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:,
DOGMATIC THEOLOGYI
a
GOD:ANDATTRIBUTES
HIS KNOWABILITY, ESSENCE,
A DOGMATIC
TREATISE
PREFACED BY A BRIEF GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF DOGMATIC THEOLOGYBY
THE REVEREND JOSEPH POHLE,FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF APOLOGETICSAMERICA,
PH.D., D.D.OF
NOW
PROFESSOR OF
DOGMA
IN THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BRESLAU
AUTHORIZED ENGLISH VERSION WITH SOME ABRIDGEMENT AND ADDED REFERENCESBY
ARTHUR PREUSS
ST. LOUIS, MO., 1911
PUBLISHED BY B. HERDER 17 SOUTH BROADWAYFREIBURG (BADEN)B.I
HERDER
|
68,
LONDON W. C. GREAT RUSSELL STR.
NOV 16
1953
NIHIL OBSTAT.Sti.
Ludovici, die 14 Dec. igio/.
(.1.
HOLU ECK.
Censor Librorum.
ISti.
MPRIMA TUR.^ JOANNES/.
Ludovici, die 15 Dec. /g/o
GLENNON.
Archiepiscopus Sti. Ludovici.
Copyright, /?//,
by
JOSEPH GUMMERSBACH.
BECKTOLDPRINTING AND BOOK MFG. CO. ST. LOUIS, MO.
TABLE OF CONTENTSGENERAL INTRODUCTION TO DOGMATIC THE OLOGY GOD: HIS KNOWABILITY, ESSENCE, AND ATTRIBUTESPARTI.
PAGEi
15
CH.
I.
THE KNOWABILITY OF GOD Human Reason Can Know God i. Man Can Gain a Knowledge of God fromPhysical Universe
16 16
the17.
The Positive Teaching of Revelation ART. 2. The Idea of God Not Inborn from 2. Our Knowledge of God as DerivedART.i.
.1727the
Supernatural Order
33
ART.
i.
The Facts of
the Supernatural Order Con sidered as Premises for Unaided Reasonas a
33
ART.
2.
The Supernatural Factsour Beliefin the
Preamble
to.
Existence of
God
.
38
3.
Traditionalism and Atheismi.
44
ART.ART.
Traditionalism a False System
....
44
2.
The
Possibility of
Atheismof
49
CH.
II.
The Quality
of
Man s Knowledge
God Accord55.
ing to Divine Revelationi.
Our Knowledge of God as it is Here on Earth ART. i. The Imperfection of Our Knowledge of God in This Life ART. 2. The Threefold Mode of Knowing God Here on EarthART.3.
57
57
67 74
Theological Conclusionsiii
CONTENTS2.
Man s Knowledgei.
of
God
**
as
it
Will be in Heaven
ART.
The
Reality and the Supernatural Character of the Intuitive Vision of God
..... . .
80
ART.
2.
The Light of GloryThe
as a Necessary
Medium101
for the Intuitive Vision of
God
ART.
3.
Beatific Vision in its Relation to the
Divine Incomprehensibility3. Eunomianism and Ontologism ART. i. The Heresy of the Eunomians
107113.
.
.
ART.
2.
Why
Ontologism
is
Untenable
.
.
.
.113 .116133
PART
II.I.
THE DIVINE ESSENCETheTheBiblical"
CH.
i.
God Seven Holy Namesofto
Names
134
of
Godin the
"
in
the Old!^4
Testament2.
The Names Appliedment andin
God
New
Testa140
Profane Literaturein
The Sym
bolic Appellations
CH.
II.
The Essence of Godtributes
its
Relation to His At!44 144
i.
False Theoriesi.
ART.
The Heresy ofPalamites
Gilbert de la Porree and the145
ART.
2.
The Heresy of Eunomius andnalists
the
Nomi148..
ART.2.
3.
The Formalism ofVirtualDistinction
the Scotists
.
.151156159
The
Between God
s
Essence
and His Attributes
CH.
III.i.
The Metaphysical Essence of God
Untenable TheoriesAseity the Fundamental Attribute of
160
2.
God
.
.
.165177 180180
PART
III.I.
THE DIVINEGods
PROPERTIES OR ATTRIBUTES
..... ..
CH.
Transcendental Attributes^ Being i. Absolute Perfection and Infinity ART. i. God s PerfectionART.2.
180
God
s Infinity
190iv
CONTENTSPAGE2.
God
s
Unity, Simplicity, and Unicity (or Unique195ss s
ness)
ART.
i.
ART.ART.
2.3.
God God God
Intrinsic
Unity
196
Absolute SimplicityUnicity, or:
200its.
titheses3.
Monotheism and Polytheism and DualismTruth
An. .
212225 225
God
the Absolute Truthi.
ART.
ART.ART.
2.3.
God God God
as Ontological
as Logical Truth, or Absolute
Reason 230236241
as
Moral Truth, or His Veracity andGoodness
Faithfulness4.
God
as Absolutei.
ART.ART. ART.5.
2. 3.
God God God
as Ontologicals
Goodness.
241.
Ethical Goodness, or Sanctity
251
s
Moral Goodness, or Benevolence.
.
.
260
God as Absolute Beauty 265 CH. II. God s Categorical Attributes of Being .274 i. God s Absolute Substantiality 276 281 2. God s Absolute Causality, or Omnipotence 291 3. God s Incorporeity 298 4. God s Immutability 306 5. God s Eternity 6. God s Immensity and Omnipresence 315 Divine Knowl CH. III. The Attributes of Divine Life.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
edge
327 329 349
The Mode of Divine Knowledge Omniscience 2. The Objects of Divine Knowledge s Knowledge of the ART. i. Omniscience as Godi.
Purely PossibleART.2.
351s
Omniscience as Godofall
Knowledge of VisionCardiognosis,355
Contingent Beings
or Searching of Hearts
ART.
3.
Omniscience as God s Foreknowledge of the Free Actions of the Future 361. ..
V
CONTENTSPAGE
ART.
4.
Omniscience asture, or the"
God
s
Foreknowledge of
the Conditionally Free Acts of the Scientia Media . ."
Fu.
.373391
The Medium of Divine Knowledge CH. IV. The Attributes of Divine Life3.
The Divine42!
Willi.
The Mode of Divine The Objects of The Virtues oflar,i.
Volition
Necessity
and423
Liberty of the Divine Will2.
the Divine Willthe Divine Will, and in Particu
438
3.
ART.ART.
2.
Mercy God s Justice God s Mercy
Justice and
454455
INDEX
....*...
464
469
GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO DOGMATIC THEOLOGYNOTION, RANK, AND DIVISION OF DOGMATIC
THEOLOGYi.
GENERAL DEFINITION OF THEOLOGY.
Dog
matic theology forms an essential part of theology in general, and therefore cannot be correctly defined unlesslatter.
we have an adequate
notion of the
Theology, then, generally speaking, is the science of faith (scientia fidei). a) Theology is a science. Every science de
unknown truths from known and certain The principles, by means of correct conclusions.duces
dogmatician receives, and believingly embraces as his principle, the infallible truths of Revela
and by means of logical construction, syste matic grouping, and correct deductions, erects upon this foundation a logical body of doctrine, as does the historian who works with the factstion,
of history, or the jurist who is occupied with the statutes, or the scientist who employs bodies andtheir
phenomena
as materials for scientific con
struction.
SIt is
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONtrue that
some Scholastics, e. g., Durandus and have denied theology the dignity of a science, Vasquez, because it affords no intrinsic insight into the How and
Whyriesetc.1
ofof the
Catholic
dogmas,
Most Holy
But neither do and everywhere an insight into waysEuclidianfalls
particularly the myste Trinity, the Hypostatic Union, the profane sciences afford us altheir highest prin
ciples.
geometry, for instance, stands and with the axiom of parallels, which has never yet;
been satisfactorily proved so much so that of late years there has been made an attempt to establish a non-Euclidian geometry independent of that axiom."
"
Toare
this
sciences
should be added the consideration that there which derive their basic principles as
lemmata from some higher science. Such, for ex ample, is metaphysics, which is quite generally ad mitted to be a true science. Hence it is plain that thenotion of ascience,
while of course
it
includes
cer
tainty, does not necessarily include evidence on the part of its principles. According to the luminous teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, 2 "Duplex est scientiarum genus.
quac proccdunt ex principiis notis geomctria ct huiusmodi; qnacdam rcro snnt, quac proccdunt ex principiis notis lumine superioris scientiae, sicut perspectiva procedit ex principiis notificatis per geometriam ct musica ex principiis per arithmeticam notis. Et hoc
Quaedam
enini sunt,
lumine naturalis
intellectus, sicut arithmctica,
est scientia, quia [i. c., theologia] procedit ex principiis notis lumine superioris scientiae,
modo
sacra doctrina
quae scil. est scientia Dei et beatorum. Unde sicut music us credit principia tradita sibi ab arithmetico, itadoctrina sacra credit principia revelata sibi a1
Deo."
3
Cfr. Hebr. xi,
"
i
:
Fides
...art. 2.
3 Cfr.
P.
argumcntum non2
apparcntiiim."i,
gie
cine
Schanz, 1st die ThcoloWissensclwft? Tubingen
Summa
Thcol., la, qu.
1900.
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONthe fact that
3
b) Its specific character theology derives fromit
is
the science of faith, taking
faith both in its objectivesense.
and
in its subjective
Objectively considered, theology com those truths (and those truths only) prises which have been supernaturally revealed and areall
contained in Scripture and Tradition, under the care of the infallible Church (depositum fidei).
Hence
all
branches of sacred theology, including
canon law and pastoral theology, are bottomed Revelation. upon supernatural Subjectivelytheology as a science presupposes faith; for, though reason is the theologian s principle of knowledge, yet not pure reason, butconsidered,
were beyond itself, borne, ennobled, and transfigured by supernatural faith. It was in this sense that the Fathers 4 insisted on the proposition: "Gnosis super fidem acdifireason carried asitcatur,"
just ass
Scholasticism was founded on"Fides
St.
Anselm
famous axiom,
quaerit intel-
lectum."
between philosophy and theology. Philosophy, too, especially that branch of it known as Theodicy, treats of God, His existence, es sence, and attributes; but it treats of them only in the light of unaided human reason; while theology, on thedistinction
Hence a sharp
other hand, derives
its knowledge of God and divine from Revelation, as contained in Sacred things entirely Scripture and Tradition, and proposed to the faithful
4Cfr. Clement of Alexandria, Strom., VII.
4by the
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONinfallible
Church.process,
To
elicit
the act of faith de
manded by
this
requires
an
interior
grace
While philosophy never transcends the bounds of pure reason, and therefore finds itself un able to prove the mysteries of faith by arguments drawn from its own domain, theology always and everywhere retains the character of a science founded strictly upon(gratia fidei).authority.2.
THE HIGH RANK
OF THEOLOGY.first
Thethe
sciences.
ology must be assigned This appears:
place
among
While the a) From its immanent dignity. secular sciences have no other guide than theflickering
based uponlation,
lamp of human reason, theology is faith, which, both objectively as Reve and subjectively as grace, is an immediateGod.St.:
gift of
Paul emphasizes. .
this truth in
i Cor. II, 7 sqq. "Loquimur Dei sapicntiam in mysterio, quae abscondita est, quam nemo hiiins saeculi nobis principnm cognovit.
.
.
.
autem Dens revelavit per Spiritum suum We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery [a wis which none of the dom] which is hidden, of this world knew, but to us God princes hath revealed by his spirit." St. Thomas traces theology to God Himself: "Theologiae princi. .
.
.
.
.
pium proximum qnidemb)
est fides, sed
primnm5
est
intellects divinns, cui nos
credimus."
From
its
ulteriorDe
object.ad
The7.
secular
5 Iu Boeth.
Trin., qu. 2, art. 2,
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONsciences, apart
5
to
manat
s
gratification they afford natural curiosity and love of knowledge,
from the
no other end than that of shaping his earthly life, beautifying it, and perhaps perfect ing his natural happiness; while theology, on
aim
the other hand, guides man, in all his different modes of activity, including the social and thepolitical,"eye
to a supernatural end, whose delights 6 hath not seen, nor ear heard."
The c) From the certitude which it ensures. of faith, upon which theology bases all certitudeits
deductions
a certitude that
is
rooted in the
inerrancy of Divine Reason, rather than in the participated infallibility o a finite, and conse quently fallible, mind excels even that highest
degree of human certitude which is within the reach of metaphysics and mathematics.This threefold excellence of theology supplies us with motives for studying it diligently and thor
sufficient
oughly.
There does notis
exist aall
more sublime
science.
whom sciences, Theology even philosophy, despite its dignity and independence, must pay homage. Hence the oft-quoted Scholastic 7 The axiom Philosophia est ancilla theologiae."the queen of
a queen to
"
:
more
a science leads up to God, the nobler, and the more useful it necessarily is. But the sublimer,directly
can any science lead more directly to God than theology, which treats solely of God and things divine?61i
On
Cor. ii, 9. the true
corum sententia philosophiammeaning ofthis
esse
theologiae1856.
ancillam,
Monasterii
dictum, see Clemens,
De
Scholasti-
6
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
We should, however, beware lest our study of the ology degenerate into mere inquisitive prying of the sort against which St. Paul warns us: Non plus sapere quam oportet sapere, sed sapere ad sobrietatem Not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety." 8 Let us not that it is"
forget
punishable temerity to attempt to fathom the mysteries, strictly and properly so called, of faith. (Cfr. Ecclus. More than any other study that of Ill, 25.) theology should be accompanied by pious meditation and humbleprayer.8
3. DEFINITION OF DOGMATIC THEOLOGY. The notion of dogmatic theology is by no means
of faith.
conterminous with that of theology as the science Moral theology, exegesis, canon law, etc., and indirectly even the auxiliary theologicalarealso
theology. Nevertheless, dogmatic theology claims the priv ilege of throning as a queen in the center of the other branches of From another theology.point of viewit
disciplines,
subdivisions
of
may
be likened to a trunk fromlike so
which the others branch out
We
many
limbs.
shall arrive
of dogmatic
easily at the true notion theology, in the modern sense of the
more
term, by enquiring into the
manner
in
which
theologya)lar8
is
divided.
On the threshold we meet that most popu and most important division of theology into3.
Rom. XII,
9
On
Theologia mentis
et cordis.
Prol.
I,
this subject, cfr.
Contenson,
2.
Lugduni 1673.
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONtheoretical
7
practical, according as theology is considered either as a speculative science or
and
as furnishing rules for the guidance of conduct. Theoretical theology is the science of faith initsis
proper sense, or dogmatics ethical or moral theology.it
;
practical theology
Although
will not
der, because they are parts of
do to tear these disciplines asun one organic whole, and for
the further reason that the;
main
rules of right conduct
are also dogmatic principles yet there is good ground for treating the two separately, as has been the custom sincethe seventeenth century. glance into the Summa of St. Thomas shows that in the Middle Ages dogmatic
A
and moral theology were treated as parts of one organic whole. Upon the subdivisions of either branch, or the manner in which historical theology (either as Biblical science or Church history), is to be subsumed
under the general subject,cant.
this is not the place to des
falls into two and special. General great subdivisions, general dogmatics, which defends the faith against the attacks of heretics and infidels, is also known
b) Dogmatic theology naturally
by the name of Apologetics, or, more properly, Fundamental Theology, for the reason that, asdemonstratio Christianaet catholica,it
lays the
foundations for special dogmatics, or dogmatic 10 Of late it has become cus theology proper.
tomary
to
assignJ.,
to
fundamental theology aI,i
10 Cfr. Ottiger, S.
Theol. Fundamentalis,
sqq. Friburgi 1897.
8
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
of topics which might just as well be treated in special dogmatics, such as, e. g., the rule of faith, the Church, the papacy, and thenecessity of the subject-matter of these two fairly dividing branches of theology, but is chiefly due to the con sideration that the topics named toreally belong
number
between faith and reason. mendable practice grew out of therelation
This com
the foundations of dogmatic theology proper, and besides, being doctrines in regard to which the
various denominations differ, they require a more detailed and controversial treatment.
Wematics.
purpose to follow this practice and to exall
clude from the present work which more properly belong
those subjects
We
define
general dog special dogmatics, or dog
to
matictire
theology proper, after the example of 11 Scheeben, as "the scientific exposition of the en
domain of theoretical knowledge, which can be obtained from divine Revelation, of God Him self and His activity, based upon the dogmas of
By emphasizing the words theo and dogmas, this definition excludes moral theology, which is also based upon divine Reve lation and the teaching of the Church, but isChurch."
the
retical
practical rather than theoretical.
Aisoni
dogmaScheebens
is
a
normnell,
of knowledgeI,
;
the moral lawogy
a standard"Dog-
iiDogmatik,
3;
Wilhelm-Scan-
BasedI,
A Manual
of Catholic Theol-
matik,"
sqq..
London
1899.
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONof conduct;
9
though, of course, both are ultimately rooted in the same ground, viz., divine Revela tion as contained in Holy Scripture and Tradition,
c) into
and expounded by the Church. Another division of dogmatic theology, that positive and Scholastic, regards methodthansubstance.Positive
theology, of which our catechisms contain a succinct digest,
rather
limits itself to ascertaining
matic teaching contained in lation. Among its most prominent exponents
and stating the dog the sources of Reve
we may mention
:
Petavius, Thomassin, Lieber-
12 and others. mann, Perrone, Simar, Hurter Thomassin, and especially Petavius, successfully combined the positive with the speculative method. When positive theology assumes a polemical tone, we have what is called Controver sial Theology, a science which Cardinal Bellarmine in the seventeenth century developed
against the so-called reformers.
Dogmatic theology is called Scholastic, when, assuming and utilizing the results of the positivemethod,of12
it
undertakes: (a) to unfold the deeper
content of
dogma; (b) to set forth the relations the different dogmas to one another; (c) byHurters
admirable
Compenneeds
dium has been adapted
to the
of English-speaking students by the
and, still more succinctly, for the use of colleges, academies, and high schools, by the Rev. Charles Coppens,S.J.,
Rev. Sylvester Joseph Hunter, S. J., in his Outlines of Dogmatic Theology,three
in
his
the1903.
Catholic
Systematic Study of Louis St. Religion,
volumes,
London
1894,
2
io
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONdeduce from given or cerso-calledto"theolog
syllogistic process to
tainlyical
established
premises
conclusions;"
and (d)
make
plausible,
though, of course, not to explain
fully,
to
our
weak human reason, by means of philosophical meditation, and especially of proofs from anal ogy, the dogmas and mysteries of the faith. These four points, since St. Anselm s day, constituted
the
specific13
programme
of
mediaeval
Scholasticism.
In order to do
full justice to its
specific task, dogmatic theology must combine both methods, the positive and the Scholastic; that is to say, it must not limit itself to ascer
dogmas of the Church, but, after ascertaining them and setting them forth in the most luminous manner possible, must endeavor to adapt them as much as can be to our weak human reason.tainingthei
and expounding
great mediaeval Scholastics, notably St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure, treated what are called
The
a safe pro dogmatic truths as generally known data; cedure in those days because collections of Biblical and Patristic proofs for each separate dogma were then in the hands of every student. 14 As the most useful in strument for the speculative treatment of dogma, theyseized upon, not the Platonic philosophy, but the system In preferring Ariselaborated by the great Stagirite.13 Cfr. J. Kleutgen, Theologie der
14 Cfr. Pesch, S.
J.,
Praelectionesed.,p.
Vorzeit,ster
znd
ed.,
V,
i
sqq.
Miin-
Dogmaticae, Vol.Friburgi 1903.
I,
3rd
24.
1874.
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONtotle,
11
Scholasticism did not, however, antagonize the Fathers and early ecclesiastical writers, who, as is well known, had a strong penchant for Plato. Both Plato
and Aristotle may be said to lean on their common master, Socrates, who had grasped with rare acumen the fundamentals of natural religion, wherefor Socraticphilosophy, despite its incompleteness, has justly been 15 extolled as the It cannot Philosophia perennis." be denied, however, that theology in its various branches,"
excepting dogma, owes a wholesome impulse to modern philosophy, in so far as modern philosophy, especially since Kant (d. 1804), sharpened the critical spirit in method and argumentation, deepened the treat ment of many dogmatic problems, and made theoreticalnot"
doubtquiry.
"
the starting-point of every truly scientific in Since the Protestant Reformation threw doubt
nay even denied the principal dogmas of the Church, dogmatic theology has been, and still is com pelled to lay stress upon demonstration from positive A fusion of the sources, especially from Holy Writ. positive with the Scholastic method of treatment wasupon,as early as the seventeenth century by the ologians like Gotti and the Wirceburgenses, whose ex ample has found many successful imitators in modern
begun
times
(Franzelin,
Scheeben,
Chr.
Pesch,
Billot,
To the works of these authors must be others). the commentaries on the writings of AquinasdinalintoSatolli,
and added
L.
Janssens, and Lepicier.
by Car For reasons
which it is not necessary to enter here, the series of dogmatic text-books of which this is the first, while it will not entirely discard the speculative method of the Scholastics, which postulates rare in diaproficiencyWien10 Cfr. E.
Commer, Die itnmerwahrende
Philosophie,
1899.
12lectics
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
and a thorough mastery of Aristotelian meta physics, as developed by the Schoolmen, will employ 1* chiefly the positive method of the exact sciences.
Mystic theologyter
is
not an adversary but a
sis
of
Scholastic
theology.
While the
latter
appeals exclusively to the intellect, mysticism ad Hence its ad dresses itself mainly to the heart.
vantages, but alsotellectis
its
perils,
for
when
the inis
relegated to the background, there
danger that unclear heads will drift into pan theism, as the example of many of the exponentsof later mysticism shows.17
It
must be remarked,
however,
in
this
connection that the greatest
mystics, like St.
Bonaventure, Richard and18
Hugh
of St. Victor, and St. Bernard, were also thor
ough-going Scholastics. 4. SUBDIVISION OF SPECIAL DOGMATIC
THE
OLOGY. principal subject of dogmatic the 19 nor the Church, 20 ology as such is not Christ, but God. Now, God can be considered from a16 As mend:
The
helpful aids we can recomSignoriello, Lexicon peri pa-
die
teticum
Neapoli
1872;
philosophico-thtologicum, L. Schutz, Thomas"
Einfiihrung in Mystik, Paderborn A. B. Sharpc, Mysticism: 1908; Its True Nature and Value, LondonJ.
18 Cfr.
Zahn,
christliche
Le.rikon, and ed., Paderborn 1895. On the subject of the philosophicperennis,"
1910.i
Cfr.
see
especially
O.
Will-
nia
enimfor
mann, Geschichte des Jdealismus, 3 vols., 3rd ed., Braunschweig 1908. 17 Cfr. Proposit. Ekkardi a. 1329 damn, a Joanne XXII, apud Denziger-Stahl,sqq.,
autent
Cor. Ill, 22 sq. Om-vestra sunt, . . . vos Christi; Christus autem Dei all . . things are yours,"
i
.
and you are Christ
s;
and Christc,,
is
God
s."
Enchird.,
ed.
9,
n.
428
20 Cfr. Kleutgen,
/.
pp.
24 sq.
Wirceburgi 1900.
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONessence, or relatively,
13
twofold point of view: either absolutely, in Hisin
His outward
activity
(operatic ad extra). cordingly divided into
Dogmatic theology is ac two well-defined, though
quantitatively unequal parts: (i) the doctrine of God per se, and (2) that of His operation ad extra.
again be subdivided into two sections, one of which treats of God confirst
The
part
may
sidered in the unity of His Nature (De Deo Uno secundum naturam), the other of the Trinity of
Persons
(De Deo Trino secundum personas).
His operation ad extra God manifests as Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier, and Consummator. Divine Revelation, so far as it regards the created universe, includes not only the creation of na ture, but also the establishment of the super
natural order and the
fall
order of the rational creaturesangels.
from the supernatural i. e., men and
The treatise on the Redemption (De Verbo Incarnate) comprises, besides the re vealed teaching on the Person of our Saviour (Christology), the doctrine of the atonement (Soteriology), and of the Blessed Mother of our Lord (Mariology). In his role of Sanc tifier, God operates partly through His invisible grace (De gratia Christi), partly by means of visible, grace-conferring signs or Sacraments
14
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONin
(De Sacramentis,Consummator,Noznssimis).is
gencre
et in specie).
The
dogmatic teaching of the Church on God thedeveloped in Eschatology (Dethis
Into
framework the
entire
body of specialREADINGSology,I,i:
dogmaHunter,I,
can be compressed.J.,
S. J.
S.
sqq.
Wilhelm-Scannell,xvii sqq.
A Manual
Outlines of Dogmatic The of Catholic The
ology, London, 1899,
Generatim, Friburgi 1861. der Theologie, Freiburgtheol1910.
Schrader, S. J., De Theologia Kihn, Enzyklofiadie und Methodologie C. 1892. Krieg, Enzyklopddie der
Wissenschaften, ncbst Methodenlehre, 2nd ed., Freiburg J. Pohle, "Die christliche Religion" in Die Kultur der,
Gegenwart,
2 pp. 37 sqq. I, 4, Cfr. also D. Coghlan in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. V, s. v. "Dogma;" H. New J. man, The Idea of a University, Disc. 2 sqq. New edition, Lon
don
1893. Hettinger-Stepka, Timothy, or Letters to a Young Theologian, pp. 351 sqq., St. Louis 1902. T. B. Scannell, Thesqq., London 1908. Dogmatic Theology,
Priest s Studies, pp. 63glican), Introduction to
F.
J.
Hall
(An1907.
New York
GODHIS KNOWABILITY, ESSENCE,
AND ATTRIBUTESPREFATORY REMARKSHere below man can know God only by analogy; hence
we
are constrained to apply to
Himsit,
the three scientific questions: and Qualis sit, that is to say:
An
sit,
Quid
Does
He
exist?
Whatties
is
His Essence? and?
or attributes
are His quali Consequently in theology, as
What
philosophy, the existence, essence, and at tributes of God must form the three chief headsin
of
investigation.
The
differs
from the philosophical
treatment theological in that it con
siders the subject in the light of supernatural Revelation, which builds upon and at the same
time confirms, supplements, and deepens the con Since the clusions of unaided human reason.theological question regarding the existence of God resolves itself into the query: Can we
know God?falls into
the treatise
De Deo Uno
naturally
three parts:
(i)
(2) His essence; properties or attributes.
God;
The knowability of and (3) The divine
PART I THE KNOWABILITY OF GODCHAPTERHUMANHumanREASON CANI
KNOW
GOD
is able to know God by a con templation of His creatures, and to deduce His existence from certain facts of the supernatural
reason
order.
Our primary and proper mediumis
the created universe,
i.
e.,
of cognition the material and
the spiritual world.
In defining both the created universe and the supernatural order as sources of our knowledge of God, the Church has barred Traditionalism
and at the same time eliminated the possibility of Atheism, though the latter no doubt consti tutes a splendid refutation of the theory that the idea of God is innate.
16
SECTIONMAN CAN GAIN
i
A KNOWLEDGE OF GOD FROM THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE
ARTICLETHE
i
POSITIVE TEACHING OF REVELATION
we assume
In entering upon this division of our treatise, that the reader has a sufficient ac
quaintance with the philosophic proofs for the existence of God, as furnished by theodicy and1
apologetics.
As
and
traditionalists to
against the attempt of atheists deny the valor and strin
gency of these proofs, Catholic theology staunch ly upholds the ability of unaided human reason to know God. Witness this definition of the Vatican Council 2 quis dixerit, Deum:
"Si
unum
nostrum, per ea quae fact a sunt, natural* rationis humanaeliimine certo cognosci non posse, anathema sit If any one shall say that the one true God, our
et
verum, creatorem
et
Dominum
Creator and Lord, cannot be certainlyiCfr.caeas.
known by
Hontheim,Theol.
S.
J.,
Theodi-
Friburgi 1893; Fr. Aveling, The God of Philosophy, London 1906; C. Gutber-
Naturalis,
1890; B. Boedder, S. J., Natural Theology, 2nd ed., London 1899; J. T. Driscoll, Christian Philosophy:
God,
New York
1904.*.
let,
Theodicee,
and
ed.,
Munster
2 Sess. Ill,
de Revel., can.
17
i8
THE TEACHING OF REVELATIONnaturallightlet
the
of
human
reason
created things;see
him be
anathema."
through Let us
how
this
dogma can
be proved from Holy
Scripture and Tradition.i.
THE ARGUMENT FROM SACRED
SCRIPTURE.
meansII,
a) Indirectly the possibility of knowing God by of His creatures can be shown from Rom.
enim gentes, quae legem non 4 habent, naturalitcr ca quae legis sunt faciunt, eiusmodi legcm non habcntes ipsi sibi sunt lex:14 sqq.3:
"Cum
5 qui ostcndunt opus legis, scriptnm in cordibns suis, testimonium rcddcntc illis conscientia ipso-
rum
ct inter se
inriccm cogitationibusf accusan-
tibus aut etiam defendentibus, in die Dens occulta hominum sccundnm
mcum, per Icsum Christum tiles, who have not the law, do by nature:
cum iudicabit Evangdium For when the Genthose
things that are of the law; these having not the law are a law to themselves who shew the workof the law written in their hearts, science bearing witness to them,their
contheir
and
thoughts between themselves accusing, or also defending one another, in the day when Godshall
judge the secrets of
men bySt.
Jesus Christ,
according toTheis"
my
"
gospel.
law
"
(lex, VO/AOS) ofin
whichthe
identicalTO.fi
content
with
moral
Paul here speaks, law of na-
*Vffi
ra TOV
vofjiov
Troiuwv.
8
TUV
\oyiffjj.wv-
KNOWABILITY OF GOD7
19
ture,
the
same which constituted the formal subjectsupernatural
matter
of
Revelation
in
the
Decalogue.
Hence, considering the mode of Revelation, there is a well-defined distinction, not to say opposition, between the moral law as perceived by unaided human reason, and the revealed Decalogue. Whence it follows, againstin the aboveteaching of Estius, that gentcs," of St. Paul, must refer to the heathen, in quoted passage the strict sense of the word, not to Christian converts
the
"
from Paganism. For, one who has the material con written in his heart," so that, Decalogue without having any knowledge of the positive Mosaic a law unto himself," being able, con legislation, he is with the demands of sequently, to comply naturally the Decalogue, and having to look forward on Judgment Day to a trial conducted merely on the basis of his owntent of the"
"
"
"
conscience,
such a one,
I
say,
is
outside the sphere of
8 supernatural Revelation.
From this passage Romans we argue as
of St. Paul
s
letter to the
follows
:
There can be no
knowledge of the natural moral law derived from unaided human reason, unless parallel with it,
and derived from the same source, there runs a natural knowledge of God as the supreme law giver revealing Himself in the conscience of man. Now, St. Paul expressly teaches that the Gentiles were able to observe the natural law"naturaliter"7 Cfr. 8 Cfr."by
nature"
i.
e.,
without the
Rom.
II,
21 sqq.
the commentaries of Bisp-
ing and Aloys Schafer on St. Paul s On the exEpistle to the Romans.
difficulties raised by St. egetical Augustine and Estius, see Franzelin, De Deo Uno, thes. 4.
20aid of
THE TEACHING OF REVELATIONsupernatural revelation.is
Since no oneit,
can observe a law unless he knowssupposition obviouslythat
St.
Paul
s
the existence of
God, qua author and avenger of the natural law, can likewise be known "naturaliter" that is to
by unaided human reason. b) A direct and stringent proof for our thesis can be drawn from Wisdom XIII, I sqq., andsay,
18 sqq. After denouncing the folly of those whom there is not the knowledge of God/ 9 theI,airo\6yir)Toi.
parcu.
22is
THE TEACHING OF REVELATIONper se invisible, after some fashion becomes human reason (voov/uva Kafloparai). But
visible to
positive revelation, nor yet by the interior grace of faith; but solely by means of a natural revelation imbedded in the created
how?
Not by
world (TOW iroi^aw).appears to be such
To know God from nature an easy and matter-of-fact
process (even to man in his fallen state), that the heathen are called "inexcusable" in their
ignorance and are in punishment therefor "given up to the desires of their heart unto unclean17ness."
c)
Scripturetinction
By way we
of supplementing this argument from Holy will briefly advert to the important dis
existing,
God.effort,
which the Bible makes, or at least intimates as between popular and scientific knowledge of The former comes spontaneously and without
while the latter demands earnest research and conscientious study, and, where there is guilty ignorance, involves the risk of a man s falling into the errors ofpolytheism, pantheism,tionetc.
We
find this
same
distinc
made by St. Paul in his sermons at Lystra and Athens, and we meet it again in the writings of theFathers, coupled with the consideration that, to realizethe existence of ato
Supreme Being men have butlike
to advert
the
fact
that
guided
andat
nations, directed by"
God
individuals, are plainly s Providence. In his
sermonthe
Lystra, after noting that God had allowed Gentiles to walk in their own ways," that is
to say, to
become the prey of17
false religions, the24 sqq.
Apos-
Rom.
I,
18,
KNOWABILITY OF GODtie
23
declares that
He
nevertheless
18
withoutrains
testimony,19
doing
good
left not Himself from heaven, giving
"
and
fruitful seasons, rilling
and
gladness."
our hearts with food Before the Areopagus at Athens, the"
great Apostle of the Gentiles, pointing to the altar dedi cated To the Unknown God/ said God, who made"
:
the world, and hath made of one [Adam] all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times and the limits of their habi. ..
tation, that they should seek God, if happily they feel after him or find him, 20 he be not
mayfar
although
from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and are." 21 In the following verse (29) he calls at tention to the unworthy notion that the Divinity is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, the graving of Both sermons assume that art, and device of man." there is a twofold knowledge of God: the one direct,"
the other reflex.
spontaneously in the
The direct knowledge of God arises mind of every thinking man who
contemplates the visible universe and ponders the favors In the reflexive or continually lavished by Providence. metaphysical stage of his knowledge of God, on the other hand, man is exposed to the temptation wrongly to transfer the concept of God to objects not divine,
and thus
to
fall
into
gross
polytheism
or
22
have, therefore, Scriptural warrant for holding that the idea of God is entirely spontaneous in its origin,
We
idolatry.
but
may easily (though, it is true, only by an abuse of reason), be perverted in the course of its scientific de23!8 jccu roi nihilominus. ye 19 Acts XIV, 16.
velopment.
=
21 Acts 22 Cfr.
XVII, 24-28.
WisdomIn
20
"Si
forte
attrectent
ewn
ant
23 Hieron.
ep.
XIII, 6 sqq. ad Tit. I,of
10.
inveniant."
For a
further
elucidation
the
242.
THE TEACHING OF REVELATIONThePatristic
argument may be reduced
to
three
main
propositions.
a) In the first place, the Fathers teach that God manifests Himself in His visible creation,
and may be perceived there by man without theaid of supernatural revelation.Athenagoras calls the existing order of the material pledges of divine world, its magnitude and beauty, * For the visible is the medium and adds worship Clement of by which we perceive the invisible.""
"
:
*
:
Alexandria, too, insists that we gain our knowledge of Divine Providence from the contemplation of God s
works
in nature,
so
much
so that
it
is
unnecessary to
resort to elaborate arguments to prove the existence of Greeks and barbarians, All men," he says, God."
"
discern God, the Father and Creator of all things, un 2T 26 calls the St. Basil aided and without instruction.""
visible
creation28
a
school
and
institution
of
divine
knowledge."
St.
Chrysostom, in his third homily on
the Epistle to the Romans (n. 2), apostrophizes St. Did God call the Gentiles with his voice? Paul thus: But He has created something which is Certainly not."
more forcibly than words. apt to draw their attention He has put in the midst of them the created world and of visible things, the thereby from the mere aspect learned and the unlearned, the Scythian and the barbarian, can all ascend to God." 29 Otnnis the Great teaches:"
homo
Similarly St. Gregory eo ipso quod ra-
subject,
see
J.
Lehre
des
M.
Quirmbach, Paulus vonSittengesets,
Dieder
23 Lcgat. pro Christ., n. 4 sq. 20 Strom., V, 14.
naturlichen
Gotteserkenntnis
undFrei-
27 In
Hexaem.,
horn,trai
i,
n.
6.
dem
natiirlichen
28
5tda
OeoyvuffiatCfr.Sprinzl,
burg 1906..
iraiSfvrlipiov. 2Q Moral, xxvii,
5-
KNOWABILITY OF GODtionalisest
25
conditus,
debetesse
ex ratione
colligere,
eum
qui se condidit
Deuma
By
the use of his reason
everyfact
man must comethatis
to the conclusion that the very
he
is
rational
creature
proves
that
his
Creator
God."
b)
The Fathers further
teach:
From even
a
superficial contemplation of finite things there must arise spontaneously, in every thinking man,at least a popular
knowledge of God.
explain how natural it is to rise from a contem plation of the physical universe to the existence of God, some of the Fathers call the idea of God an in"
To
planted by nature in the mind of a knowledge which is not acquired," 31 but a dowry of reason," 32 and which, precisely because it is so easy of acquisition, is quite common among men.nateconviction,30"
man,""
Tertullian
calls
"
upon
the
soul
of
thesoul
Gentiles
"
to"
give testimony to God, learned in the school of"
not
the
wisdom,"
which has but that which is"
simplex, rudis, impolita ettura,"
idiotica."
Magistra nais
he says,
"
anima discipula33
Nature
the teacher,
the soul a
pupil."
St.
Augustine says that the conblends with the very essence est vis verae divinitatis, utiain
sciousness
of
we have human reason:
of"
God Haec
creaturae rationale
ratione
utcnti
non omnino ac[sc. atheis]
penitus possit abscondi; e.vceptis enim paucisin qiiibus natura
nimium depravata est, universum genus hominum Deum mundi hnius fatetur auctorem ForDieViiter,
Theologiepp.
dersqq.,
apostolischen
31
no
Viennatvvoia
1880.t
30
36a