1. According to St Augustine, there is in man a search for deep sense of joy A kind of “restlessness” until he finds his joy in God… Not in knowledge Not in material things Not in other religions or philosophies Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee… MAN’S NATURAL LONGING FOR GOD: MAN’S THEOLOGICAL VOCATION Is there a God?
2. Man looks for meaning in a higher power as there are many things beyond his control
3. SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS’ 5 WAYS OF PROVING GOD’S EXISTENCE MOTION CAUSALITY CONTINGENCY GRADATION DESIGN AND GOVERNANCE
4. Something that is moving cannot move itself unless moved by another There must be the first mover, the source of all motion: THE UNMOVED MOVER MOTION There can be no infinity of mover
5. An object cannot cause itself, its cause is outside of itself There must be a first cause: THE UNCAUSED CAUSE CAUSALITY
6. CONTINGENCY The NECESSARY BEING brings existence out of non-existence Something that exist was first non-existent There must be a being who is non-contingent If everything was non-existent, nothing will cause existence
7. GRADATION “ That which nothing greater can be thought of…” St. Anselm Object come in greater or lesser contents. There must be someone who has all the characteristics in the maximum possible degree THE ABSOLUTE BEING
8. DESIGNER AND GOVERNANCE All things have their end or purpose All things are able to reach their end and purpose There must be a designer who makes all things reach their end or purpose GOD IS THE DESIGNER AND GOVERNOR
9. IMAGE OF GOD GOD MADE MAN IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS
10. “ No one has ever seen God” 1 John 4:12 God is…SPIRIT / MYSTERY CANNOT BE PERCEIVED BY THE SENSES TRANSCENDS ALL HUMAN EXPERIENCES
11. We SPEAK of God ANALOGOUSLY To speak is a human experience We speak in terms of what our senses perceive
12. resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike SIMILARITY comparison based on such resemblance ANALOGOUS
16. Anthropomorphism an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics: HUMANIZATION The attribution of human qualities to God
17. We realize that our finite minds can only speak of God analogously. We know that we can have no direct, clear, or full idea of our Creator. "We see through a glass, darkly," as St. Paul said. The very way we come to verify and clarify our everyday knowledge is by illuminating our sensations with the mystery beyond us. We somehow already recognize this mystery, our minds move toward it by the universal grace of God, and we use it to give meaning to what confronts us in the world. Hence, mystery serves as a criterion of truth, a backdrop to all our finite thought. The mystery, which is God, answers the human quest for truth. Absolute mystery serves as a measure for the all-too-human striving of our intellect. http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=0995-james
