Faith and Revelation

Knowing God Through Sacred Scripture

Chapter 1
Knowing God Through Natural Revelation, Reason, and Faith

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

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.

In This Chapter We Will Discuss:

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.

Part 1 Chapter 1

Knowing God Through Natural Revelation, Reason, and Faith

Knowing God Through Reason

Lesson Objectives
Natural religion Fundamental ways of knowing God

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.

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.

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?

Focus Question
What is the natural desire for God?

Each person has this yearning for God in his or her human nature.

Focus Question
How does Pope Benedict XVI see the natural desire for God evident in Plato? Beauty causes a certain kind of suffering a nostalgia and longingin each person that keeps him or her from being satisfied with ordinary life.

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.

Focus Question
What is the supernatural counterpart to a persons natural desire for God? It is Gods desire for us.

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.

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.

Focus Question
What are two ways one can come to know God? One can know God through Revelation and human reason.

Focus Question
What is the overarching subject of this textbook?

Faith and reason work together to help us understand Gods Revelation.

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.

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.

Focus Question
What did the pagan philosophers Plato and Aristotle conclude about God? Using reason alone, they concluded there must be one God.

Focus Question
What is Aristotles First Cause? Despite his polytheistic culture, Aristotle reached the philosophical conclusion there is one God.

Focus Question
What attributes of God did Aristotle discern by reason?

He reasoned God must be eternal and perfect.

Focus Question
What did St. Thomas Aquinas do with Aristotles arguments about God?

He clarified and extended them in the thirteenth century.

Graphic Organizer
Complete the following table to clarify the four characteristics of a persons knowledge of God.
Characteristic Mediate Natural Universal Certain and Easy to Attain Explanation

Guided Exercise
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.

Knowing God Through Natural Revelation

Lesson Objectives
Natural knowledge of God The Five Ways

Knowing God Through Reason

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

Focus Question
What attributes about God are known from creation? The existence in God of goodness, unity, simplicity, infinity, wisdom, and omnipotence are known.

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.

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.

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.

Focus Question
Can philosophy absolutely prove Gods existence?

No; not everyone wants to be convinced.

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?

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.

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.

Guided Exercise
Discuss with a partner:

How does Hamlet vs. stack of papers with random words reveal a limitation of science?

Guided Exercise
Discuss the following:

What does it mean to say reason contains science rather than science contains reason?

Science and Reason

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

Knowing God Through 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.

Knowing God Through 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.

Anticipatory Set
Read the opening paragraph of this lesson (p. 9, We can conclude).

What is the relationship between 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.

Focus Question
What view of God is derived from scientism?
If science cannot prove the existence of Godand it cannotGod may not exist.

Focus Question
Why cannot God be proven by science?
God cannot be physically observed.

Focus Question
Is scientism scientific?
No; scientism is not provable because it cannot be tested by a scientific experiment.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Focus Question
What is atheism?
It is the denial of the existence of God.

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.

Graphic Organizer
Complete the following table to organize your knowledge of the principal errors regarding the existence of God.
Error
Atheistic Materialism Atheistic Humanism Current Atheism Agnosticism Rationalism Fideism

Definition

Effect on Religion

God makes himself known to Man

Lesson Objectives
Why supernatural religion is necessary What faith does for reason

Knowing God Through Reason

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.

Anticipatory Set

Compose a bullet-point summary of the quote from Humani Generis in CCC 37

Focus Question
What does the phrase, a personal God, mean?
It means God is a Person, a being with reason and will.

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.

Focus Question
Why has God revealed himself and given people grace?
He did this so people can enjoy his friendship.

Guided Exercise
Discuss the following:

What does it mean to say grace builds on nature?

Focus Question
What is the relationship between faith and reason?
Faith is above reason because it reveals truths outside the grasp of reason alone.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Focus Question
Where does God reveal himself to us?

He reveals himself in history, Scripture and the Church.

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.

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.

Focus Question
Why do we call grace supernatural?

It is a power above and beyond human nature.

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.

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).

Focus Question
How do some erroneously view the relationship between faith and reason?
They see faith and reason as inimical toward each other.

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.

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.

Focus Question
What truth about himself did Christ say God revealed to St. Peter?
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

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.

Focus Question
How does faith heal reason?

Faith overcomes erroneous applications of reason and ignorance, which are effects of sin.

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.

Focus Question
How does faith elevate reason?

Faith lets reason know truths about God that could never have been known by reason alone.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Focus Question
How does theologyas supernatural wisdom help 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.

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.

Guided Exercise

Perform a paragraph shrink on the paragraph, The inner unity (p. 17)

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Focus Question
Is salvation and supernatural elevation possible on ones own?
No; the goal surpasses human intellect, energy, and power.

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.

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.

Focus Question
Is faith a vague religious sentiment?
No; salvation begins with the acceptance of the Word by the intellect.

Focus Question
How does Christs claim to be the Light of the World illumine Luke 1:78-79 (cf. Jn 8:12)?
Without God, people sit in darkness, under the shadow of death. Christs Revelation is the light that enlightens them.

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.

Focus Question
Can a person reach faith through natural reasoning?
Though faith is reasonable, reason cannot bring a person to faith.

Focus Question
On what authority does a Christian believe?
He or she believes on the authority of God, who reveals.

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.

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.

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.

Focus Question
What is the metaphorical light of faith?
It is the possession of truth by which a person guides his or her life.

Focus Question
What is the Scriptural definition of faith?
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1)

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.

Focus Question
Why do believers meditate on what they believe?
They want to know God more closely.

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.

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.

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.

Guided exercise
Brainstorm current events that challenge the faith of a believer and can only be solved with an understanding of the Faith.

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.

Focus Question
What is the origin of Christian theology?
It is born of the prayerful contemplation and intellectual study of Divine Revelation.

Focus Question
What is theology?
It is faith seeking understanding.

Focus Question
What does theology study?
It studies the treasures of love and wisdom God has revealed.

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.

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 3:15).

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.

Focus Question
What is prayer?
Prayer is a conversation with 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 2:19).

Focus Question
What is the danger of studying theology without piety?
Theology could degenerate into empty intellectualism.

Focus Question
Which gifts of the Holy Spirit help most to study the Faith?
The gifts of understanding and wisdom help most.

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.

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.

Focus Question
What is natural law?
It is the universal moral law for human beings; it can be known through reason.

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.

Focus Question
What are some of the precepts of natural law?
Murder is wrong, stealing is wrong, and adultery is wrong.

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.

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.

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.