Converging and Convincing Proof of God: Introduction

By Andrew M. Greenwell, Esq.
10/25/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The Church teaches that man is capax Dei, has a capacity for God

The existence of God is not self-evident to us. Nevertheless, "man's faculties," in particular his reason, "make him capable of coming to knowledge of the existence of a personal God." And that knowledge is sure. We have moral certainty that God exists. For that reason, those who deny his existence are, in the words of St. Paul, "without excuse." (Rom. 1:20) That is why the psalmist says that a " fool" says in his heart that there is no God. (Ps. 14:1)

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CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - The Church teaches that man is capax Dei, has a capacity for God. One way in which man is capax Dei is that his reason is able to inform him that a personal God exists, even though a personal God is not visible, but rather invisible.

The existence of God is not self-evident to us, quoad nos. (S.T. Ia, q.2, art.1, co.) Nevertheless, "[m]an's faculties make him capable of coming to knowledge of the existence of a personal God." [CCC 35] And that knowledge is sure. We have moral certainty that God exists. For that reason, those who deny his existence are, in the words of St. Paul, "without excuse." (Rom. 1:20) That's why the psalmist says that a " fool" says in his heart that there is no God. (Ps. 14:1)

It was this understanding that legitimized the ubiquitous laws in this country that required belief in God as a prerequisite for holding public office. It is reflected in our very Constitution, which, although it prohibits the requirement of a "religious test" for the holding of public office (which is a matter of faith), it assumes that a public official will swear an oath to God ("so help me God") to support and defend the Constitution, which necessarily implies belief in God. (The Constitution also allowed for affirmations, not to accommodate atheists, but Quakers who would not swear to God although they certainly believed in him.)

It was considered right to require of public officials belief in God and belief that God was a rewarder of those who seek him and the ;judge of men at the end of their lives (since that was a matter of reason). It was thought unreasonable not to believe in God, and it was believed that the unreasonable refusal to believe in God could only be explained as being the result of a moral deficit, a deficit which justified exclusion from office.

In this country, the first time belief in God was equated with "religion" under law (and therefore a matter of faith alone, and not a matter of reason) was in the Warren Court's 1961 decision in Torcaso v. Watkins, a case also famous for having used for the first time the term "secular humanism" in a legal opinion. In Torcaso, a Maryland notary public challenged that state's requirement that any holder of public office was required to make a "declaration of belief in the existence of God." The Supreme Court, stacked at the time with liberal justices and headed by the unabashed liberal Chief Justice Earl Warren, unanimously found that requiring a public official to believe in God was unconstitutional (even though the Constitution itself requires oaths or affirmations to God to hold office, but, hey, who ever said liberal, result-driven justices are consistent?).

The faculty that makes man capable of coming to the knowledge of God is reason, and that reason is informed by the faculty of man's sense organs, but also includes what might be called his internal "senses," such as man's appreciation of beauty and his conscience.

Traditionally, reason's witness to the existence of a personal God have been referred to as "proofs" of God or "ways" of coming to know God. "Thus, in different ways, man can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and final end of all things, a reality 'that everyone calls God.'" [CCC 34] All these "proofs" or "ways," however, start from observation either of the physical world about us, or the "world" within us.

As the Church taught in the First Vatican Council of 1870 in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, Dei Filius:

"The same Holy Mother Church holds and teaches that God, the beginning and end of all things, may be certainly known by the natural light of human reason, by means of created things, 'for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made' (Romans 1:20)."

The reason that proves with moral certainty that God exists is not reason "in the sense of in the natural sciences" as the Catechism makes clear. God, after all, is not subject to experimental proof. You cannot prove God exists (or doesn't exist) by climbing to a precipice and throwing yourself off in the experimental gamble that such an act will prove God exists since he has given angels charge over us, and their hands will bear us up lest we dash our foot against a stone. (Matt. 4:6).

Invisible realities do not admit of direct visible proof like the physical sciences. And God is not proved by mathematical equations. Neither the reason of mathematics nor the reason of the physical sciences is the kind of reason that can be employed to discover that God ...

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

DLL
6 months ago
I agree with the ideas that this article presents. It is also matter of numbers. Much is a matter of calculation. God is infinite,beyond comprehension,as science as well as the general knowledge of humankind,can only at best speculate about God. Time is a numerical measurement for most of us. We are conceived in our mothers womb,we are born,we live a life span,then we die. It is a matter of numbers,it is a matter of time. Being finite creatures we can only conceive time as a measurement of a lifetime,as a beginning and an ending. The number zero we comprehend. If zero means nothing than to say that we are nothing before birth and then become nothing after death. If that is true why love and experience life itself and one another as well. We are time creatures. Life is full and to experience it fully,it must have meaning. If we just die and that is it,then life is a joke of time. Numbers are infinite,beyond our capability to calculate them ultimately. When this happens,we just say there are infinite numbers,as well as calculations. They are,and in that we agree mathematically. God is known as "I am",He is beyond the ability of Humankind to comprehend Him,He is infinite,beyond the measurements of time and space. With a conceived beginning and end to all life,the answer to the reason for this,is do to the concept of infinity,as numbers have a beginning,but no conceivable ending. God is infinite. Creation of time must have a basis in the probability of an infinite number if calculations,possibilities,beyond human comprehension. Jesus is the incarnation of God so that we can come to know God,if we recognize the nature of God,in the human dimension of Jesus. Jesus is a demonstration of the way,truth,and the life. Jesus saves us from sin because he is the perfect sacrificial lamb of God. Death,the end of time is a wage of sin. Jesus saves us from sin,experiencing death,to save all from the consequence of death. The consequence is that we cannot be part of the infinite calculation,as a probability in infinity,as sin is the act in time that reduces all who sin,to a value of zero,so it is like they never were anything. Christ is perfect,the Holy Spirit is perfect,God is infinite perfection. All that is infinite demands perfection,the probability of infinite perfection. God is a factor of that probability. Love defines perfection,infinite perfection. Jesus is body,blood ,soul,like all of us in time,but he is Divinity,as Christ is sinless. Christ is Love,as incarnate,unique,he must be. In the receiving of the Eucharist we receive Christ as body,blood,soul and Divinity. As Christ is pure so we must strive to be like Him,pure also. That is our Catholic faith. Christ is the one,number one,that defines every other number,as a value to be one in an infinite number of possibilities,calculations,probabilities,so that perfection is the solution of all eternity. Knowing that personally I must be pure,as my Father in Heaven is pure,as Christ commands,then infinity is possibility for me to have a share in,after my time on earth ends. Each of us is a part of something greater than us,wether it is in time or eternity. Infinity is spontaneous creation and recreation,salvation and redemption until perfection is the ultimate solution. Then all is harmony. Who can know the Mind of God. All that is created is wonderful,God has ordained it to be,we are ultimately to be one with I Am,God. Love is as God is now and forever. We must be as St Faustina discovered,Love.
abey
6 months ago
As is written in the Book of the Maccabees off the manner "Prophet Jeremiah on instruction from God removed the "Arc of the Covenant", before the Babylonian invasion to a cave under a mountain sealing it Saying no man shall enter in till such time God in His Mercy shall gather his people unto Himself & reveal to them the Covenant". This Jeremiah foresaw to come about individually in the Spirit to what is called a "Personal relationship with God". Even to the words of Jesus of the manner "You know not the the Father neither the Son but them unto whom the Son pleases to reveal". which is to what is called the Original or New Covenant. So to the revelation of the Covenant as Prophesied, we come to know not just the existence of God but also the mystery of Him, to a beginning of the said personal relationship.
Paul-Emile Leray
6 months ago
A pure joy to read! This article goes so nicely with the previous one, on faith and reason; particularly, in my opinion, with your clear explanation of the differences between ratio and intellectus.
Paul-Emile Leray

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