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Whether, besides Philosophy, Any Further Doctrine is Required?
The salvation of man is so important that it must be built up by not only philosophical science through human reason, but also divine revelation through divine knowledge, which is a real sacred science. Seeking the Lord on a personal level gives rise to knowledge of divine things, which in turn manifests itself into good deeds – from which other people in society benefit. The more this happens, the better society becomes as a whole – a society which knows the way of the Lord and the precepts of the One Most High. A society void of knowing God descends into chaos and carries out the will of the evil one – whether it is intentional or unintentional in man. The closer we come to the judgment, the more man sets aside the divine in exchange for flawed human reason and vain pursuits which is sourced chiefly upon the principles of faithlessness and unending love for oneself (demonic pride). As it is written in 2 Timothy 3:1-9, the Apostle warns of the dangers that will be present in the last days while emphasizing the need for prudent individuals to be aware of the folly that will overcome man due to the increase in wickedness, and to avoid its influence towards the conclusion and fulfillment of God’s plan for all of creation. Whether Sacred Doctrine is a Science? Sacred Doctrine is a science because it comes from the principles revealed by God – which is a science that is above all things, just as a lesser science like the light of natural intelligence such as the knowledge of numbers which leads to a higher science such as the creation of a structure or machine confounded upon the principles of the lesser science through the understanding of mathematics. Principles revealed by God still exist in the world today, even though the secular world does not acknowledge its source. Court systems, bankruptcy, marriage, and the concept of property ownership are all principles set forth by the divine to which all in society are benefactors – even to those who do not acknowledge Him. Whether Sacred Doctrine is One Science? Sacred science is one science because all its parts and members lead back to the one source that is sacred, and to which its knowledge came from, that is God. In the secular world of today, science as sourced from accepted academia – which is influenced by political meddling and partisan belief systems – has morphed into a type of pseudo-religion with its own high priests (presbyters who preach the gospel of death – which is the belief in unbelief). These presbyters of the worm and rot have harnessed a cult following which declares that everything is an accident, and that something can come forth from nothing – which is impossible. These presbyters are so influential, that students, faculty, and people who are in respected positions stay their tongue in the appropriate settings, often choosing not to engage the radical belief system of nothing for fear of losing their status in society or suffering open persecution. For those who do challenge, they are dealt with through public ridicule, loss of opportunity and sanctions – often implemented by their school system, their professional association, or the wicked within the public who have the loudest voices, following, and influence. Whether Sacred Doctrine is a Practical Science? Practical science involves the concern of human operations, while Sacred doctrine is concerned with God and his works which is mankind. Nonetheless, Sacred doctrine is more of a speculative science because it involves divine things and revelations that are from the One Most High. With all things considered, Practical science can be viewed as the handiwork of God in the sense that all things shall lead back to Him. Sacred doctrine includes both because science and the things of the divine complement one another. In the world, people will consider the operation or end state of the matter or thing, and of course, the process it took to get there, but hardly ever placing special emphasis upon the source or the creation of what caused the thing to achieve its state of being in the present time it was observed. Practical science does not refute the existence of a God, but only presents to us what it took to come to our conclusion of the matter at hand. The discovery and secrets revealed by practical science only leads to more questions and unknown things, which in turn, when a solution is found, gives rise to more questions. Knowledge of the divine can answer those questions in a way we can understand them if one is willing to accept them – all in accordance with our faith in Him, to which all peoples are at different levels of spiritual development, and many, unfortunately, are in a complete state of unbelief and denial. So as a result, they settle for practical science or solely on the function of being. Whether Sacred Doctrine is Nobler than other Sciences? The point of a lesser practical science is to expertly define why something does what it does and how to successfully repeat similar results. All sciences are subordinate to Sacred doctrine because they all come from what is sacred and divine. The study of practical science will never disprove The One who created it or made it through His will possible for others to observe it, study it, and replicate its procedures. Whether This Doctrine is the Same as Wisdom? Sacred doctrine is wisdom above all wisdom. For the one who ponders the highest cause of all things, which Is above all things, follows a higher principle that explains all other lower principles. That person is also rightfully referred to as “wise.” For the one who does not ponder what is above, but simply labors and toils on the things that are in plain sight or below, his concerns stem from lower principles and purposes, whose source originates from a lower wisdom which is subordinate to God who is greater. Whether God is the Object of this Science? God is the object of this science. We also call it theology - the study of the science of the divine. The principles of this science include God as the subject matter and study. Others also view the study of such a science to be something else – such as salvation, signs, members of the body – to which Christ is the head, and other explanations that occur through miracles or unknown factors that cannot be understood or even perceived by way of human understanding. In all of this, they are referenced to God. Whether Sacred Doctrine is a Matter of Argument? Faith rests upon an unshakeable foundation of truth to which nothing can be demonstrated against as evidence to the contrary. Although sciences can be debated and discussed on the principles that make up the science, and new understanding can be presented by an additional discovery or proof of something that adds to the science, Sacred doctrine stands as divine revelation that calls all sub-sciences into being, even the point of dictating its rules of operation and outcomes. If one cannot accept the divinity of what is passed down through Sacred doctrine, then all that is left is the answering of objections to faith – seeing as how faith rests upon infallible truth and cannot be disproven. Hence, there is no argument against faith that can be demonstrated, only objections that can be answered. In present times, the opposite has occurred, where people believe the sub-sciences dictate divine knowledge and revelation or disprove the existence of such matters. For example, the cult of Darwinism, and the theory of evolution, which simply presents as how things change or evolve, have replaced the principle of central creation, and is used in such a way that it has become the unspoken rule for all things, almost as if it has metastasized into a religion within itself – the belief in the unbelief. Whether Holy Scripture should use Metaphors? Sacred science should use metaphors to convey divine things by way of material corporeal things. In scripture, divine lessons and spiritual truths are said in a way that all can identify them because mankind is both spiritual and material. What better way to convey the spiritual lessons through material examples to a student who is material by nature. Many non-believers or self-professed enemies of God like to make their arguments in the literal sense when attacking Holy Writ. When they attack the metaphors of Holy Writ, they often attempt to align the meaning of the lesson in the literal sense to scrutinize or deconstruct the spiritual message in the metaphor. In this instance, the original context is always removed and replaced with a hostile one. Whether in Holy Scripture a Word May Have Several Senses? Scripture itself consists of many senses – the historical or literal sense, the metaphorical sense, the spiritual sense, the analogical sense, the allegorical sense, and of course prophecy. The author of Holy Writ is God, who has poured out his Holy Spirit upon the authors of scripture. Furthermore, Holy Writ can tell of the past, the present, and the future all at the same time, even in the same words or sentences. In addition to this, through the knowledge and infinite wisdom of God, statements and stories of the bible can be applied both to great and small in every generation. To go a step further, the same scriptures also have applicable properties for all people as well throughout all time periods. As the Holy Apostle Peter once said in summary: “No scripture has its origin in the human will.” For He is all in all, and what He says can not only mean one thing but many things all at the same time through the infinite wisdom of His Majesty. The wars of the 20th century play-out like modern day bible stories – for example, the Six-Day war, World War I & II, and the use of mass atomic weapons which mimic events such as Sodom and Gomorrah.
I am blessed to be a Third Order Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.
Commentary regarding Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae derived from: ST part (I), Q. 1-26 from newadvent.org with permission. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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mr. scott lowry, op
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