[lbo-talk] Re: God and Reason

[C. G. Estabrook]

That's not quite right.  The common Catholic teaching, at least for the
better part of the last millennium, has been that the truths about the
world, ethical and philosophical, that are available to reason include the
existence of God.  But faith -- that is, trust that God has spoken to
humanity -- could not be established by reason or any other exercise: it's
a gift of God. Catholics indeed contend that their faith is a choice, but
not that it's unreasonable -- just unable to be proved by reason.  It's
rather like choosing to trust someone, which can rarely be proved. --CGE

On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 Turbulo at aol.com wrote:


> 
> Official Catholic doctrine has always held that the teachings of the
> church must be accepted on faith. Even Christendom's greatest
> thinkers--from Anselm to Acquinas, with their famous proofs,
> ontological and cosmological, for the existence of God--taught that
> these arguments could only bolster the faith of believers and perhaps
> help to convert heathens, but should never be considered an
> independent basis for belief.
>