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Show FAITH AND. REASON- Faith an Interesting Topic Its Relation to Reason Broadens Its , Sphere of Knowledge Reason Examines the Evidences Evi-dences of Revelation The Resurrection of Christ Confirms - Christian Revelation Obstacles to Faith A Perverse Will False Religions No Excuse. ( Written J'.-.r Hip lulormoiinlaii: Catholic.') 1 he subject iipjn riiKist, in tin- minds of all is faith, its claims to man's reason or it s rejection opposed to rcii-nii are topics which engage the attention at-tention of all classes. On the one silo whilst reason js supreme in all thai comes within its sphere of knowledge, yet it is incompetent to judge in mat-f mat-f lets of faith, i. o.. it cannot penetrate the mysteries of faith, and must yield to its dictum. On the other oth-er side it is claimed that reason must: he .the final jmlge. and whenever it fail lit confirm, or see by it- own light 1 ho. truth of the teachings of faith nothing remains hut U reject it. We have already shown 1 hat reason is incompetent in the discovery of all truth, and lhat when it has reached the limits lim-its of its powers in the discovery of truths within its province, revealed truths not only hroadens but -extends the sphere of its knowledge. Here another difficulty suggest ;,self. viz.. the truth of the supposed sup-posed revelatioi . it -longs to the province of reason rea-son to examine '" i. i donees of 1 ho supposed revelation, rev-elation, weigh tl: 1 . -efully and if the proofs are conclusive, then -i -elation which they establish ' should be admitted , fact clearly proved. In ibis : .sense reason, ins'' ad of being opposed to faith. shows how reasonahh faith is. and that the assent i which it demands is as reasonable as the assent giv-i giv-i en to any proposition resting- on incontestable au-; au-; lliorily. When a miraculous event takes place roa-.; roa-.; sou is competent to judge and .ascertain whether I the alleged miracle be true or false. It can be wll satisfied with evidence, fuid proofs communicated communi-cated through other witnesses as if really present.. It is competent to judge that a miracle is the strongest evidence that could be given of the truth of revelation. To doubt revelation when the miraculous miracu-lous fact lhar. confirms it is incontestable would, be j most unreasonable. Every miraculous event that took place during the public life of Christ was contested con-tested and attributed to satan or some evil influence influ-ence lie did not seem to lie offended at all at this. He allowed his hearers to c-xhaut all their reasonable reason-able powers in contesting his divine claims, power. and authority, referring his incredulous bearers to the final miraculous test which he would give, and from which there could be no appeal. That was the resurrection of his body, after bein"- taken life less from the cross on T riday. placed in the tomb, on Sunday. "Destroy this body and in three days 1 will build it up again." On this miraculous event. I the greatest that Cod could give to roan, rests ihe ; faiih of hundreds of million on Christian revelation I for twenty centuries. On it rested the faith of St. Paul the great persecutor of the early Christians, i "If Christ be not risen then is our faith vain.' ' Having- examined the proofs and tested the weight of evidence in favor of the resurrection reason c-in I show tiot only the reasonableness of admitting the Christian revelaiion. hut being in possession of it I -for nineteen hundred 'years it can also show the t reasonableness of all the doctrines which it con- tains. Without entering into the merits of the argu- I incuts which attest the truth of the resurrection. and therefore of Christirm revelation, arguments I which carried conviction to the greatest "philosoph- or. and most profound scholars of the past twenty centuries, and which also converted the pagan i world and wrought an entire change in the face I of world which was in itself a miraculous change. it may be asked why. in this age. so many born and raised in Christian oommunitiesj not only reject, I bu; oppose Christianity '. The reasons for believing j still hold good. Hence it cannot be opposed or. re-! re-! jected on that ground. If not then why? Because, ih'-y tell us. supernatural aid is a violation of ihe laws of nature. A revelation, which demands the ! submission of reason, and is authorative for reason, ei -laves reason. This imaginary difficulty against f lb reception of revealed truths, when once removed, J f:.:ih is sure to follow. To believe is man's nor- in;, I stale, and only through faith is he in harmony with the universal belief of the human race. What t is needed to bring- men's minds back to the ages of j faith, and implant in their souls ihe seeds of faith I i- to remove the supposed difficulties which they , i id-lain against believing. Credo I believe is I ihe first link in the historical chain that brings us, I hack 1 othe root of the human race. No "belief is abnormal and is subsequent to faiih. Faith is i-nth which the mind of man seeks as naturally 1 for its nourishment and comfort, as he would, seek for food and repose when hungry and weary, when truth is presented to the mind, and no difficulty of accepting it presents itself, it will immediately embrace it, and ask no reason. The knowledge obtained ob-tained gives sal isf action to the intelligent mind. The same aj'dies to faiih. Remove from the mind !' ihe unbelievers the-apparent difficulties which 1 be entertain- against believing-, and faith is sure to 1 i'ollov. because it is the normal si ale of the mind I to believe. The child naturajly believes what his j i'.ii nts tell him. so do those grown up to manhood ! naturally believe what is told them unless some 3 verv -ti-otig reasons inurpose for not believing. If I man were entirely incredulous the business of every 1 dii life would come to a standstill. I Tn religious controversies what is most needed i ' remove ihe apparent difficulties which exist in ) 1 , J J the mind. The most logical arguments simply remove re-move imaginary; objections and lays the foundation for reason to change and give its assent to the 1ruth. In the religious as well as in the scientific world truth when apprehended by ihe mind does not require any corroboration. But intellectual conviction convic-tion is not always sufficient, because a perverse will, not subject to restraint, will turn it away from the truth . When Christ propounded truths to his hearers, hear-ers, who were convinced that he spoke the truth, but which were distasteful to them, because their minds were not in a mood for the contemplation of those truths; they said to him, ''We will hear thee at another time." But there are so many false religious creeds say the unbelievers. Be it. so. that only proves there must be a true religion. Truth is something- positive, posi-tive, falsehood is in itself a mere nothing, and can be known only in the truth which it denies. The pagan dieties would be unintelligible if not preceded by the faith of Israel in the one. true and only God. So with all error it, is unintelligible apart from the truth which it denies. Take the history of the human hu-man race, whether living: under the natural law, the inspired teaching of the synagogue, or the Christian Chris-tian dispensation the same law is evident. Wherever Wher-ever you find man history testifies that he had some religion, and the crudest and most corrupt form of religion show that a supernaturaFelement formed the basis of their faith, verifying what we read in the book of Job. "There is a spirit in men. ami ihe inspiration of the Almighty givelh understanding." understand-ing." Root out of ihe human heart all notions or belief in ihe supernatural, throw aside as you would last year's abnansc God's rcveulcd word, thet vou destroy ihe vital and essential principle, of all religion. re-ligion. That accomplished the saddest and darkest pages of any country' hi story is reached. F. I). i j' HH..JH. m jim i hl4.4-.ihi. . . m ... nw . mr m wn iff ' ' ' ' ' ' 1 " ! ' ' mmm mma |
