1. Religion
1. RELIGION
Isn’t organized religion a crutch? Why do we need the Bible and the Church? Can’t we know God by our own reason and common sense and experience instead of “divine revelation”?
It was necessary for man’s salvation that there should be a knowledge revealed by God besides philosophical science (wisdom) built up by human reason . . . because man is directed to God as to an end that surpasses the grasp of his reason: “The eye has not seen, O God . . . what things Thou hast prepared for them that wait for Thee” (Is 66:4). But the end must first be known by men who are to direct their . . . actions to the end. Hence it was necessary for the salvation of man that certain truths about God which exceed human reason should be made known to him by divine revelation (I,1,1).
Life is a road. The most important thing about a road is its end, where it goes. If the road of life has no real end and goal, it is meaningless. It is a circle or a swamp or a wilderness, not a road.
What is our end? Not ourselves. Our end is to know God—not just to know about Him but to know Him. “This is eternal life: to know Thee, the one true God” (Jn 17:3).
But even if we had not fallen into sin and error, our knowledge of God would have been less adequate than a worm’s knowledge of us. For the distance between the finitude of the worm and the finitude of man is only finite, while the distance between finite man and infinite God is infinite.
Only God can bridge that gap, by acting “down” with His power; we cannot bridge it by moving “up” with our power. A worm cannot climb Mount Everest. This was so from the beginning, even before we fell. How much more do we need divinely revealed truth now that we are fallen and foolish.
We need it not just to satisfy our natural curiosity but to actually get us to God, for man’s salvation. We are half-blind and lost in a haunted forest. Without a road map, we will not get Home. The purpose of divinely revealed theology is not just theoretical but utterly practical.
That is why you should read St. Thomas. The ultimate reason for studying theology is the same as the ultimate reason for your existence. It is “Salvation”, that is, it is Heaven, Happiness, Holiness (three words for the very same thing).
Yes, we can know much about God by the proper use of our natural human reason: e.g., that He exists, that He is one, that He is perfect. But since we are fallen fools, most of our philosophy is not “the proper use of human reason” but the improper use of human reason. Just look at the history of modern philosophy if you doubt that! That is why Aquinas adds:
Even as regards those truths about God which human reason could have discovered, it was necessary that man should be taught by a divine revelation; because the truth about God such as reason could discover would only be known by a few (how many Aristotles were there in ancient Greece?), and that after a long time (how many die before they get even that far?), and with the admixture of many errors (how many mistakes do philosophers make?). Whereas man’s whole salvation, which is in God, depends upon the knowledge of this truth. Therefore, in order that the salvation of men might be brought about more fitly and more surely, it was necessary that they should be taught divine truths by divine revelation (I,1,1).
Yes, organized religion is a crutch. You mean you didn’t know that you are a cripple? If you don’t know that, then you are a very serious cripple indeed, mentally and spiritually. Go back to Socrates: “Know thyself.” For Socrates, there are only two kinds of people: the wise, who know they are fools; and fools, who think they are wise. Similarly, for Christ and all the prophets, there are only two kinds of people: saints, who know they are sinners; and sinners, who think they are saints. Which are you? You can tell which class you it into by whether or not you accept the “crutch”, the road map. Maybe the Jews were lost forty years in the wilderness because Moses was too proud to stop and ask for directions. (It’s a guy thing.)