Saints' Discussion Forums

God's existence is not merely an object of natural rational knowledge, but also an object of supernatural faith. (De fide.)


In the beginning of all the formulas of the Faith stands the fundamental article: Credo in unum Deum. I believe in one God.

The Vatican Council teaches: Sancta catholica apostolica Romana Ecclesia credit et confitetur unum esse Deum;  The Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church believes and confesses there is a God. The denial of God's existence is condemned as heresy by the same Council.

According to Hebr. 11, 6 faith in the existence of God is an indispensable condition of salvation: "Without faith it is impossible to please God; for he who wishes to approach God must believe that He is: and that he is a rewarder to them that seek Him." But only supernatural Faith in Revelation is effective unto salvation.

The supernatural Revelation of the existence of God confirms the natural knowledge of God, and enables the existence of God to be known easily by all with certainty and without any admixture of error.

- Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma

BTW, I love this, Shin! ;)

So do I! I am benefitting from sharing! I always do learn by sharing!

The very basics of the faith contained in that line but it's surprising how many don't get the second part about supernatural faith.
Many are willing to believe in a god of their own making and this is true even among Catholics in our time who sincerely believe that God is changeable and will change His mind on the fundamental truths iof the faith in order to accommodate the ever-changing fads and fashions of man.

Always good to read that when temptation to compromise is always present.  :D

What I am getting a feeling of is by dealing with these fundamentals we will start to understand the historical approach of the Catholic Church on all these matters and appreciate it better.

 :D

Do you mean that by "dealing" with them we will accept them?

Well, I generally assume people accept dogmas at least minimally, since such is a minimal requirement for the Faith.

What I think is that if we understand the fundamentals of how people know God we will understand the fundamentals of how they do not too, and so understand the Church's approach towards evangelizing more sympathetically and the world's condemnation thereof less so.

 :D

Because we will be understanding the better how it simply works on both the levels of natural knowledge and acceptance/rejection of grace.

I believe that the intelect and the capacity to understand suffered a severe blow at the fall of Adam. The evil one has been given some dominion over both and so by pure natural means we don't have the ability to arrive at the fullness of truth. This is solely the work of grace and our cooperation with it. Thus we can obtain supernatural faith by grace.
C. S Lewis was the first to make me understand this. I often wonder why he stopped short of becoming a Catholic.
Maybe he secretly did before his death some surmise.  :shrug

Yes.. a very severe blow..

Mind shattering!

I am constantly thinking about the vice of forgetfulness lately, and that certain authority. Sigh! God help us to remember what we should and live lives that overcome the evil one's oppressions.  :D