<HTML><HTML>In a message dated 11/8/04 8:56:18 PM Eastern Standard Time, lbo-talk-request@lbo-talk.org writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">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 </BLOCKQUOTE> I seem to remember that Thomas Acquinas held that, although the existence of god can be demonstrated by reason, other parts of the doctrine--the Trinity, the Incarnation and the Last Judgment--can't.</HTML>