Notes on Theology and Faith

On the Extent of Theological Knowledge

Most who are interested in scholastic theology are aware of a certain limitation of reason whereby it is not able to demonstrate the mysteries of the faith. Yet few are aware of the full extent of the limitations of reason in the investigation of the mysteries of the faith. Here I wish to provide a fuller treatment drawn from the tradition.

Introduction

Vatican I tells us that “reason illustrated by faith, when it zealously, piously, and soberly seeks, attains with the help of God some understanding of the mysteries, and that a most profitable one, not only from the analogy of those things which it knows naturally, but also from the connection of the mysteries among themselves and with the last end of man; nevertheless, it is never capable of perceiving those mysteries in the way it does the truths which constitute its own proper object.”

Here, the very function of theology is set forth with great clarity, and its distinction from the assent of faith is placed in bold relief.

Through faith, we are able to grasp the mystery by means of the analogical notions that come to us through Divine Revelation. Here we possess a firm certainty and an irrevocable judgment concerning the existence of these mysteries. Theology, on the other hand, concerns the investigation of that which is grasped by faith, following those very analogical notions that come to us through Divine Revelation.

Here there are always two tendencies to be avoided: (1) a certain obscurantism that denies the dignity of Divine Revelation by tending to treat the analogical notions communicated to us as merely equivocal notions, and hence as incapable of any sort of comprehension or investigation; and (2) a certain rationalism that, far from dignifying Divine Revelation, pridefully exalts the capacity of human reason and lowers the dignity of the Divine Mysteries by tending to treat the analogical notions of Divine Revelation as purely univocal notions capable of a fully comprehensive understanding of the mystery.