Introduction to Faith and Reason

A. The Christian Drama
  

1. The existence and nature of God, including the trinity of persons in one being or substance.

    2. Creation of all that is seen and unseen.

    3. The Fall and original sin.

    4. The promise of redemption: the convenant with Israel.

    5. The incarnation and atonement (life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ).

    6. The Church as Christ's body in time: grace and sacraments, Scripture and Tradition.

    7. The last things: death and resurrection, judgment, heaven and hell.


 
NICENE CREED (RECITED AT SUNDAY MASS)
    We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

    We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again, in fulfillment of the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

    We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.

    We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
     
     

    THE APOSTLE'S CREED
    I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

B. Preambles of the Faith vs. Mysteries of the Faith 
 
  • Preambles of the Faith: Revealed truths that natural reason can in principle come to an evident cognition of without the aid of divine revelation.

  • Mysteries of the Faith: Revealed truths that natural reason cannot even in principle come to any cognition of without the aid of revelation.

C. The Nature of Faith in General
    Faith in general is an intellectual act (habit) by which one

      (i) gives intellectual assent,

      (ii) prompted by the will out of trust,

      (iii) for the sake of acquiring some good,

      (iv) to propositions that 

        (a) are not themselves evident or intellectually compelling to one, but that 
        (b) one sees as being communcated as truths by someone who is in a position to know.



D. The Nature of Christian Faith as a Supernatural Act (Habit)
    Christian Faith is an intellectual act (habit) by which one

      (i) gives intellectual assent,

      (ii) prompted by the will, as aided by grace, out of trust in God,

      (iii) for the sake of acquiring everlasting human fulfillment,

      (iv) to propositions (the deposit of faith) that

        (a) are not themselves evident or intellectually compelling to one, but that 
        (b) one sees as being revealed as truths by a God who can neither deceive nor be deceived.

E. Four Natural Questions (corresponding to Summa Contra Gentiles 1.3-6)
   
  • 1. Is it plausible to think that there are truths about God that are inaccessible to us through our natural cognitive abilities?
    •  
  • 2. Wasn't it pointless of God to reveal the preambles of the Faith, given that we could in principle come to an evident cognition of them without any divine revelation?
    •  
  • 3. Is it wrong or unfair of God to demand that we assent to the mysteries of the Faith, given that we cannot in principle come to any cognition of them without revelation?
    •  
  • 4. Is it foolish or intellectually irresponsible for us to assent to the mysteries of the Faith, given that we cannot in principle come to any cognition of them without revelation?

E. Principles about the relation between faith and reason
 
  • 1. There can be no genuine conflicts between the deliverances of reason and the deliverances of faith.
    •  
  • 2. Apparent conflicts are in principle resolvable by us.
    •  
  • 3. Philosophical (in the narrow sense) arguments against a deliverance of faith can and should be answered on their own terms.
    •  
  • 4. Reason in its postlapsarian state needs the guidance of faith to do its best.

  • 5. Faith and reason are relatively autonomous sources of cognition that serve as checks on one another.