe asked, "Which is the first commandment of all?"-I asked them [this question]. For the scribe likewise believed, but only mentally, not in his life; for we read that he tempted Jesus [Matt. 22:35, Luke 10:25]. Then they were given to realize that [belief by itself] is only knowledge, which never saves unless it is matched by deeds, so that they love their neighbor as themselves.