Notes on Faith in the Catholic God — Page by Page

Page 1

  • Module
  • TOPIC 1
  • FAITH IN THE CATHOLIC GOD
  • TH111 = THE CREED
  • MEC

Page 2

  • TABLE OF CONTENTS:
    • 1. Mankind’s Religious Dimension
    • 2. From Material Creatures to God: The Cosmological Proofs
    • 3. The Human Spirit Reveals God: The Anthropological Proofs
    • 4. The Denial of God: The Causes of Atheism
    • 5. Agnosticism and Religious Indifferentism
    • 6. Religious Pluralism: There is Only One True God and He has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ
  • Page 2 reiterates the overall structure of the course (2).

Page 3

1. MANKIND’S RELIGIOUS DIMENSION

  • From the very beginning, mankind’s history has had a religious dimension. This refers to acknowledging a Superior Being and rendering due justice to Him in living a life in accordance to His Will.
  • Expressions of religiosity, once purified of superstition from ignorance and sin, show that the human person naturally has a conviction that there is a God who creates all things and on whom the world and our existence depend.
  • [Cross-reference: general Catholic anthropology of religion and natural knowledge of God]

Page 4

1. MANKIND’S RELIGIOUS DIMENSION

  • POLYTHEISM—the belief in many gods—has often appeared in human history, yet the deepest human religious experience and philosophical wisdom have sought the ultimate justification for the world and for human life in one, unique God.
  • This God gives rise to all that exists.
  • He is the fulfillment of our aspiration for happiness. Concretely referenced: CCC 2828; and John Paul II, Encyclical Fides et Ratio, §14 September 1998, §1.

Page 5

1. MANKIND’S RELIGIOUS DIMENSION

  • Despite great cultural diversity in arts, philosophy, and literature, all cultures reflect on God and the central themes of human existence: life and death, good and evil, our ultimate end, and the meaning of all things.

Page 6

1. MANKIND’S RELIGIOUS DIMENSION

  • Transcending differences, there is a fundamental commonality: different cultures approach the meaning of personal existence. This is a source of respect for every culture and nation: every culture ponders the mystery of the world and, in particular, the human person; it is a way of giving expression to the transcendent dimension of human life. Source: John Paul II, Address to the United Nations, NY, 5 October 1995, no. 9.

Page 7

1. MANKIND’S RELIGIOUS DIMENSION

  • Since these manifestations of the human spirit have been present throughout history, reference to God belongs to human culture and constitutes an essential dimension of society and man.
  • Hence, religious freedom is the first human right, and the search for God is the first human duty.
  • All human beings are “impelled by nature and also bound by a moral obligation… to adhere to the truth, once it is known, and to order their whole lives in accord with the demands of truth.” Cross-reference: Vatican II, Dignitatis Humanae, §2.

Page 8

1. MANKIND’S RELIGIOUS DIMENSION

  • The denial of God and the intent to exclude Him from culture, society, and political life are relatively recent phenomena, limited to some areas of the Western world.
  • The great religious and existential questions remain unchanged over time; this refutes the claim that religion is an “infantile” phase destined to disappear with scientific progress (Gaudium et Spes, §10).

Page 9

1. MANKIND’S RELIGIOUS DIMENSION

  • Christianity takes up all that is good in the search for God and worship of Him throughout mankind's religious history.
  • Christianity gives to that history its true meaning: a path leading to the one true God who revealed Himself in the history of salvation given to Israel and who came to meet us by becoming man in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word. Cross-references: John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, §6; Fides et Ratio, §2.

Page 10

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • The human intellect can know the existence of God by approaching Him along paths that begin with the created world.
  • There are two basic routes: 22 basic routes: (i) through material creatures, and (ii) through the human person.
  • These paths have been developed especially by Christian authors but also by philosophers across times and cultures.

Page 11

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • These ways to God's existence are called “proofs,” not in the mathematical sense, but as converging and convincing philosophical arguments that depend on formation; see CCC 3131.
  • God is not an empirical object of sense knowledge; thus proofs cannot be understood as empirical proofs.

Page 12

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • Depending on the philosophical approach, each path leads to only one aspect or dimension of God. From movement, becoming, contingency, and world-order/beauty, one can come to know God as the origin and end of the universe (CCC 3232).
  • The richness and incommensurability of God are such that no one path yields a complete picture; each reaches a facet (existence, intelligence, providence, etc.).

Page 13

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • Among the cosmological ways, the famous 55 ways by St. Thomas Aquinas are highlighted.
  • To understand these, familiarity with metaphysics is required (Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, q. 2, a. 3; Summa Contra Gentiles I, c. 13; see also other metaphysics/natural theology manuals).

Page 14

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

1) The first two ways are based on chains of causes observed in nature (movement from potency to actuality and movement from an efficient cause to its effect).
2) Such chains cannot go back infinitely; they must terminate in THE FIRST MOVER and THE FIRST CAUSE.
3) The third way is THE NECESSARY BEING, starting from contingency and limitation and deducing a necessary/unconditional cause.

Page 15

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

4) The fourth way is THE MOST PERFECT BEING, focusing on degrees of participation in perfections and reaching a single infinite source of all finite perfections.
5) The fifth way is THE SUPREME DESIGNER, observing order and finality, stability of natural laws, and reaching an intelligent designer who orders all things as their final cause.

Page 16

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • Authors have presented these and analogous paths into our times; such ways remain applicable today.
  • To understand these proofs, one must begin with realism and reject scientific reductionism (ontological reductionism). Human thought can rise from visible effects to invisible causes via metaphysical thinking.

Page 17

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • We can also reach knowledge of God through COMMON SENSE: spontaneous philosophical insight from ordinary experience (wonder at nature’s beauty/order, gratitude for life, grasp of goodness, love).
  • This common-sense knowledge grounds the philosophical proofs for God’s existence.

Page 18

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • St. Thomas Aquinas concludes each of his 55 ways with the same affirmation: “This is what everyone calls God,” implying we already have an idea of who God is.
  • The next approach is Sacred Scripture following Divine Revelation.

Page 19

2. FROM MATERIAL CREATURES TO GOD: THE COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • Sacred Scripture (e.g., Wisdom 13:1−913:1-9; Romans 1:18−201:18-20; Acts 17:22−2717:22-27) and Church Magisterium affirm that human intellect, beginning from knowledge of creatures, can reach knowledge of God the Creator (cf. CCC 36−3836-38).
  • Sin and twisted moral dispositions can make this knowledge harder to attain (see Donum Veritatis, etc.).

Page 20

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • Man recognizes his uniqueness and preeminence over nature, though biologically similar to other animals.
  • He can reflect on himself and his experience; he is capable of cultural/technological progress; he perceives morality.
  • Because he possesses intellect and will, and freedom, he transcends the material cosmos.

Page 21

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • A quote from St. Josemaría: humans can unite with the Creator by using freedom; we are in a position to give or deny Him the glory due to the Author of everything.

Page 22

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • The human person is the subject of a spiritual life that transcends matter, though dependent on matter (body) – Gaudium et Spes 1818.
  • Across cultures, the spiritual dimension is explained by affirming dependence on God and reflection of God in human life.
  • Judeo-Christian revelation teaches that all people are created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26−281:26-28).

Page 23

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • The human person constitutes a path to God: ways begin with one’s own experience (openness to truth/beauty, sense of moral goodness, freedom/conscience, longing for infinite/happiness).
  • CCC 3333 summarizes this opening toward God via signs of the spiritual soul.

Page 24

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • MORAL CONSCIENCE approves the good and censures evil; conscience leads to recognize a Supreme Good who must be conformed to; conscience is God’s messenger.
  • Many ancient thinkers reflected on the ethical dimension of human acts; every person is capable of such reflection since created in God’s image.

Page 25

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • In addition to conscience, the human person is AWARE OF HIS FREEDOM as a condition for moral acts.
  • Freedom implies responsibility to someone greater than any material thing and greater than fellow humans; thus freedom and responsibility imply the existence of God, the guarantor of good and evil, the Creator, the Law-maker, and the judge.

Page 26

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • The problem: in modern times the truth of human freedom is often denied; some reduce humans to highly developed animals and brain-based processes governed by laws; hence deny freedom and morality.
  • Such views can be countered by reason and phenomenology showing human transcendence, free will even when conditioned by nature, and the impossibility of reducing mind to brain.

Page 27

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • Many people think evil and injustice prove God’s non-existence; in reality, this uneasiness is a way to God. Evil/injustice are privations; they clamor for the good and justice we aspire to.
  • If humans were not oriented toward the good, they would not be upset by harm or privation; this points to a Creator who calls us to Himself through hope in Him.

Page 28

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • Natural desires for truth, goodness, and happiness indicate a natural desire to see God; frustrated aspirations would leave humanity unfulfilled.
  • Therefore, these desires point to God as the Creator who invites us to Himself through hope.

Page 29

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • Summary: If the cosmological paths do not yield certainty of reaching God as a personal being, the anthropological paths beginning with man and natural desires show that the God we depend upon must be a personal being capable of love, who cares for His creatures.

Page 30

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • Sacred Scripture contains explicit teachings about the existence of a moral law written by God in the human heart (e.g., Wisdom 15:11−2015:11-20; Psalms; Romans 2:12−162:12-16).
  • Christianity-inspired philosophy calls this the NATURAL MORAL LAW.

Page 31

3. THE HUMAN SPIRIT REVEALS GOD: THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROOFS

  • This law is accessible to all people across times/cultures, though recognition of truths like God can be obscured by sin.
  • The Church’s Magisterium emphasizes conscience and freedom as ways to God; John Paul II developed doctrine on moral conscience and responsibility, while affirming humans are created in God’s image (Veritatis Splendor 19931993, §§54-64).

Page 32

4. THE DENIAL OF GOD: THE CAUSES OF ATHEISM

  • The various proofs of God do not by themselves produce faith in the revealed God; they show that faith is reasonable.
  • There are several reasons why someone may not come to faith despite these proofs.

Page 33

4. THE DENIAL OF GOD: THE CAUSES OF ATHEISM

1) These arguments show God exists and point to attributes, but they do not specify the personal being to whom one should direct faith.
2) Faith is a free response to God who reveals Himself; assent is not mandated purely by reason.
3) It is primarily God, not the person, who is the cause of faith; God reveals Himself gratuitously by grace.
4) Sin can obscure the mind, making faith more difficult. See Gaudium et Spes 19−2119-21.

Page 34

4. THE DENIAL OF GOD: THE CAUSES OF ATHEISM

  • For these reasons, it is always possible for a person to deny God.

Page 35

4. THE DENIAL OF GOD: THE CAUSES OF ATHEISM

  • Atheism takes two forms: (1) The THEORETICAL FORM denies God by reason; (2) The PRACTICAL FORM denies God by living as if He did not exist.
  • The theoretical form is contradictory because God is not the object of empirical science.

Page 36

4. THE DENIAL OF GOD: THE CAUSES OF ATHEISM

  • Positive atheism often results from the idea that accepting God limits human freedom and autonomy; this is a misunderstanding since freedom and autonomy depend on God’s creation.

Page 37

4. THE DENIAL OF GOD: THE CAUSES OF ATHEISM

  • Denying God often implies denying human dignity; some argue religion is ignorance/superstition obstructing progress.
  • Responses: show historical influence of Christian revelation on human rights and science; ignorance is an obstacle to true faith.

Page 38

4. THE DENIAL OF GOD: THE CAUSES OF ATHEISM

  • Some deny God to defend a this-worldly progress narrative that cannot satisfy deeper desires.

Page 39

4. THE DENIAL OF GOD: THE CAUSES OF ATHEISM

  • Among causes, PRACTICAL ATHEISM includes bad examples by believers who neglect faith or teach erroneous doctrine; this conceals the true face of God.
  • Vatican II onward emphasizes the role of Christian witness in evangelization to combat this problem.

Page 40

4. THE DENIAL OF GOD: THE CAUSES OF ATHEISM

  • Catholic teaching highlights that the example of Christians is a principal factor in evangelization (Gaudium et Spes, §19; Evangelii Nuntiandi; Veritatis Splendor; Novo Millennio Ineunte).

Page 41

5. AGNOSTICISM AND RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENTISM

  • AGNOSTICISM teaches that human reason cannot conclude anything about God; its proponents live humanistically without reference to a last end.

Page 42

5. AGNOSTICISM AND RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENTISM

  • Agnosticism often merges with practical atheism: living daily life without commitment to the ultimate end.
  • Agnostics should be helped to remain open to the possibility of God and revelation.

Page 43

5. AGNOSTICISM AND RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENTISM

  • RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENTISM is the principal manifestation of unbelief today; it is treated with attention by the Magisterium (Christifideles Laici; Fides et Ratio).

Page 44

5. AGNOSTICISM AND RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENTISM

  • Religious indifferentism coexists with empathy for the sacred but without moral considerations, treating religion like consumer goods.
  • Maintaining indifferentism requires continuous distractions from life’s deeper questions.

Page 45

5. AGNOSTICISM AND RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENTISM

  • Pivotal life events (falling in love, becoming a parent, death, joys/sorrows) compel many to question God; at such moments, it is important to help people engage seriously with the search for God.

Page 46

6. RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, AND HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN JESUS CHRIST

  • The authentic religious spirit in humanity has manifested across cultures in diverse ways; world religions reflect sincere quest for God and the transcendent dignity of man; they must be respected.

Page 47

6. RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, AND HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN JESUS CHRIST

  • The Catholic Church recognizes a “spark” or participation in divine Truth within non-Christian religions (Lumen Gentium §2).
  • Distinctions are required: acknowledge superstitions/ignorance and practices contrary to human dignity.

Page 48

6. RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, AND HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN JESUS CHRIST

  • Inter-religious dialogue is not opposed to evangelization; respect freedom, but the goal is to announce Christ.
  • Seeds of truth in non-Christian religions are seeds of the One Truth that is Christ.

Page 49

6. RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, AND HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN JESUS CHRIST

  • These religions have the right to receive God’s revelation and to be guided toward maturity through Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; God does not deny salvation to those who, without guilt, live according to natural law (Lumen Gentium 1616).

Page 50

6. RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, AND HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN JESUS CHRIST

  • In dialogue, Christianity can show that authentic world religions reach fulfillment in Christianity; Jesus Christ is the sole mediator between God and mankind (John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio; Dominus Iesus).

Page 51

6. RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, AND HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN JESUS CHRIST

  • Christians can speak about God without intolerance because the God spoken of is the God who created heavens/earth and who revealed Himself in Christ.
  • Early Christians refused to adore Christ as another god, while acknowledging the God glimpsed by philosophers as the cause/reason/foundation of the world is the God of Jesus Christ (Fides et Ratio; Benedict XVI Spe Salvi).

Page 52

6. RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, AND HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN JESUS CHRIST

  • The path followed by the early Christians is explained: they affirmed the existence of the one true God while recognizing fullness of revelation in Christ.

Page 53

6. RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD, AND HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN JESUS CHRIST

  • They refused to worship Christ as simply another god and showed that God recognized by philosophers as the cause/reason/history is the God of Jesus Christ.

Page 54

7. SUMMARY FROM THE COMPENDIUM (CCCC)

  • CCCC 1. What is the plan of God for man? See CCC 1−251-25. God, infinitely perfect and blessed in Himself, freely created man to share in His blessed life. In the fullness of time, God the Father sent His Son as Redeemer and Savior, calling all into His Church and, through the Holy Spirit, making them adopted children and heirs of eternal happiness.

Page 55

7. SUMMARY FROM THE COMPENDIUM (CCCC)

  • CCCC 2. Why does man have a desire for God? See CCC 27−3027-30 & 44−4544-45. God, by creating man in His image, has written the desire to see Him upon the heart. Although this desire is often ignored, God never ceases to draw man to Himself because only in God will he find fullness of truth and happiness. By nature and vocation, man is religious and capable of communion with God, which confers fundamental dignity.

Page 56

7. SUMMARY FROM THE COMPENDIUM (CCCC)

  • CCCC 3. How is it possible to know God with only the light of human reason? See CCC 31−3631-36 & 46−4746-47. From creation, through reason alone, one can know God as the origin/end of the universe, the highest good, infinite truth and beauty.

Page 57

7. SUMMARY FROM THE COMPENDIUM (CCCC)

  • CCCC 4. Is the light of reason alone sufficient to know the mystery of God? See CCC 37−3837-38. Reason alone yields difficulties entering the divine mystery; it requires God’s revelation to illuminate truths that exceed human understanding, while some truths can be known by reason with firm certainty and without error.

Page 58

7. SUMMARY FROM THE COMPENDIUM (CCCC)

  • CCCC 5. How can we speak about God? See CCC 39−4339-43 & 48−4948-49. Speak from the perfections of created beings as reflections of the infinite perfection of God, but continually purify language because we cannot fully express the divine mystery.

Page 59

7. SUMMARY FROM THE COMPENDIUM (CCCC)

  • CCCC 6. What does God reveal to man? See CCC 50−5350-53 & 68−6968-69. God reveals Himself by deeds and words and His plan of goodness decreed from eternity in Christ. By grace of the Holy Spirit, all people are to share in the divine life as adopted sons in the Son.

Page 60

7. SUMMARY FROM THE COMPENDIUM (CCCC)

  • CCCC 7. What are the first stages of God's Revelation? See CCC 54−5854-58 & 70−7170-71. From the beginning God manifested Himself to Adam and Eve and invited intimate communion; after the Fall He promised salvation; after the Flood, He made a covenant with Noah for all living beings.

Page 61

7. SUMMARY FROM THE COMPENDIUM (CCCC)

  • CCCC 8. What are the next stages of God's Revelation? See CCC 59−6459-64 & 7272. God calls Abram, making him the father of a multitude of nations and promising to bless all nations in him (Genesis 12:3). Israel becomes God’s chosen people, the Sinai covenant, the law given through Moses; prophets proclaim radical redemption and a new covenant for all nations; from Israel/House of David, the Messiah, Jesus, would be born.

Page 62

7. SUMMARY FROM THE COMPENDIUM (CCCC)

  • CCCC 9. What is the full and definitive stage of God's Revelation? See CCC 65−6665-66 & 7373. The full stage is accomplished in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, the mediator and fullness of Revelation. The Son and the Spirit complete Revelation; the Faith of the Church gradually grasps its full significance over the centuries. “In giving us His Son, His only and definitive Word, God spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word, and He has no more to say.” (St. John of the Cross).

Page 63

THE END

Bibliography:

  • Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 27−4927-49.
  • Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCCC), 1−51-5
  • Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, “Topic 1: The Existence of God” in Summaries in Catholic Teaching, https://opusdei.org/en-us/article/topic-1-the-existence-of-god/

Recommended Reading:

  • Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, 30−1230-12 (note: see original reference; included for completeness)
  • John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, 16−3516-35
  • Vatican Council II, Gaudium et Spes, 4−224-22