A Reply: The Demonstration of God’s Existence

A REPLY: THE DEMONSTRATION OF GOD'S EXISTENCE " She knoweth the subtilties of speeches, ~nd the solutions of arguments." Wisdom, VIII, 8. I HAVE written this refutation of Mr. Adler's essay on the Demonstration of God's Existence 1 for three reasons. First, to confirm>those of the faithful who might well have been dismayed by the thought that the teaching ofSt. Thomas, who is eminent among the Doctors of the Church, was open to such radical criticism as Mr. Adler has directed to it, and this in a matter which is a necessary preamble to the very Faith itself. Secondly, to correct Mr. Adler and any others who might be obstructed in their quest of truth (which truth is the Living Truth Who is Christ) by errors of natural reason concerning the teaching of the Church, in so far as that teaching is accessible to the natural light of reason. Thirdly, I have been moved to write these pages out of a sense of filial gratitude and rever~ ence for St. Thomas, as well as for the other holy Doctors of the Church, in the hope that what is written here might, in some small measure, dispel the erroneous, but widespread, notion that adherence to Catholic doctrine begets sterility of thought. Whatever there is of truth, I have received from that inexhaustible Spring: whatever there is of intellectual error, and pride of spirit, is my own. For prudence, as it is subordinated to the Faith, determines the proper disposition to the truths which we have inherited from men notable as much for their sanctity as for their learning and intellectual powers. Just as we venerate not only the Blessed Trinity of Persons in One Divine Nature, but also Christ and His Blessed Mother, as well as their saints, so our 1 Pp. 188-!U8 in both The Maritain Volume of The Thomiat, New York: Sheed & Ward, 1948, and TEE THOMIST, Vol. V (January, 1948). 19 flO HERBERT THOMAS SCHWARTZ reverence for truth, as it comes from God Himself, is participated in by our reverence for the teachings of the Doctors of the Church, and even of those outside the Visible Church whom tradition has established to be of sound doctrine. Experience , reason, and the admonitions of the Holy Ghost manifest that such reverence, far from being opposed to intellectual vita]ity, is the indispensable requirement for a truly healthy intellectual condition. It appears otherwise only in contrast with a ruthless pursuit of what is called reason, or when we have failed in the difficult task of perpetuating and therefore renovating tradition. My only misgiving is in the conviction that what I have written is entirely unworthyto b.e associated with the teaching of St. Thomas. May he forgive me my presumption, for it was expedient that this work should be done. Mr. Adler's article, excluding a short introduction and conclusion , is divided into two parts. In the first he intends to prove that God's existence cannot be demonstrated as He is a first cause in the order of becoming (causa fiendi). In the second he considers the possibility of demonstrating the existence of God as a cause of being (causa essendi). In the latter, although he admits the possibility in this line of causality as opposed to the order of becoming, he ends on a note of doubt principally because of difficulties concerning the premises of that demonstration (p. ~09, III) . The first part is divided into three parts. In the first he argues against the possibility of demonstration by any temporal succession of causes, which he calls " series," and this indeterminately , i.e., not specified as causes per se or causes per accidens (p. 197, #fl). In the second he argues against the possibility of demonstration through a temporal succession (" series ") of "essentially diverse causes," i.e., causes which are causes per se of a given effect (p. 198, #3) . In the third part he argues against the possibility of demonstration through a simultaneous plurality, i.e., "set" as opposed to "series" of "essentially diverse causes." For convenience of reference I have adopted the following A REPLY: THE DEMONSTRATION OF GOD'S EXISTENCE !ill system: Since...