If the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident, and the whole evolution of man was an accident too. If so, then all our present thoughts are mere accidents--the accidental by-product of the movement of atoms. And this holds for the thoughts of the materialists and astronomers as well as for anyone else's. But if their thoughts--i.e., of materialism and astronomy--are merely accidental by-products, why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents.
--CS Lewis, "Answers to Questions on Christianity," in The Grand Miracle, p 27
Showing posts with label reason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reason. Show all posts
The universe a product of accident?
GOING BEYOND SCIENCE
Within their own spheres of competence, the human and natural sciences provide us with an invaluable understanding of aspects of our existence and they deepen our grasp of the workings of the physical universe, which can then be harnessed in order to bring great benefit to the human family. Yet these disciplines do not and cannot answer the fundamental question, because they operate on another level altogether. They cannot satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart, they cannot fully explain to us our origin and our destiny, why and for what purpose we exist, nor indeed can they provide us with an exhaustive answer to the question, “Why is there something rather than nothing?”
--Benedict XVI, To Representatives of Other Religions, Waldegrave Drawing Room, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, Friday, 17 September 2010
FAITH. REASON. TASTE AND EXPERIENCE.
Very briefly, I would like to call your attention further to two other affirmations in the First Letter of St Peter which concern us in a special way in our time. There is first of all the sentence, today discovered anew, on the basis of which medieval theologians understood their task, the task of the theologian: "in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you". (3: 15). Christian faith is hope. It paves the way to the future. And it is a hope that possesses reasonableness, a hope whose reason we can and must explain. Faith comes from the eternal Reason that entered our world and showed us the true God. Faith surpasses the capacity of our reason, just as love sees more than mere intelligence. But faith speaks to reason and in the dialectic confrontation can be a match for reason. It does not contradict it but keeps up with it and goes beyond it to introduce us into the greater Reason of God. As Pastors of our time it is our task to be the first to understand the reason of faith. It is our task not to let it remain merely a tradition but to recognize it as a response to our questions. Faith demands our rational participation, which is deepened and purified in a sharing of love. It is one of our duties as Pastors to penetrate faith with thought, to be able to show the reason for our hope within the debates of our time. Yet although it is so necessary thought alone does not suffice. Just as speaking alone does not suffice. In his baptismal and Eucharistic catechesis in chapter 2 of his Letter, Peter alludes to the Psalm used by the ancient Church in the context of communion, that is, to the verse which says: "O taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Ps 34[33]: 8; 1 Pt 2: 3). Tasting alone leads to seeing. Let us think of the disciples of Emmaus: it was only in convivial communion with Jesus, only in the breaking of the bread that their eyes were opened. Only in truly experienced communion with the Lord were they able to see. This applies to us all; over and above thinking and speaking, we need the experience of faith, the vital relationship with Jesus Christ. Faith must not remain theory: it must be life. If we encounter the Lord in the Sacrament, if we speak to him in prayer, if in the decisions of daily life we adhere to Christ then "we see" more and more how good he is; then we experience how good it is to be with him. Moreover the capacity to communicate faith to others in a credible way stems from this certainty lived. The Curé d'Ars was not a great thinker; but he "tasted" the Lord. He lived with him even in the details of daily life, as well as in the great demands of his pastoral ministry. In this way he became "one who sees". He had tasted so he knew that the Lord is good. Let us pray the Lord that he may grant us this ability to taste, and that we may thus become credible witnesses of the hope that is in us.
1 Vani autem sunt natura omnes homines,
in quibus non subest scientia Dei;
et de his, quae videntur bonis,
non potuerunt intellegere eum, qui est,
neque operibus attendentes agnoverunt artificem.
2 Sed aut ignem aut spiritum aut citatum aerem
aut gyrum stellarum aut violentam aquam aut luminaria caeli,
rectores orbis terrarum, deos putaverunt.
3 Quorum si specie delectati, illa deos putaverunt,
sciant quanto his dominator eorum melior est:
speciei enim principium et auctor constituit ea.
4 Si autem virtutem et operationem eorum mirati,
intellegant ab illis quanto, qui haec fecit, fortior est illis:
5 a magnitudine enim et pulchritudine creaturarum
cognoscibiliter potest creator horum videri.
6 Sed tamen in his minor est querela, et hi enim fortasse errant
Deum quaerentes et volentes invenire.
7 Etenim, cum in operibus illius conversentur, inquirunt
et credunt visui,
quoniam pulchra sunt, quae videntur.
8 Iterum autem nec his potest ignosci:
9 si enim tantum valuerunt scire, ut possent aestimare saeculum,
quomodo huius Dominum non facilius invenerunt?
10 Infelices autem, et in rebus mortuis sunt spes illorum,
qui appellaverunt deos opera manuum hominum,
aurum et argentum, artis inventionem
et similitudines animalium
aut lapidem inutilem, opus manus antiquae.
1 For all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature;
and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know him who exists,
nor did they recognize the craftsman while paying heed to his works;
2 but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air,
or the circle of the stars,
or turbulent water,
of the luminaries of heaven were the gods that rule the world.
3 If through delight in the beauty of these things men* assumed them to be gods,
let them know how much better than these is their Lord,
for the author of beauty created them.
4 And if men* were amazed at their power and working,
let them perceive from them how much more powerful is he who formed them.
5 For from the greatness and beauty of created things
comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.
6 Yet these men are little to be blamed,
for perhaps they go astray while seeking God and desiring to find him.
7 For as they live among his works they keep searching,
and they trust in what they see,
because the things that are seen are beautiful.
8 Yet again, not even they are to be excused;
9 for if they had the power to know so much that they could investigate the world,
how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of these things?
10 But miserable, with their hopes set on dead things,
are the men who give the name "gods" to the works of men's hands,
gold and silver fashioned with skill,
and likenesses of animals,
or a useless stone,
the work of an ancient hand.
(Wisdom 13:1-10)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)