Friday, January 5, 2007
Can God be known by reason alone?

The answer is "Yes". God can be known to exist by the use of reason alone even though many will deny such a claim. The Church teaches that the answer is clearly "yes".

Canon 2 §1 of the Code of Canon Law:
"If anyone says that the one, true God, our Creator and Lord, cannot be known with certainty from the things that have been made, by the natural light of human reason: let him be anathema."

3 comment(s):

del_button January 7, 2007 at 8:22 AM
pauper servus et humilis said...

And that's why Luther's "Sola Fides" is wrong. Luther's vision of humanity, whose faculty of reason is utterly corrupted by original sin, actually weakens the faith and reduces it to a pious feeling.
Of course the Christian Trinity is a divine Revelation and reason itself is insufficient to discover; but the necessity of the existence of God as the first Principle and the final destiny of men was known to Aristotle.

del_button April 2, 2014 at 4:32 PM
Unknown said...

If God can be known by reason alone then why do I need Jesus Christ to die for my sins? If God can be known by reason alone then why did He give us His revelation, the Word of God that does not return to Him without accomplishing its work? If God can be known by reason alone then why do I need the Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth?

del_button April 3, 2014 at 10:40 AM
Matthew said...

Knowing of God's existence by reason has no bearing on your own salvation. We can know God exists through reason. That says nothing about our acceptance of Him and our salvation. You are speaking of two entirely different matters

Post a Comment



Copyright Notice: Unless otherwise stated, all items are copyrighted under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. If you quote from this blog, cite a link to the post on this blog in your article.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links on this blog are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate, for instance, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made by those who click on the Amazon affiliate links included on this website. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”