The Catholic Church teaches a beautiful and absolute synergy between faith and reason. In fact, we believe that we can know with certainty at least the existence of God solely from reason and the natural world.
CCC 32:
The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world’s order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe.
As St. Paul says of the Gentiles: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.
And St. Augustine issues this challenge: Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air distending and diffusing itself, question the beauty of the sky. . . question all these realities. All respond: “See, we are beautiful.” Their beauty is a profession [confessio]. These beauties are subject to change. Who made them if not the Beautiful One [Pulcher] who is not subject to change?
The book of Wisdom 13:5 says this:
For by the greatness of the beauty, and of the creature, the creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby.
So the natural world is one way we can come to know the Creator. Because of this, throughout history, the Church has greatly valued the pursuit of truth through the natural sciences. [Keep Reading]
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