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Is the light of reason alone sufficient to know the mystery of God?

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    No.

    there are some truths which can only be known as a result of God's revelation, which no amount of human reasoning could ever begin to penetrate.

    Aquinas said there are things that God has revealed about Himself which could be known by reason alone (Natural Theology), and on the other hand, there are things that He Himself alone knows about Himself, which He reveals to others, and which are, and must always be in this life, objects of religious belief .

    The light of reason can provide the warrant for holding the former as true; only the authority of God provides the the warrant for believing the latter. Implicit in this distinction is the understanding that the same thing cannot be the object of knowledge and belief at the same time. If one knows, i.e. has discovered by the use of natural reason, that God exist, then one cannot at the same time believe this truth as something that God has revealed. Aquinas calls what reason can know about God, i.e. the object of Natural Theology, preambles to 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 the perfectible. (S.T. Ia, q. 2, a. 2)

  • 1 decade ago

    The light of reason alone is sufficient to let us know that there is a God or a higher power that started the world and all that is in it. Reason tells us that someone or something started it all. As for the mystery of God we will never completely understand it by ourselves with our limited minds. I believe that in heaven we will understand some of the mystery but we could never understand all of it unless God chose to let us understand it.

    Source(s): I like your questions. They make us think
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    I think that it is enough. Look at human history. Until the era of the enlightenment, there were no atheists,there were many cultures who didn't all believe in the same God,or gods,but they all believed in some higher power that was responsible for bring the world into being. The light of reason is what brought this all about. As thinking ,reasoning beings,even if we did not yet have the truth of Christ,we believed in God.

  • Hi IMACATHOLIC,

    I often ask myself these questions and personally I believe that yes God is A mystery as he is beyond our comprehension HE IS the I AM so honestly I don't think we will really know all the answers but what is important is that he loves us, we know this alone because God so loved the World he gave us his only Begotten Son for our salvation, and one day to come he will come again in the second coming and God will walk amongst his people.

    God Bless

    Source(s): Roman Catholic
  • 1 decade ago

    The existence but not the mystery by reason alone

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    The word mystagogy is related to our word mystery.

    It is easier to experience God than to explain God.

    We experience God in the sacraments, but we struggle to explain the mystery we encounter. Mystagogy is reflection on the sacraments to help us appreciate the mystery we meet.

  • 5 years ago

    people who lean unto there very own information of scripture are optimum others off objective and blinded with the help of their "delight!" yet this has to take place for the dominion of God is coming to this earth and set up His way because of the fact the only way. delight is guy's downfall. the tip of the circle of guy's self rule would be the beginning up of Christ's Kingdom yet that "delight" must be broken first!

  • korban
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    YES. The reformers threw out reason for this very reason.

    Of course it is by reason that God allows us to have faith.

    I find it hard that anyone could know God without reason!

    You could believe in God, but with out reason you will not know him.

    God reveals himself by reason as It is not reasonable to believe evolution and such, therefor we won't follow a false teaching as it goes against reason to do so.

    If you look for God in reason you can't but find him as he is the source of everything around us and in us.

    All logical thought leads to God.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    that would be a yes, as any reasonable person would know that the biblical concept of god is illogical at best and a fraud perpetrated upon humanity for monetary and political gain at worst.

  • 1 decade ago

    You ask some HARD QUESTIONS!

    Simple answer: Yes. God is mysterious indeed. It takes very little REASON to understand that.

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