Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 167

Chap.

§ 46.

II]

FAITH

143

disappointed in your credulity, you do not abandon your ineradicable confidence, simply because this confidence cleaves to 3^our nature

and

is

indispensable

to life

itself.

And

with reference to the past. Even with reference to your own past, you do not doubt for a moment that the woman whom you loved as mother was your mother, and that the man whom you addressed by the name of father this

is

also

true

You have not observed your conception Equally unable are you to prove them. And yet when there is no special cause to make doubt compulsory., every child lives in the glad assurance of having And herein lies the startingits real father and mother. point of the power and right of traditio7i, which, though frequently mixed up with mistake and falsehood, in itself forms the natural tie which binds our consciousness to the past, and so liberates it from the limitations of the present. All this but shows the utter untenability of the current representation that science establishes truth, which is equally binding upon all, exclusively on the ground of observation and demonstration, while faith is in order only in the realm of suppositions and of uncertainties. In every expression was your father. and your birth.

of his personality, as well as in the acquisition of scientific

man starts out from faith. In every and always will be, the last link by which the object of our knowledge is placed in connection with our knowing ego. Even in demonstration there is no certainty for you because of the proof, but simply because you are bound to believe in the force of the demonstration. That this is generally lost sight of, is because faith, which operates in our observation and demonstration, renders this service in the material sciences to all individuals equally and conviction,

every

realm faith

is,

of itself.

While

This prevents the

rise of a difference of opinions.

it has always been necessary admit a certain unknown factor in the demonstration, and for the sake of this x to subtract something from the absolute character of the certainty obtained, which, however, has been disguised under the name of evidence or moral certainty. And for this reason it was very important to show that

to

in the spiritual sciences

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen