Fr. Barron comments on St. Thomas Aquinas

Another part of a video series from Wordonfire.org. Father Barron will be commenting on subjects from modern day culture. For more visit http://www.wordonfire.org/

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• Fr. Robert Barron
• Word on Fire
• catholicism
• spirituality
• St. Thomas Aquinas

[Mrmentalmadness123]

What do you mean Father by "religious truths" as compared to scientific truths. Truth is something which is verifiable - we can repeat and identify truths because they occur in measurable and predictable ways we can observe. Aren't religious truths merely beliefs repeated and given dignity by Theologians and clerics? Catholicism exists I would concede that as a truth because of the above. It worries me given the certainty you have in the existence of something for which there is not evidence.

[wordonfirevideo]

@Mrmentalmadness123 I mean truths having to do with God and God's dealings with the world. The ground for these claims is metaphysical, psychological, and historical. The problem is that you're using "evidence" in such a narrow, restricted sense, designating basically physical traces and the results of experiments.

[Mrmentalmadness123]

You talk of Religious Truth? You mean religious belief? Belief is not truth!

[wordonfirevideo]

@Mrmentalmadness123 You don't know your parents were really your parents. You believe it, with motivation. You don't know that England is an island, you believe it with motivation. You don't know that there is a city in Colorado named Denver. You believe it with motivation. The same is true of religious truths.

[Mrmentalmadness123]

@wordonfirevideo But Father science can prove or demonstrate each of the issues you identify. You cannot prove the existence of God. These are not good examples Father. Motivation has nothing to do with demonstrable truth. Science gives us the confidence to believe things because we know science is rigorous and repeatable. However you cut it you are asking us to believe in something for which there is no evidence. Faith is not evidence Father.

[wordonfirevideo]

@Mrmentalmadness123 No it can't! Not to a degree of certitude. There is always a dimension of belief in anything we claim to know. The same is true in regard to religious claims. We come to know them through a combination of faith and reason.

[wordonfirevideo]

@alifeofreason Evidence? Arguments? Or just more name-calling? I'm no longer surprised that so many of the "new" atheists rely on the crudest and most casual forms of discourse.

[wordonfirevideo]

@butternutsquashist Thomas indeed loved science; but he didn't reduce all knowledge to science. He knew that there are other intellectual disciplines, including mathematics, philosophy, and theology, which follow their own methods but which are no less rational than the sciences. And he would not--as you do--drive a wedge between faith and reason; and he did indeed think that God's existence can be proven through arguments from contingency.

[UTLBify]

For believers, science strengthens faith in the ultimate truth (God) which cannot be sensed or proven except by miracle or in eternity. That's why it requires faith. Scientific truths are proven and can be sensed, but to say that the only truths to exist are these forms is close minded. Surely things may exist regardless of our ability to understand or perceive them.

[GruntLogic]

And it's his feast day! St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

[dfpolis]

@Daniel151jesus You are welcome. Yes, if we are more real, there is more to love. God gives us our nature - not just our generic human nature, but our individual talents as well. Still, our choices work to actualize (or not) the potential we have been given. There is no doubt that the more actual we become, the more real being we have and the more there is for God to Love. Jesus has a number of parables on using the gifts we have been given. Peace, Dennis

[Daniel151jesus]

@dfpolis Hi Dennis thanks for the wall post on my channle :) im gonna watch some of your vids soon, and yeah i get wut you mean, God loves everything to its full capacity but some have a bigger capacity then others. For example there is a small cup and big cup both are full of water but the big cup can hold more in it, is that the same with Gods love? but now my question is, is it God who makes our capacity big or small ? or is it us by our freewill? so can we increase or decrease our capacity?

[Mrmentalmadness123]

@Mrmentalmadness123 I respects people's right to believe - to have faith I only object when you suggest faith and science are interelated in someway. They are different things. Scientists do hypothesise about creation and lots of things - the difference is they wont accept something as provable or factual without confirmatory evidence. The only reasonable position for me to adopt is therefore I dont know if there is a God but there is no-evidence for his existence. But, people do believe.

[Mrmentalmadness123]

@wordonfirevideo Father are you saying that science cannot determine to a point of certainty that England is an island or by DNA analysis my parents were my parents. These are facts that are not contingent on my believing them. England is an island irrespective of how you or I might feel about that FACT! I'm simply saying you cannot prove God exists by saying that science is also reliant upon faith. It operates on reason and demonstrable proof. You are wrong Father. Faith is not evidence.