Hi again, it’s Sunday, and it”s been a long day, but here is my second commentary on the “Summary of the Catholic faith” which are taught to my eight year old son who goes to a Catholic School in Spain. The second phrase of the book is the following:
2. How can humans know God?
People can know God in the works of Creation and in the voice of their conscience.
So, lets break this down. First, the works of Creation, that is the Universe, I assume. This implies that we need to study the universe, the world we live in, inluding all its characteristics and laws, to know God. This might sound pantheistic, since it seems that this implies that God is Nature and Nature is God, but this is not the case since it is clear that “the works” implies that God exist outside the universe and is not part of the creation itself. The question arrise if all of what we see around us is actually God’s creation or if parts are contaminated by humans or others influences, since we for sure can observe things that make us suffer like, for instance, earthquakes or parasites that makes children blind. So when we observe this, we must either accept that God is not intending to avoid suffering, or believe that there are other evil forces in Nature, which are not part of God’s creation.
It seems like God has left the Creation without substantial intervention since it’s early creation, so I tend to believe that God is not very interested in avoiding suffering in this world. It seems to be a necessary consequence of the laws of how life evolves. These laws are neither good or evil, they are just the driving force behind the builing blocks of the universe and the tree of life. So by studying the world, we will know God as someone that is not intending to please humans. We have to believe that there is another deeper reason for the world to exist.
The next part of the brilliantly short answer to such a difficult answer is to look into our own self. Our Conscience can tell us what is right and wrong. So God is to be found in our own heart. Is this not too subjective? will not every person find its own God? Yes, it seems so, that if every human looks into its own concience, they will find something both unique and common for all humans, and this reflects God’s nature. It is both inpersonal and personal, Two persons can trespass Gods laws with the same act, but God can forgive one, and not the other depending on the person’s personal motivation and mindset. This makes religion a rather “human” source for moral philosophy, although not suited as a foundation for making just social rules for society.
