|
man experiences many difficulties in
coming to know God by the light of reason alone:
Though human reason is, strictly speaking, truly capable by
its own natural power and light of attaining to a true and
certain knowledge of the one personal
God, who watches over and controls the world by his
providence, and of the natural law written in our hearts
by the Creator; yet there are many obstacles which prevent
reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn
faculty. For the truths that concern the relations between
God and man wholly transcend the visible order of things,
and, if they are translated into human action and influence
it, they call for self-surrender and
abnegation. The human mind, in its turn, is hampered in
the attaining of such truths, not only by the impact of
the senses and the imagination, but also by disordered
appetites which are the consequences of original sin. So it
happens that men in such matters easily persuade themselves
that what they would not like to be true is false or at
least doubtful.3 38 This is why man stands in need of being
enlightened by Gods revelation, not only about those
things that exceed his understanding, but also about
those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not
beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even 2036 in
the present condition of the human race, they can be known
by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no
admixture of error.4 IV. How Can We Speak About God?
39 In defending the ability of human reason to know God,
the Church is expressing her confidence in the possibility
of speaking 851 about him to all men and with all men,
and therefore of dialogue with other religions, with
philosophy and science, as well as with unbelievers and
atheists. 40 Since our knowledge
of God is limited, our language about him is equally so. We
can name God only by taking creatures as our starting point,
and in accordance with our limited human ways of knowing and
thinking. 41 All creatures bear a
certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in
the image and likeness of God. The manifold perfections of
creatures their truth, their goodness, their
beauty all reflect the infinite perfection of
God. Consequently we can 213, 299 name God by taking his
creatures perfections as our starting |
|