Faith and Revelation

1
Faith and Revelation
Knowing God Through Sacred Scripture
2
Faith and Revelation
Chapter 1
3
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation, Reason,
and Faith
Chapter 1
4
Chapter Objectives
The student will be able to understand

• Natural religion
• The fundamental ways of knowing God
• The natural knowledge of God
• The Five Ways
• Science as a restriction of reason
• Scientism
• Modern science and God
• Principal errors regarding the existence of God

• Why supernatural religion is necessary
• What faith does for reason
• Mans response to Revelation
• Reason leads to the assent of faith
• Contemplation and theology
• Natural morality and religion

5
Keys to Chapter 1

• God wants people to know him and has provided
  ways to do so.
• Reason and modern science are allies in mans
  quest for God.
• God reveals himself through creation and Divine
  Revelation.
• Faith comes to the aid of reason.
• Study and prayer based on Divine Revelation are
  two ways to get to know God better.

6
For Discussion

• How the desire to find God is written on the
  human heart.
• How God draws each person to himself.
• How we can come to a certain level of knowledge
  of God through the use of human reason.
• The difference between knowledge gained through
  science and knowledge gained through reason.
• The limitations on knowing God from the use of
  reason alone.
• Why we need God to reveal himself in order to
  know him fully.

7
Part 1 Chapter 1

• Knowing God Through Natural Revelation, Reason,
  and Faith

8
Knowing God Through Reason
- Lesson Objectives -

• Natural religion
• Fundamental ways of knowing God

9
Knowing God Through Reason
- Basic Questions -

• What is natural religion?
• Each human being is born with a natural desire
  for God, which is answered in the natural
  capacity to know God through reason.
• What are the two fundamental ways of knowing God?
• The two fundamental ways of knowing God are
  through reason and Revelation.

10
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What inborn capacity do human beings possess that
no other creature in material creation has?
They have an inborn capacity to know God and to
be in communion with him.
11
Knowing God Through Reason
- Anticipatory Set -
Incorporate the passage from the Book of Wisdom
into opening prayer and then discuss What does
this passage reveal about natural knowledge of
God, that is, knowledge anyone can obtain through
reason and experience?
12
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What is the natural desire for God?
Each person has this yearning for God in his or
her human nature.
13
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
How does Pope Benedict XVI see the natural desire
for God evident in Plato?
Beauty causes a certain kind of sufferinga
nostalgia and longingin each person that keeps
him or her from being satisfied with ordinary
life.
14
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
How does St. Augustine describe mans natural
desire for God?
You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our
hearts are restless until they rest in you.
15
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What is the supernatural counterpart to a
persons natural desire for God?
It is Gods desire for us.
16
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What is Gods supernatural desire for each
person, and what is the result of this desire?
God wants people to live in communion with him,
so he reaches out and enables them to find him.
17
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What does it mean to say each person isby nature
and by vocationa religious being?
People come from God and seek and desire God.
18
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What are two ways one can come to know God?
One can know God through Revelation and human
reason.
19
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What is the overarching subject of this
textbook?
Faith and reason work together to help us
understand Gods Revelation.
20
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
Even without the help of Divine Revelation, what
can human reason lead a person to realize about
God?
Human reason can lead one to realize God exists.
It can even tell us something about his divine
nature.
21
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
According to the Catechism, no. 31, what is the
nature of the proofs that reason can give in
regard to Gods existence?
They are proofs for the existence of God not in
the sense of proofs in the natural sciences but
in the sense of converging and convincing
arguments.
22
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What did the pagan philosophers Plato and
Aristotle conclude about God?
Using reason alone, they concluded there must be
one God.
23
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What is Aristotles First Cause?
Despite his polytheistic culture, Aristotle
reached the philosophical conclusion there is one
God.
24
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What attributes of God did Aristotle discern by
reason?
He reasoned God must be eternal and perfect.
25
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
What did St. Thomas Aquinas do with Aristotles
arguments about God?
He clarified and extended them in the thirteenth
century.
26
Knowing God Through Reason
- Graphic Organizer -
Complete the following table to clarify the four
characteristics of a persons knowledge of God.
Characteristic Explanation
Mediate
Natural
Universal
Certain and Easy to Attain
27
Knowing God Through Reason
- Focus Question -
Review the six themes of this chapter (p.
3, In this Chapter We Will Discuss) Free write
on the one you find the most important and
explain why.
28
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Lesson Objectives -

• Natural knowledge of God
• The Five Ways

29
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Basic Questions -

• What is natural knowledge of God?
• One can discover the existence of God and some
  of his attributes by reason through the things
  that he has created.
• What are the Five Ways of St. Thomas Aquinas?
• St. Thomas offers five ways to prove the
  existence of God based on reason.

30
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Anticipatory Set -
Think of any object created by a human
beingwhether a work of art or technologyhow
does it reflect something about the person who
created it?
31
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
What is natural revelation?
It is the truth that God communicates through
creation. When God creates, he imprints a mark
on his creation through that mark people can
learn something about God.
32
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
According to the Catechism, no. 41, what is the
starting point for naming God through
creation?
The perfections of creatures reflect the infinite
perfection of God.
33
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
How is Gods likeness to his creation different
from a persons likeness to one of his or her
creations?
Since Gods creative action is stronger and
deeper than mans, the likeness between God and
his creatures is deeper than the likeness between
man and his crafts or products. Since the
distance between God and his creation is
infinitely greater than the distance between man
and his products, what creation tells us about
God is infinitely less proportionate than what
mans products tell us about man.
34
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- St. Thomas Aquinas and the Five Ways -

1. The Argument from Motion
2. The Argument from Causes
3. The Argument from Possibility and Necessity
4. The Argument from Degrees of Perfection
5. The Argument from Governance

35
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
What attributes about God are known from
creation?
The existence in God of goodness, unity,
simplicity, infinity, wisdom, and omnipotence are
known.
36
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
What does the Church teach about mans knowledge
of Gods existence from reason alone?
Godcan be known and demonstrated with certainty
by the natural light of reason starting from the
created world, that is, from the visible works of
creation, as a cause is known through its
effects.
37
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
According to the Catechism, no. 32, what are some
starting points to prove Gods existence from
reason?
They are from movement, becoming, contingency,
and the worlds order and beauty.
38
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
Why are St. Thomass proofs of Gods existence
valid even though science has changed so much
since his lifetime?
A thing in motionwhether today or in the
thirteenth centurymust be set in motion by
something else, something cannot come from
nothing, and everything in nature is contingent.
39
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
Can philosophy absolutely prove Gods existence?
No not everyone wants to be convinced.
40
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Guided Exercise -
Perform a focused reading of pp. 7-8 using the
following question How do St. Thomas Aquinass
arguments relate to the modern understanding of
the universe?
41
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
What is revealed by the arguments for the
existence of God presented by Aristotle and St.
Thomas Aquinas?
These arguments reveal the existence of a single
being who is responsible for the causation and
governance of reality. They also offer a certain
understanding of his nature.
42
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Focus Question -
What are some things reason can show about the
nature of God?
God must be unlimited in all of his perfections
powers, truth, knowledge, and goodness.
43
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Guided Exercise -
Discuss with a partner How does Hamlet vs.
stack of papers with random words reveal a
limitation of science?
44
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation
- Guided Exercise -
Discuss the following What does it mean to say
reason contains science rather than science
contains reason?
45
Science and Reason
- Lesson Objectives -

• Science as a restriction of reason
• Scientism
• Modern science and God
• Principal errors regarding the existence of God

46
Science and Reason
- Basic Questions -

• What is the relationship between science and
  reason?
• Science is a particular, highly successful form
  of reasoning, but it is only a portion of what
  can be known through reason.
• What is scientism?
• Scientism is a view that reduces knowledge to
  what can be known through the methods of science.

47
Science and Reason
- Basic Questions -

• Can modern science support the idea of God?
• The findings of modern science can be the
  grounds for philosophical reflection, which can
  lead to belief in God.
• What are the principal errors regarding the
  existence of God?
• Some principal errors in regard to the existence
  of God are atheism, agnosticism, rationalism, and
  fideism.

48
Science and Reason
- Anticipatory Set -
Read the opening paragraph of this lesson (p. 9,
We can conclude). What is the relationship
between science and reason?
49
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
What is scientism?
It is the error that, because science can measure
some things well, it can measure everything well
and things that cannot be measured scientifically
either do not exist or cannot be known.
50
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
What view of God is derived from scientism?
If science cannot prove the existence of Godand
it cannotGod may not exist.
51
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
Why cannot God be proven by science?
God cannot be physically observed.
52
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
Is scientism scientific?
No scientism is not provable because it cannot
be tested by a scientific experiment.
53
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
What prevents true science from denying the
existence of God?
True science must acknowledge the limitations of
science in ascertaining truth and, therefore,
cannot deny the existence of God.
54
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
How can philosophy use the findings of modern
science to indicate God exists?
The intricate fine tuning of the universe,
which science has discoveredwithout which the
universe and life would not be possiblesuggests
there is an intelligence behind them, which is
called God.
55
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
How might a philosophical reflection on the deep
intelligibility of reality allow a person to
infer God exists?
If the universe were the result of random
accidents of chance, one would not expect to see
deep intelligibility that is that the universe
is knowable through consistent laws. Deep
intelligibility can only be caused by an even
deeper intelligence, and that intelligence is
God.
56
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
How might a philosophical reflection on the deep
intelligibility of reality allow a person to
infer God exists?
If the universe were the result of random
accidents of chance, one would not expect to see
deep intelligibility that is that the universe
is knowable through consistent laws. Deep
intelligibility can only be caused by an even
deeper intelligence, and that intelligence is
God.
57
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
How are science and natural theology similar?

• They use reason and observe natural phenomena.
• Extension Natural theology is the branch of
  philosophy that looks at what can be known about
  God from reason alone.

58
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
What is modern science?
It is the practice of systematically observing
the behavior of nature so people better
understand the laws and structures that govern
it.
59
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
What does it mean to say science is a restriction
of reason?
Science limits itself to those truths that are
demonstrable through the control and manipulation
of observable phenomena.
60
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
What is atheism?
It is the denial of the existence of God.
61
Science and Reason
- Focus Question -
According to Gaudium et Spes (p. 11), is atheism
natural in a person?
No it is an unnatural development that has both
intellectual and moral causes. Atheism
presupposes the mystery of sin, which turns the
hierarchy of values of the person upside-down.
62
Science and Reason
- Graphic Organizer -
Complete the following table to organize your
knowledge of the principal errors regarding the
existence of God.
Error Definition Effect on Religion
Atheistic Materialism
Atheistic Humanism
Current Atheism
Agnosticism
Rationalism
Fideism
63
God makes himself known to Man
- Lesson Objectives -

• Why supernatural religion is necessary
• What faith does for reason

64
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Basic Questions -

• Why is supernatural religion necessary?
• The knowledge of God from contemplating creation
  is not sufficient to know God instead, one needs
  faith in supernatural Revelation to attain to
  God.
• What does faith do for reason?
• Faith heals, perfects, and elevates reason in
  terms of religious and moral truths that either
  can be known through reason only with great
  difficulty or exceed reason.

65
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Anticipatory Set -
Compose a bullet-point summary of the quote from
Humani Generis in CCC 37
66
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What does the phrase, a personal God, mean?
It means God is a Person, a being with reason and
will.
67
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
According to the Catechism, no. 35, what is the
purpose of the proofs of Gods existence?
They predispose people to faith and help them see
faith is not opposed to reason.
68
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
Why has God revealed himself and given people
grace?
He did this so people can enjoy his friendship.
69
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Guided Exercise -
Discuss the following What does it mean to say
grace builds on nature?
70
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What is the relationship between faith and
reason?
Faith is above reason because it reveals truths
outside the grasp of reason alone.
71
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
According to Fides et Ratio, how is Gods plan of
Revelation realized?
God makes real his plan of Revelation by deeds
that reveal and confirm the truths he speaks and
by words that proclaim and clarify the meaning of
those deeds.
72
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What two types of truths has God revealed?
God has revealed truths beyond human
understanding and truths within reason but
difficult to know with certainty and without
error. Extension The doctrine of the Blessed
Trinity could never have been reached without
Revelation. The Ten Commandments are moral truths
that can be known by reason but that many people
find difficult to reach.
73
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
How is the periodic table of the elements an
example of natural faith?
Very few people can perform the mathematics to
prove the periodic table is true the rest accept
it on faith and use the periodic tables as a
basis for studying chemistry.
74
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What foundation does reason give to understand
God?
Reason demonstrates there is a God and reveals
something about his attributes. Reason also leads
to the natural law, the knowledge of what will
perfect and fulfill human nature and the
obligation to use that knowledge to do good and
avoid evil.
75
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
Why does a person need Gods help to aid reason
to understand even truths that can be known by
reason?
Because of Original Sin, human reason is
darkened. Sometimes people use reason to justify
what they want to do instead of finding out what
they ought to do. Revelation provides certainty.
76
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
Where does God reveal himself to us?
He reveals himself in history, Scripture and the
Church.
77
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What is Gods motive in revealing himself to the
world?
Gods motive is his gratuitous love that desires
to bring all people to salvation.
78
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
Why do people need grace in regard to knowing
truth?
Sin and error prevent people from reaching a
perfect knowledge of God and his will in their
lives.
79
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
Why do we call grace supernatural?
It is a power above and beyond human nature.
80
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
How does grace aid human nature to reach God?
As a person struggles to reach God through human
reason, God, through grace, lifts up him or her
in faith, building on what is already known.
81
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What is faith?
It is the theological virtue by which we believe
in God and believe all that he has said and
revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for
our belief (CCC 1814).
82
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
How do some erroneously view the relationship
between faith and reason?
They see faith and reason as inimical toward each
other.
83
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What is meant by the statement, Religion depends
on faith, but Christians have good reasons for
believing?
It means, though the Christian religion includes
many truths that cannot be reached by a chain of
reasoning but must be believed through an act of
faith, Christians have solid rational grounds for
believing those truths.
84
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
Is faith irrational?
No faith deals with things that are above the
grasp of human reason alone but which are
themselves inherently or innately intelligible.
Example there is nothing contrary to reason in
the belief Jesus Christ is true God and true man.
However, this doctrine of the faith cannot be
deduced by reason alone but only through the
grace of God.
85
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What truth about himself did Christ say God
revealed to St. Peter?
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
86
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What does faith accomplish for human reason in
terms of its grasp of truth?
Faith heals, perfects, and elevates human reason
in terms of knowledge about God.
87
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
How does faith heal reason?
Faith overcomes erroneous applications of reason
and ignorance, which are effects of sin.
88
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
How does faith perfect reason?
Faith allows everyone to know with clarity,
purity, and authority truths that could be known
by reason alone but only by a few and after much
effort.
89
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
How does faith elevate reason?
Faith lets reason know truths about God that
could never have been known by reason alone.
90
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What is the twofold effect of faith on reason?
First, faith helps reason grasp natural truths,
separate these truths from errors surrounding
them, and illuminate them more deeply. Second,
faith allows people to reason about supernatural
truths so they can understand them more deeply.
Example Enlightened by faith, a person can
reason about the natures of Christ, the Holy
Trinity, the angels, Gods providential plan for
our salvation, and many other supernatural truths.
91
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What is the relationship between Revelation and
history?
God reveals himself in history through what he
says and what he does. These words and deeds are
presented in a unique way in Holy Scripture.
92
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
How did God decide to reveal his truths to
mankind?
Rather than working through philosophy, God
entered human history, was born of a woman, and
lived among his creatures.
93
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
Why is it impossible for there to be a
contradiction between faith and what right reason
can discover?
God is the author of all truth, and there is no
contradiction in God.
94
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
How does theologyas supernatural wisdomhelp
scientific research?
When science seems to contradict faith, theology
can point out scientists have overstepped the
limits of science by presenting philosophical
conclusions as findings of science. Since those
conclusions contradict the Faith, they must be
wrong.
95
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What is culture according to the Second Vatican
Council?
Culture is any reality with a human or humanizing
value in other words, it is not everything that
mankind creates or produces or the traditional
customs of each people but only what is useful to
develop, perfect, and humanize mankind.
96
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Guided Exercise -
Perform a paragraph shrink on the paragraph,
The inner unity (p. 17)
97
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
What is the Churchs interest in culture?
The Church wants to enter into a dialogue with
the entire human family about the problems
besieging modern society in light of the
resources she has been given.
98
God Makes Himself Known to Man
- Focus Question -
Why can the Faith be of service to any culture?
Since it is not the product of a specific
culture, the Faith has the intrinsic capacity to
inform any culture.
99
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Lesson Objectives -

• Mans response to Revelation
• Reason leads to the assent of faith
• Contemplation and theology
• Natural morality and religion

100
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Basic Questions -

• What is mans proper response to Revelation?
• God wants people to cooperate in their salvation
  through faith in his Revelation.
• What role does reason play in an act of faith?
• Reason can lead the way to faith, which is an
  assent to the truths God proposes.

101
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Basic Questions -

• How does one penetrate Divine Revelation more
  deeply?
• People can develop faith through prayerful
  contemplation and study of Divine Revelation.
• Are morality and religion natural to humanity?
• Man is naturally both a moral and religious
  being, as seen from the natural law and natural
  religion.

102
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Anticipatory Set -
Complete a focused reading on Gaudium et Spes, 14
(p. 25) and discuss the following
How does this passage portray man as a naturally
religious being?
103
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What elevation of man has God chosen for his
people?
God invites all people to be members of the
divine family, to partake of the divine nature,
to live in intimate communion with himself, and
to become Godlike to the fullest extent possible.
104
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
In what way does God want each person to
participate toward his or her supernatural end?
God desires each persons free and responsible
cooperation.
105
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
Is salvation and supernatural elevation possible
on ones own?
No the goal surpasses human intellect, energy,
and power.
106
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What has God done to save people?
God revealed himself in history and addressed his
Word to men, first through the prophets and
ultimately through his Son.
107
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
How does one receive Gods Revelation?
It is received through an active faith, by which
a person is guided by God and cooperates with
him.
108
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
Is faith a vague religious sentiment?
No salvation begins with the acceptance of the
Word by the intellect.
109
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
How does Christs claim to be the Light of the
World illumine Luke 178-79 (cf. Jn 812)?
Without God, people sit in darkness, under the
shadow of death. Christs Revelation is the light
that enlightens them.
110
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is the assent of faith?
It is the agreement of the human intellect with
the truth God reveals. This is done under the
influence of grace.
111
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
Can a person reach faith through natural
reasoning?
Though faith is reasonable, reason cannot bring a
person to faith.
112
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
On what authority does a Christian believe?
He or she believes on the authority of God, who
reveals.
113
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Guided Exercise -
What are the preambles of faith?

• Some define faith as a leap into the dark,
  accepting something impossible without evidence.
• In reality, reason prepares the act of faith
  through the preambles of faith.
• The preambles of faith are truths that can be
  established by reason and make the act of faith
  reasonable.

114
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Guided Exercise -
What are the preambles of faith?

• For example, the following are facts reason can
  prove or at least prove to be reasonable
• the existence of God
• the life, miracles, Death, and Resurrection of
  Jesus Christ as historical facts.
• Christs establishment of a Church to carry on
  his work.

115
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Guided Exercise -
What are the preambles of faith?

• These preambles of faith can lead to the Faith.
• Faith, itself, is a gift from God by which a
  person freely assents to what God has revealed.

116
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is the metaphorical light of faith?
It is the possession of truth by which a person
guides his or her life.
117
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is the Scriptural definition of faith?
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen (Heb 111)
118
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
When will people see for themselves what now they
only believe?
They will see in Heaven, when they see God
face-to-face.
119
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
Why do believers meditate on what they believe?
They want to know God more closely.
120
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
In what two ways can faith be developed?
Faith can be developed by the spiritual (or
mystical) way and the intellectual (or
theological) way.
121
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is the spiritual (or mystical) way?
It is achieved with the help of the Holy spirit
by meditating on the Word of God.
122
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is the intellectual (or theological) way?
It consists of using all of ones intellectual
faculties and cultural resources to understand
Divine Revelation.
123
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Guided Exercise -
Brainstorm current events that challenge the
faith of a believer and can only be solved with
an understanding of the Faith.
124
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What should be the relationship between the two
ways in which faith is developed?
They should complement each other and be pursued
at the same time.
125
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is the origin of Christian theology?
It is born of the prayerful contemplation and
intellectual study of Divine Revelation.
126
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is theology?
It is faith seeking understanding.
127
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What does theology study?
It studies the treasures of love and wisdom God
has revealed.
128
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
Why should every Christian study the Faith?
Study of the Faith helps to know and love God and
the world that has come from him.
129
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
Why does St. Peter advise Christians to study the
Faith?
Always be prepared to make a defense to any one
who calls you to account for the hope that is in
you (1 Pt 315).
130
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
Why is theological formation especially necessary
today?
The world presents problems and challenges that
test peoples faith and require a reasoned
Christian response.
131
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is prayer?
Prayer is a conversation with God.
132
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
How is the Blessed Virgin Mary a model of prayer?
In response to Gods Word and to the events of
her life, Mary kept all these things, pondering
them in her heart (Lk 219).
133
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is the danger of studying theology without
piety?
Theology could degenerate into empty
intellectualism.
134
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
Which gifts of the Holy Spirit help most to study
the Faith?
The gifts of understanding and wisdom help most.
135
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What drawbacks are inherent with natural law and
natural religion?
After the Fall, reason and intellect became
clouded to the fullness of truth.
136
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What solution did God give people to the problem
with natural knowledge of God and good and evil?
God has given grace and Revelation.
137
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What is natural law?
It is the universal moral law for human beings
it can be known through reason.
138
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
How does St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans allude
to natural law?
Gentiles may obey the moral law, which is written
on their hearts.
139
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What are some of the precepts of natural law?
Murder is wrong, stealing is wrong, and adultery
is wrong.
140
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What did ancient philosophers see as the highest
virtue?
Religion, or the act of giving to God what is due
to God, was seen as the highest virtue.
141
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
How does ancient history support the notion of
man as a religious being?
Every ancient society was religious, and religion
was considered not just a private virtue, but
also a public one. Wherever archaeologists look,
they find the most important monuments were
religious.
142
The Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
- Focus Question -
What does the ubiquity of religion tell us?
Natural religion demonstrates to be human is to
be religious, and not to be religious is contrary
to human nature.