Truth and Reason
The origins of reason and revelation are identical. Catholicism has always been and must be an intellectual revelation. Rebellion against religious tradition has been the core of Western Philosophy. Yet Plato confesses that the wisdom of the ancients is of divine origin. That indicates a very distant past. Theology is always prior to philosophy. Philosophy is ultimately based on a prior interpretation of reality and that implies a first cause. Reality has to have a starting point from which one initially interpreted his reality. The theologian guards and interprets tradition which is past action. The philosopher attempts to rationalize current perception to predict future reality. The philosopher’s attempt to explain the reality of this world is at a disadvantage. He has only corporeal things of this world. That is he must use ideas which he cannot see with his eyes to explain tangible things. He is required to use images of his mind and transcendental things, spiritual things, and things not of this world. Because of his disadvantage, he seeks out a creator. If a creator created these tangible things, there must exist a law or method with which these things operate and exist in harmony. Plato had no conception of our triune God nor was he exposed to the truth and wisdom that the spirit of God offers. He sought but he never found. He developed fanciful tales about the creation of man and the universe and our being within it. Humans have been tethered to these ideas of Plato and Aristotle ever since. Philosophy attempts to explain ontology and metaphysics by varied degrees of growing complexity based on irrational and fanciful musings of two pagan intellectuals. What a pitiful mess mankind has put himself. Man reasons because God created us that way. Animals reason but just not rationally as humans. Human intellect has a transcendent connection to a superior power which we can recognize. Those who recognize this absolute power discovers that truth and has no need for theories on how humans perceive reality and gain knowledge.
Knowledge is not truth. Knowledge is the progression of accumulated ideas, mathematical formulas, and empirical evidence that form a basic elemental scientific fact. New ideas are added onto these elemental facts until a crisis or paradigm change occurs and new knowledge is promulgated. When this process ends or in other words comes to fruition, one has a truth which eventually becomes revealed truth. Knowledge is changeable and cumulative. Truth is finite, definite and unchangeable. Knowledge is empirical and scientific. These terms imply change. Truth is constant and given, in other words truth has been with us since the beginning and will remain with us until the end. Truth is not singular. It is definitely a plural concept. It can only be explained by the statement, “you just know when you know.” All reality becomes understood. The circle become complete. When theologians and philosophers, and now, secular scientists come to that realization, their cooperation will reveal marvelous results. They must learn to separate knowledge and truth. Knowledge is gained from looking forward. Truth is gained from looking to the past. Science seeks knowledge. Theology reveals truth. Philosophy explains the convergence. Truth existed before Christians appeared on the scene. The Israelites definitely had a brush with truth and discovered much before Christ revealed a large sum of the whole. In other words Christian theology is the understanding of being with a triune God and philosophy is the search for being without a God. Jewish theology is the real conveyor of truth. Finally why would an atheist ever search for a reason to life and being in the first place? That concept is an oxymoron. A search for being requires a creator. Therefore philosophy is a misguided attempt to explain humanity without a God. Or if we must extol its benefits, philosophy is the dividing line between those seeking and those who have already found. The origins of reason and revelation are identical. Both are from God. Have you found the truth? It will set you free.
Knowledge is not truth. Knowledge is the progression of accumulated ideas, mathematical formulas, and empirical evidence that form a basic elemental scientific fact. New ideas are added onto these elemental facts until a crisis or paradigm change occurs and new knowledge is promulgated. When this process ends or in other words comes to fruition, one has a truth which eventually becomes revealed truth. Knowledge is changeable and cumulative. Truth is finite, definite and unchangeable. Knowledge is empirical and scientific. These terms imply change. Truth is constant and given, in other words truth has been with us since the beginning and will remain with us until the end. Truth is not singular. It is definitely a plural concept. It can only be explained by the statement, “you just know when you know.” All reality becomes understood. The circle become complete. When theologians and philosophers, and now, secular scientists come to that realization, their cooperation will reveal marvelous results. They must learn to separate knowledge and truth. Knowledge is gained from looking forward. Truth is gained from looking to the past. Science seeks knowledge. Theology reveals truth. Philosophy explains the convergence. Truth existed before Christians appeared on the scene. The Israelites definitely had a brush with truth and discovered much before Christ revealed a large sum of the whole. In other words Christian theology is the understanding of being with a triune God and philosophy is the search for being without a God. Jewish theology is the real conveyor of truth. Finally why would an atheist ever search for a reason to life and being in the first place? That concept is an oxymoron. A search for being requires a creator. Therefore philosophy is a misguided attempt to explain humanity without a God. Or if we must extol its benefits, philosophy is the dividing line between those seeking and those who have already found. The origins of reason and revelation are identical. Both are from God. Have you found the truth? It will set you free.
RSS Feed