According to St Augustine, there is in man a search for deep sense of joy

A kind of “restlessness” until he finds his joy in God…

Not in knowledge Not in material things

Not in other religions or philosophies

Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee…

MAN’S NATURAL LONGING FOR GOD: MAN’S THEOLOGICAL VOCATION

Is there a God?

Man looks for meaning in a higher power

as there are many things beyond his control

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS’5 WAYS OF PROVING GOD’S EXISTENCE

MOTIONCAUSALITY

CONTINGENCYGRADATION

DESIGN AND GOVERNANCE

Something that is moving cannot move itself unless moved by another

There must be the first mover, the source of all motion: THE UNMOVED MOVER

MOTION

There can be no infinity of mover

An object cannot cause itself, its cause is outside of itself

There must be a first cause:

THE UNCAUSED CAUSE

CAUSALITY

CONTINGENCY

The NECESSARY BEING brings existence out of non-existence

Something that exist was first non-existent

There must be a being who is non-contingent

If everything was non-existent, nothing will cause existence

GRADATION

“That which nothing greater can be thought of…”

St. Anselm

Object come in greater or lesser contents.

There must be someone who has all the characteristics

in the maximum possible degree

THE ABSOLUTE BEING

DESIGNER AND GOVERNANCE

All things have their end or purposeAll things are able to reach their end and purpose

There must be a designer who makes all things reach their end or purpose

GOD IS THE DESIGNER AND GOVERNOR

IMAGE OF GOD

GOD MADE MAN IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS

“No one has ever seen God”1 John 4:12

God is…SPIRIT / MYSTERY

CANNOT BE PERCEIVED BY THE SENSES

TRANSCENDS ALL HUMAN EXPERIENCES

We SPEAK of God ANALOGOUSLY

To speak is a human experience

We speak in terms of what our senses perceive

resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike

SIMILARITY comparison based on such resemblance

ANALOGOUS

God is a Father

God is a Mother

God is a Healer

Anthropomorphisman interpretation of what is not human or personal in

terms of human or personal characteristics: HUMANIZATION

The attribution of human qualities to God

We realize that our finite minds can only speak of God analogously. We know that we can have no direct, clear, or full idea of our Creator. "We see through a glass, darkly," as St. Paul said.The very way we come to verify and clarify our everyday knowledge is by illuminating our sensations with the mystery beyond us. We somehow already recognize this mystery, our minds move toward it by the universal grace of God, and we use it to give meaning to what confronts us in the world. Hence, mystery serves as a criterion of truth, a backdrop to all our finite thought. The mystery, which is God, answers the human quest for truth. Absolute mystery serves as a measure for the all-too-human striving of our intellect.

http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=0995-james