iiliiiiliiiiiii;.JJ

1-

O

:,

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