Franciscan Studies

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD ATTAINABLE BY HUMAN REASON, ACCORDING TO THE VATICAN COUNCIL* Fr. Ambrose Ryan, O. F. M. Let us begin by quoting the texts from the Dogmatic Constitution on Faith that make up the core of this study. They are, first, the words of the Dogmatic Constitution itself, which reads: The same Holy Mother Church holds and teaches that God, the beginning and end of all things, may be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason, by means of created things, "for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (Rom. 1, 2 0 )....1 In the corresponding Canon we read: If anyone shall say that the One True God, our Creator and Lord, cannot be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason through created things: let him be anathema.2 It can be immediately seen that the Dogmatic Constitution on Faith out­ lined the work performed by unaided human reason in coming to a knowl­ edge of God. It made it a matter of faith that human reason has the power to raise itself, by its own natural light, to a knowledge of God that is certain. *The main sources for this study are as follows: For the text of the Constitutio Dogmatica de Fide Catholica, confer Collectio Lacensis Conciliorum Recentiorum (7 vols., Friburgi: Herder, 1870-1890), VII: Acta et Décréta Sacrosancti Concilii Vaticani, cum permultis aliis documentis ad Concilium eiusque historiam spectantibus, Cols. 250ss. Also Denzinger-Bannwart-Umberg, Enchi­ ridion Symbolorum, etc. For a good English translation of the Dogmatic Constitution, confer Cuthbert Butler, The Vatican Council (2 vols., London-New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1930), 2, Appendix pp. 249-275. Butler also gives a short resumé of the doctrine con­ tained in the Dogmatic Constitution on Faith. Theodore Granderath, S. J., compiler of the 76th vol. of the Collectio Lacensis (cfr. supra) has also written a useful work containing both the text and a commentary of the Dogmatic Constitution on Faith: Constitutiones Dogmaticae Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani (Friburgi Brisgoviae: Herder, 1892). The work of J. M. A. Vacant, Etudes théologiques sur les Constitutions du Concile du Vatican d’après les Actes du Concile (2 Vols., Paris-Lyon, Delhomme et Briguet, 1895), contains much of the source material also, and is an altogether unique theologi­ cal study of all the points raised in the discussions of the Council. R. Garrigou-Lagrange, Dieu, son existence et sa nature, 2 éd., Paris: Gabriel Beauchesne, 1914, is also useful for consultation. This has been translated into English from the 5th French ed., by Dom Bede Ross, O. S. B. (Herder: St. Louis). 1. "Eadem sancta mater Ecclesia tenet et docet, Deum, rerum omnium principium et finem, naturali humanae rationis lumine e rebus creatis certo cognosci posse; 'invisibilia enim ipsius, a creatura mundi, per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta, conspiciuntur ’” (Rom. 1, 2 0 );... Coll. Lac., VII, Constit, ”de Fide," Sessio 3, caput 2, No. 1, col. 250. English translation from Cuthbert Butler, op. cit., p. 255. We have changed "may be certainly known” to "may be known with certainty,” which reads better. 2. "Si quis dixerit, Deum unum et Verum, Creatorem et Dominum nostrum, per ea, quae facta sunt, naturali rationis humanae lumine certo cognosci non posse: ana­ thema sit.” Constit. ”de Fide," Sess. 3, ch. 2, Canon 1— Coll. Lac., VII, col. 255 ; cfr. Butler, op. cit., 2, p. 269; note that the same change in Butler’s translation has been made here also. 364 KNOWLEDGE OF GOD ACCORDING TO VATICAN COUNCIL 365 In setting down this solemn truth certain other words were included in the statement of the Council that do not enter into this central definition. Hence we must be careful to find out just what the Fathers of the Council meant to define as the essential task of human reason. As in most other general ecclesiastical assemblies of this kind, the Church dignitaries had it in mind to condemn certain well-defined errors by a clear statement of Catholic doctrine, while at the same time tolerating other looser opinions that...