Chapter 6 Title IV

Title IV 366-49 (242) 415-303 Preface to Part II: To speak of those who have dealt with this question. I envy the courage with which those people engage in talking about God.In presenting their argument to the godless, their first chapter is to prove the gods by nature's creations.Had they been proclaiming their thesis to the pious, I should not be surprised at their conduct; for [men] who do have a living faith in their hearts see without hesitation that all that is is nothing. Nothing else, but nothing but the creation of the God they worship.But for those who have extinguished this light in themselves, and we would like to rekindle it in them, those who lack faith and grace, they seek with all their light what they have in nature. Everything they saw that would bring them this knowledge, but all they found was.The dark and the dark; tell them that they have only to look at the smallest things around them, and so openly see God, and bring them the motions of the moon and planets as all proofs of this great subject, and Pretending to complete his proof by such an argument;--that would but give them a reason to believe that the evidence of our religion is so feeble.I can see from reason and experience that nothing is more fitted to inspire them with this contempt.

This is not the way the holy books talk about God, the holy books know more about God.On the contrary, the Holy Book says that God is a hidden God; and that God has made man blind since the corruption of nature; and that man cannot escape blindness except through Jesus Christ; without Jesus Christ, everything with God Contact will be interrupted: Nemo novit patrem, nisi  Filius, et cui volumerit  Eilius reve-lare. [No one knows the Father but the Son, and that which the Son will show. 〕From the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11, verse 27. This is what the holy book points out to us when it talks about whoever seeks God will find God in many places.It was by no means the kind of light that people say is "like the sun at noon."We do not say that whoever seeks the sun at noon or the sea will find them; and therefore the evidence of God must not be these things in nature.So, it tells us elsewhere:

Vere tues Deus absconditus. [You are truly a hidden God. ] Isaiah, p. 45 Chapter, verse 15: "Truly you are a God who hides himself. 6-19 (243) 396-311 It is admirable that the writers of the books never cite nature to prove God.They all try to make people believe in God.David, Solomon, etc. never said, "Because there can never be a vacuum, therefore God exists." They must have been much smarter than the smartest people ever born after them - all of whom have cited this argument.This point is very worth pondering. 362-26 (244) 116-332 "What! You don't say that the heavenly bodies and birds prove God?"

I will not say. "Isn't your religion saying so?" No.For though it is true in a sense to some souls to whom God has endowed this light; yet it is false to the majority. 482-396 (245) 420-310 Faith has three methods: namely, reason, custom, and inspiration.Christianity— It alone has reason--does not recognize as its true children those who believe uninspired; not that it repudiates reason and custom, but on the contrary must open its spirit to proof, Must be substantiated by custom, must be given humbly to inspiration, for only then will there be a true and beneficial result: Ne evacuetur crux Christi. [Lest the cross of Christ be in vain]. 1 Corinthians 1, 17

Verse: "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ should be in vain." 441-34 (246) 434-314 Sequence - After the letter "On We Should Seek God", write a letter "Removing Obstacles", this letter is to discuss "machine", is to prepare this machine, to seek with reason . 442-28 (247) 438-334 Sequence—a letter of encouragement to a friend, urging him to pursue the pursuit.He would answer, "But what use is it to me to seek? I will find nothing." Then he would answer, "Don't lose heart."He would then reply that he would be glad to find some light, but that, according to the religion itself, when he believed so, it would be of no use to him, and he would rather not seek it at all.And to this, he can be answered: the machine.

471-30 (248) 424-261 A letter explaining the usefulness of machine testimony—faith is not the same as proof: One is of man, the other is a gift of God: Justus ex fide vivit [The just shall live by faith. ] The language comes from Chapter 1, Section 17 of Romans. : It is this faith that God puts in the heart by His own hand, and its proofs are often instruments, eides ex auditu [faith comes from hearing. ]; yet this belief is in the heart of the human heart, and it causes one not to say scio [I know], but to say credo. [I believe in] 467-680 (249) 413-260 It is superstition to place one's hopes in rituals; but it is arrogance to refuse to submit to rituals.

469-722 (250) 588-384 God must be attained by a combination of appearance and heart; that is to say, we have to kneel ourselves, pray with our own mouth, etc., so that those who would not obey the pride of God may obey creation.To expect this outward help is superstition; to refuse to unite it with the heart is arrogance. 834-413 (251) 70-902 Other religions (such as paganism) are more popular, because they are only in appearance; but they cannot speak for the wise.A purely intellectual religion is better suited to the wise than to the masses.Only Christianity, which is synthesized from the outside and the heart, can be suitable for everyone.It raises the people to the heart, and lowers the proud to the exterior; without both there is no perfection, for the common man must understand the spirit of the letter, and the wise man must submit his spirit to the letter.

470-7 (252) 443-375 For we must not misunderstand ourselves: we are automatons as much as we are spirits; it follows that the instrument of persuasion is more than mere demonstration.How few things are proven!Proof can only convince the spirit. Custom forms our strongest and most convincing proof; it binds the automaton that keeps the mind in submission without thinking.Has anyone confirmed that there will be a tomorrow or that we will die?And what could be more believable?It is custom, then, that convinces us of this; it is it that has made so many Christians, it is it that has made Turks, pagans, artisans, soldiers, and so on. (Christians receive more faith in baptism than Turks.) Finally, when the spirit once glimpsed the truth, it still has to appeal to custom to quench our thirst and imbue us with the ever-present Hidden from our confidence; for it would be too much trouble to always have ready proofs.We must have an easier belief, and that is the faith of habit, which, without force, without artifice, without argument, makes us believe things, and inclines all our strength to that belief, so that Our souls naturally immerse themselves in it.It is not enough when people believe only because of the strength of witness and automata tend to believe the opposite.It is therefore necessary to convince both parts of us: to the mind, reason, which is enough to be seen once in a lifetime; Inclina corme-um, Deus. [God, please make me fall in love].

Reason moves very slowly, has so many opinions, and rests on so many principles, and these must always be present; so long as all its principles are not present, it is liable to fall asleep or go astray at any moment.Feeling does not act in this way; it acts immediately.We must therefore place our faith in our affections; otherwise, it will always waver. 3-368 (253) 412-264 Two excesses: rejection of reason, recognition of reason alone. 280-372 (254) 97-415 It is not uncommon for the world to be condemned for being too docile.It is as inherently evil as unbelief, and just as poisonous: superstition.

780-366 (255) 377-397 Piety is different from superstition. To preserve piety to the point of superstition is to destroy piety. The heretics condemn us for this superstitious obedience, which is to do what they condemn us...   Impiety, disbelief in the Eucharist, is based on our failure to see it. This superstition of believing various propositions.Faith, etc. 781-364 (256) 81-399 I would say that true Christians are rare, even in terms of faith.It is true that many believe, but out of superstition; and many disbelieve, but out of licentiousness; In it I exclude those who are of a truly devout heart, and all those who believe from a feeling of the heart.

364-336 (257) 358-346 There are only three kinds of people: those who have found God and serve him;The former are sane and happy, the latter are foolish and unhappy, and those in between are unhappy and sane. 363-151 (258) 180-339 Unus quisque sibi Deum eingit. [Every man makes a god for himself].Chapter 15, Section 8 and Section 16 are spoken. disgust. 483-400 (259) 215-341 Ordinary people have the ability to think what they don't want to think.The Jew said to his son, "Don't think about those passages about the Messiah." That's often the case with many of us.This is how false religions, and for many even true religions, survive. However, there are some people who are not able to prevent themselves from thinking in this way, and the more others prohibit them, the more they think.Such people do away with false religions, and even true religions, if they do not find solid arguments. 249-374, 790 (260) 532-342 They hide themselves in print and ask the numbers to do them a favour.confusion. Authority—Never take hearsay as the rule of your faith; but you should believe nothing unless you can put yourself in such a state as if you had never heard of it. It is what you agree with yourself, and the incessant voice of your reason, that should convince you, and not that of others. Faith is so important!Thousands of contradictions could be true. If antiquity is the rule of faith, did not the ancients have no rule?If it is generally agreed, what if human beings become extinct? False humility, pride. Let's lift the curtain.If it must be either to believe, or to deny, or to doubt; you are wasting your energy.However, do we have no guidelines?We judge animals by saying they do everything well.But is there no standard by which to judge human beings? Good denial, faith, and doubt are to a man what galloping is to a horse. It is wrong to punish those who commit crimes. 248-361 (261) 386-343 The excuse employed by those who do not love the truth is that there is still controversy and many denying it.Their errors, therefore, arise only from their lack of love of truth or charity; they are therefore inexcusable. 282-351 (262) 580-340 Superstition and lust.Concerns, bad wishes.Bad fear: This fear comes not from people's belief in God, but from people's doubts about God's existence.Good fears are born of faith, false fears are born of doubt.Good fear is combined with hope, because it is born of faith, and because we hope in the God we believe in; bad fear is combined with despair, because we fear that we have no belief in it at all God.The former is the fear of losing God, the latter is the fear of finding God. 440-474 (263) 490-365 Some people say, "A miracle will strengthen my faith." They say this when they don't see a miracle. From a distance, the intellect seems to limit our vision; but when we get there, we begin to see further again.Nothing can stop the flow of our spirit.It may be said that there is no maxim without certain exceptions, and no truth so general that there are no aspects in which it fails.So long as it is not absolutely universal, but leaves room for us to invoke exceptions to the subject at hand, and say: "It is not always true, and therefore some cases are not so",— That's enough.All that remains to be pointed out is that this is true in itself; and that is why we should be very embarrassed or very unfortunate if some day we do not find exceptions. 253-725 (264) 145-347 We can never be bored by having to eat and sleep every day, because hunger is recurring, as is sleepiness; otherwise we would be bored with them.Likewise, without a hunger for spiritual things, we would be bored.Desire for justice: this is the eighth beatitude. 459-370 (265) 170-348 Faith does say what the senses do not, but by no means contrary to what they see.It is above it, not against it. 460-942 (266) 169-345 How many stars has the telescope discovered for us which never existed for our philosophers before us!People frankly accuse the Holy Book on the basis of a large number of stars: "We know only one thousand and twenty-two." There is grass on the earth; we see the grass. —but we cannot see the grass from the moon.And there are veins on the grass; and there are worms in the veins; but other than that, there is nothing else. — Ah, arrogant man! —— Compounds are made of elements which are not. ——Ah, arrogant people, this is a subtle clue. ——It must never be said that there are things that we cannot see. --I must therefore speak as others do, but not think as others do. 466-373 (267) 168-160 The last step of the intellect is to admit that there are infinite things beyond intellect; and if it fails to come to this knowledge, it is only weak. If natural things are beyond reason, what shall we say of supernatural things? 461-355 (268) 469-409 Obedience - We must know where to doubt, where to affirm, and where to obey. He who does not do this does not understand the power of reason.There are those who object to these three principles; either affirming that everything is provable because they do not know proofs, or doubting everything because they do not know where obedience is necessary, or because they do not know where obedience is necessary. Judgment and obedience to everything. 463-352 (269) 139-398 Obedience is the exercise of reason, and true Christianity is in it. 462-359 (270) 142-437 St. Augustine—Reason can never be obedient if it has not judged that there are occasions when it should be obedient.Thus when it judges that it should obey, its obedience is justified. 464-172 (271) 166-396 Wisdom takes us back to childhood. Nisi eeeiciamini sicut parvuli. [If you don't become like a child]. Chapter 18, Verse 3 of Matthew: "Unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."This is a teaching familiar to the Po-Royals. In the history of modern thought, Francis Bacon (Francis Bacon, 1561-1626) was the first to quote it in scientific methodology, thinking that people must become children in front of nature and obey nature, and then they can better conquer nature. 465-367 (272) 143-344 Nothing is more sensible than this denial of reason. 4—358 (273) 130—395 If we made everything obey reason, there would be nothing mystical or supernatural in our religion.If we violate the principles of reason, our religion will be absurd. 474-2 (274) 137-411 All our reasoning boils down to making concessions to emotion. Yet phantasy and passion are alike but opposite, so that we cannot distinguish these opposites.One said my feelings were fantasies, the other said his fantasies were feelings.So there must be a rule.The intellect presents itself; yet it is docile to all the senses, and there are no rules. 475-100 (275) 140-427 People tend to take their imaginations for their own hearts; so whenever they think of taking refuge, they think they are taking refuge. 473-9 (276) 135-404 Roan said: "Reason came to me after the fact, at first a thing pleased or stimulated me, and I did not know why; but it stimulated me because of the reason".I believe, however, that it is not that the event excites for those reasons discovered afterwards, but that those causes are discovered only because it excites. 477-224 (277) 138-401 There is a reason in the heart, which reason does not know at all; we can know this from a thousand things.I would say that the human heart naturally loves the universal being, and with its devotion to it also loves itself; but it tries itself against the one or the other as it pleases.You discard this one and save the other: Is this you loving yourself rationally? 481—225 (278) 466—400 It is the heart, not the intellect, that feels God.And this is faith: God is perceptible to the heart, not to the intellect. 480—376 (279) 509—408 Faith is a gift of God; do not believe what we say: it is a gift of reasoning.Other religions do not say this about their beliefs; they reason only to reach this point, but reasoning does not lead them to this point. 476-727 (280) 463-254 How far is it to know God from loving God! 478-331 (281) 464-816 Heart, instinct, principle. 479—214 (282) 360-262 We know the truth not only from the intellect but also from the heart; it is in this latter manner that we come to know first principles, in which reasoning, which has no place at all, struggles, but in vain.The skeptics have precisely this as their aim, and so they are in vain. We know that we are never dreaming; however incapable we may be of reason to prove it, the inability to reach conclusions is nothing but the fragility of our reason and not - as they suggest - The unreliability of all our knowledge.For the knowledge of first principles, e.g., the existence of space, time, motion, quantity, is as solid as any knowledge [is] which our reasoning gives us.It is this knowledge from the heart and instinct upon which the intellect must rest, and on which all its arguments are based. (Three degrees of space are felt in the heart, and the number is infinite; then the intellect proves that there are no two square numbers, one of which is twice the other. Principles are felt, propositions are deduced; And they are all true, though in different ways.) If the intellect requires a proof of its first principles from the heart before it will admit it, it is the same as the heart requires the intellect to feel all the propositions it proves before it will accept it. It is futile and ridiculous. This impotence, therefore, should be used only to humble the reason that tries to judge everything, and not to attack our certainty, as if reason alone could teach us.May God, on the contrary, enable us never to need reason, and to know all things by instinct and emotion alone!Nature, however, withholds this boon from us; on the contrary she gives us but a very small amount of this knowledge; and all the rest can only be obtained by reasoning. And that is why those to whom God has given religion by feeling of the heart are so fortunate and so taken for granted. But to those who have not acquired it, we can only give religion to [them] by reasoning, while waiting for God to give them religion by feeling in the heart; benefit. 72-575 (283) 461-403 order.Objection: There is no order in the Holy Books—the mind has its order; the spirit has its order, that is by principle and proof, and the mind is another.To put in order the reasons for loving does not prove that we deserve to be loved; it would be absurd. Jesus Christ, St. Paul have an order of charity, but not a spiritual order; for they are to warm, not to instruct.Same goes for St. Augustine.This order consists essentially in digressing at every point where the destination is concerned, so as to always indicate the destination. 835-730 (284) 550-402 You should not be surprised to see that ordinary people can believe without reasoning.God gave them love for God and hatred for themselves.God draws their hearts to faith. If God is not attractive, people will never believe with salutary faith and confidence; but as long as God is attractive, people will believe.This was well understood by David when he said: O God, draw my heart (I)... . 836-472 (285) 525-285 Religion is proportional to all kinds of spirits.The first stays with mere organization, and this religion becomes a religion for which organization alone is sufficient to prove its truth.Others trace it back to the apostles.The most learned men go back to the beginning of the world.Angels see higher and farther. 837-731 (286) 465-393 Those who have never read the Old and New Testaments believe because they have a perfectly divine inner nature, and because what they have heard about our religion corresponds to it.They feel that there is a God who made them; they would only love God; they would only hate themselves.They feel themselves powerless, they are powerless to approach God; and if God does not come into them, they cannot have any connection with God.Again they heard our religion say that one must love only God and hate only oneself; but since all men have been corrupted and incapable of approaching God, God made himself man, that he might unite himself with us.The man who has this in his heart, who has this sense of his duty and his own impotence, needs nothing else to convince himself. 838, 840-732 (287) 395-325 We see those who become Christians without knowing the prophecies and evidences, do not prevent them from judging Christianity as well as those who have such knowledge.They judge by the heart, as others judge by the spirit.It was God Himself that drew their hearts to faith; and their conviction was therefore very effectual. I do admit that a Christian who believes without evidence of this kind may have little to convince another unbeliever who says the same about himself.Yet those who understand the evidence of religion will have no difficulty in proving that such believers are truly inspired by God, though they themselves cannot prove it. For since God has said in his prophecy (which is indubitable prophecy), that under the reign of Jesus Christ he will spread his spirit over all the nations, and that the sons and daughters and children of the church shall prophesy; so There can be no doubt that the Spirit of God is in these people, and never in others. 839-310 (288) 220-326 You should not blame God for concealing himself, but be grateful that he has revealed himself so much; and you should also be grateful that he did not reveal himself to proud wise men who are not worthy to know a God so holy. There are two kinds of people who can know: those who have a humble heart, who love lowliness no matter what degree of spirit they have, whether high or low; and those who are full of spirit to see the truth , no matter what kind of opposition they might encounter on it. 487-459 (289) 378-304 Proof——1.In its organization, in itself, Christianity is so unnatural and yet so powerfully and gently established. 2.The holiness, nobility and humility of a Christian soul. 3.The miracle of the holy book. 4.Especially Jesus Christ. 5.Especially the apostles. 6.Especially Moses and the Prophets. 7.jewish nation. 8.prophecy. 9.Eternity: No other religion is eternal. 10.The doctrine that explains the truth of everything. 1 1.The sanctity of that law. 12.according to the behavior of the world. Undoubtedly, after considering what life is, what this religion is, we should not refuse to follow the inclination to follow it if it enters us; Room for those who follow it. 486-38 (290) 375-306 Proof of Religion—Morality, Doctrine, Miracle, Prophecy, Symbol.