Loving A Hidden God
IN PRAISE OF REASON
Let's look at some of the many good things that are given to us even here in this life by the lovely Lord who takes providential care of us. Consider the fact that God gave us not simply life; he also gave us mind. Our mind sleeps when we are babies but it gradually wakes and discovers that it is able to know the true and to love the good. This human mind is able to blossom into wisdom and through the virtues it is able to prudently, bravely, temperately and justly do battle with the confusion and viciousness that is inborn in us as part of our inheritance. It seeks always the final possession of the highest and unchanging good. Sometimes it is able to be victorious over its own weakness and limits. And even when the highest good cannot be grasped, our rational nature still has the thirst for goods so far beyond it that it is almost impossible to comprehend how the eternal power could put such a divine hunger into such a finite being.
City of God, 22.24
Augustine believed that the greatest natural gift given to the human race was the gift of mind. In his view it was superior even to the gift of existence, more valuable than the gift of life. Our claim to fame (such as it is) is not that we are nor that we live. What makes us so priceless in the scheme of things is that we can understand, that we are creatures endowed with reason. It through our mind that we can choose our destiny. It is through our mind that we can modify the universe. It is in our mind that we best reflect the image of God. Indeed, our mind is the most dynamic place of God in all of creation. Many things exist for a time and live for a time but only beings of reason can reach into eternity.
We have no special obligation to exist nor do we have a special obligation to live, but as long as we live we do have an obligation to live a life of reason. We must be reasonable in pursuit of the goods that we need to live on earth. We must be reasonable in the trust and faith we have in others. Even the great gift of faith in the supernatural that we receive from God must be based on reason and expressed in a reasonable way. God would never demand of us that we "believe" in the impossible, that we believe in something which is so contrary to reason that it is in fact unbelievable.
It is only because we are beings with reason that we have the desire to move from darkness into light, that we have a natural urge to know the truth about our self, the world of our experience and the world that just now exists beyond our experience. (The Trinity, 12.3.3-4; 12.4.4) It is this need that distinguishes us from the animals. Like us, they are alive. Like us, many of them can perceive their environment and react to it. Like us, many can sense reality through ears, eyes, smell, taste, and touch. Indeed, Augustine believed that on the sense level the only difference between ourselves and our animal comrades is that we alone "stand erect" as we go through life. (The Trinity 12.1.1; 12.2.2) On the level of our sense life, only our posture suggests our power to fly to the heavens through reason while our less-gifted animal cousins must continue to grovel in the earth.
It is because of our natural ability to reason that we are able to act even when the great light of faith has not yet begun to shine. In those periods of darkness and listening when faith is still absent, we are not totally without knowledge. The mind through its power of reason can deal very nicely with the practical matters of life, the day by day needs that consume so much of our time. Even without faith the mind can grasp eternal truths in the flow of temporal events. A mathematician does not need faith to discover the absolute truth that "Two things equal to the same third thing must be equal to each other". The philosopher does not need to believe in God to become convinced of the truths of logic. It is not necessary for a biologist to believe in immortality to know that death is inevitable.
It is in the highest natural power of our mind, its understanding, that the light begins to shine as we wander in darkness. And this light is itself a sign that we are not alone, that the as yet unknown God is with us. As Augustine remarked:
In our souls there is something which we call "understanding". It is this aspect of our mind that is illumined by a light from above, that light which is God himself.
The Trinity, 15.19.3
Indeed, it is in our mind's understanding that we truly carry within us the image of God. (The Trinity, 12.4.4; Sermon 43, 3)
Despite our present "cracked" condition and our need for divine help to achieve our supernatural goal of union with God, reason is able to accomplish many grand works on the natural level. We are beings of spirit who are not trapped in the here and now. We alone of all the animals live in past and present and future in a quite unique fashion. For example, we live in the past in a different way than other animals. Although many of the higher animals seem to have memory, only the human being can remember the past and feel guilt or satisfaction in what was done. Animals may be able to remember what happened in the past but only the human being can measure "what happened" against "what should have happened". Only the human mind is able to make moral judgments about the past.
So too we live in the future in a way impossible for other animals. Animals certainly seem to be moved by the passing of the seasons (birds flying south for the winter, bears hibernating, fish returning to their spawning grounds) but all of these activities seem to be an exercise of instinct rather than deliberation. We humans, on the other hand, can grasp the unlimited possibilities of the future and aim at a course of life that exists only in our thoughts. No dog is said to have a vocation, a calling, because for such animals the future has no voice. The future can exist only in a mind. For beings without mind it does not exist until it is experienced as present.
And even with regard to the present, we mind-gifted beings can see much more than is revealed by the senses. We can see immutable laws and principles behind perceived phenomena. We can look at our present environment and see within it the possibility of change. It is for this reason that we humans are not limited to any one place on earth. We can change any place to meet our needs. Because of the creative powers of our reason we are not bound by what is; we can imagine what might be. In the City of God Augustine becomes almost ecstatic in his description of some of things the mind can accomplish. He writes:
Consider how we humans through our natural genius have discovered innumerable arts and skills which contribute not only to the necessities of life but even to our pleasures. Just think of what we have created in clothing, in architecture, in agriculture and navigation. Think of the originality of our artists, the expertise of the ceramists, the sculptors, the painters. Think of the dramas and theatrical extravaganzas that have been produced, some so stupendous that they must be seen to be believed. Think of the number of drugs and therapies medical science has developed to preserve our health. Even in the humble area of our eating, think of the variety of condiments and sauces which our chefs have unearthed to serve the pleasures of our palate. Think of the human ingenuity revealed by the multitude of words we use to express our thoughts in speech and writing. The arts of rhetoric and poetry bring delight to our spirits through their ornamental style. Musicians bring joy to our ears by their songs. We are amazed by the truths discovered by our mathematicians and overwhelmed by the picture of the universe given by our astronomers. Indeed, the development in our scientific knowledge is beyond the power of our words to describe and becomes even more astonishing the deeper we delve into the findings of any one discipline.
City of God, 22.24
This last paragraph shows how much respect had for natural science. He was convinced that our knowledge of our selves and our growing awareness of a God begins with a knowledge of how the universe works. This organized body of knowledge about temporal matters included such disciplines as rhetoric, astronomy, human psychology, political science, and so forth. At the same time Augustine was certain that the knowledge coming from science served no worthwhile purpose if it did not eventually lead to a wisdom whereby the eternal truths hidden in and regulating the sweep of earthly affairs were discovered. Thus, in his Confessions he bemoans the fact that some astronomers seem able to predict the eclipse of the sun but are unable to see that they themselves would someday be eclipsed. In his opinion, the simple farmer who can see the hand of God in his growing crops has more valuable knowledge than the unbelieving scientist who can explain how plants grow but sees nothing more. (Confessions 5, chaps. 3 & 4)
One of the great glories of our reason is that it is the foundation for free choice. It is because we are beings with minds that we can choose the direction of our lives. We are limited only by possibility. We are not free to live like gods because we cannot become God, but we can choose to live like animals (rejoicing only in the pleasures of the body) or like plants (vegetating in any place where we can find food and drink, warmth and quiet). But we need not live such narrow lives. We have mind and through that power we not only are human but also can choose to live humanly, cultivating our physical and mental powers to their fullest extent. We may not be born with developed reason but we can choose to make it so. As we grow in our power to reason we may even begin to grow in wisdom. (The Trinity, 15.21.1-2)
Unfortunately, there will be obstacles standing in the way. We are beings of passion as well as mind and sometimes the blaze of those passions will obliterate the calm light of reason. Also, even without the influence of our emotional life, our "cracked condition" has caused our minds to become darkened. Any type of abstract thinking can become terribly boring. It is so much more exciting to look into the face of someone we love than to solve a problem in mathematics. It takes real effort of will to "focus" and to stay "focused" on issues that do not seem to directly impact our daily lives.
This is sometimes hard to do in this world filled with such interesting trivialities. We are continually tempted by what Augustine called the "the concupiscence of the eyes", an inordinate interest in inconsequential things, exotic events and strange people who seem created specifically to be guests on daytime "talk" shows. Even though it is natural for us to discover the world through our power of reason, even though we have some sort of "thirst" for such discovery, it takes an act of will to focus on matters that are beyond the capacity of our senses. I cannot ignore the blazing light before my eyes or the blasting sound deafening my ears, but it is quite easy to turn my mind away from the search for those hidden ultimate truths which faintly glimmer and softly whisper all around me.
It must be admitted that the power to reason is not an unmixed blessing. It is indeed a blessing because it allows us to discover and rejoice in our eternal destiny, but it is also a terrible burden as we come to realize how difficult is the road to salvation that we must follow for the rest of our lives and how often we have fallen off that road in the past. In a way the animals seem to have a much happier life. They are blessed with ignorance. It is not in their nature to look beyond their day by day existence as healthy animals. But we humans do have such power and if we do not use it we are truly in a sorry state. We would spend our days living a life no better than a beast while being capable of so much more. (The Trinity, 15.9.2)
Finally, there is another aspect to the burden of living a life of reason alone. Speaking as one who has spent most of his life reading and "doing" philosophy, I can testify that living a life of reason alone leaves behind an empty feeling. There are so many questions that need to be asked and unaided reason seems to have no answers. But perhaps that is the greatest gift of our wonderful mind. Having gone as far as it can through its power of reason, it then points to a need for something more. The final truth revealed to us by our reason is that we cannot discover our final destiny through reason alone. To survive and be satisfied in our search for the truth about ourselves and our hidden God, we must ultimately turn to faith.