Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Q12 A12: Whether God can be known in this life by natural reason?

Yes. God is known by natural knowledge because we can know of Him from the images of His effects.

From the knowledge of sensible things the whole power of God cannot be known (nor therefore can His essence be seen). But because they are His effects and depend on their cause, we can be led from them so far as to know of God whether He exists and, further, to know of Him what must necessarily belong to Him (i.e., as the first cause of all things, exceeding all things caused by Him).