Pearl L
it should be rooted in faith
Pope Benedict is Right :)
ANother mistaken misreading of PErennial Philosphy
1) Desire is a pointer
Every natural, innate desire in us corresponds to some real object that can satisfy that desire.
But there exists in us a desire which nothing in time, nothing on earth, no creature can satisfy.
Therefore there must exist something more than time, earth and creatures, which can satisfy this desire.
This something is what people call "God" and "life with God forever."
2) Knowledge MUST be part of Faith but is not Faith
The existence of God and other like truths about God, which can be known by natural reason, are not articles of faith, but are preambles to the articles; for faith presupposes natural knowledge, even as grace presupposes nature, and perfection supposes something that can be perfected. Nevertheless, there is nothing to prevent a man, who cannot grasp a proof, accepting, as a matter of faith, something which in itself is capable of being scientifically known and demonstrated.
Summa theologiae Ia, q. 2, a. 2, ad 1.
3) Faith hinges after the above -- for most, not all -- on WHO IS JESUS ? IF He is the Son of God then your only point of Faith is that !!!! Whatever the Son of God says is ipso facto true and more dependable even then your own existence
Pirate AM™
Belief and faith are synonyms, they mean the same thing with maybe slightly different connotations. Desire can be, and more often than not, a motivation for belief, just as the lack of knowledge often is. On the other hand, you can often base "belief" on solid knowledge, but then it's really not belief, it's more of a provisional acceptance until you know more, or we learn more.
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Hopefully belief is entirely rooted in knowledge. It should be. And generally is. But it's too often not.
EddieJ
Knowledge should be rooted in knowledge.