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<p>PREFACE. 
God speaks to man in a twofold manner, by natural reason and by supernatural revelation. Since both of these proceed from the same God, they cannot be contradictory, but the one must rather strengthen than weaken the other. From this we conclude that since it is contradictory to natural reason to hold anything to be true without sufficient evidence that it is so, all that revelation proposes to us, must be shown to possess sufficient natural evidence. This principle has, however, been frequently misunderstood, or misconstrued. Some deny that matters of faith are to be examined by natural evidence, because, they say, in this manner divine faith would cease to be a virtue and a supernatural gift of God. Others, admitting the principle, misconstrue it in such a way that they draw from it the most erroneous conclusions ; they say that since nothing which does not fall under the immediate human experience, or cannot be derived from the first principles of the human intellect, can be made evident to natural reason, no doctrine or fact which is incomprehensible to her, can be admitted as true by her tribunal. This is, we know, the starting point of all the different systems of rationalism and infidelity. The truth lies between the two opposite errors. To avoid them both, we must make a twofold distinction', first, between the natural conviction of the human mind and divine faith, and secondly, between direct and indirect evidence. What do we mean precisely, when we say that any thing is evident to natural reason ? We mean that it cannot be denied without denying at the same time the first principles of reasoning, and consequently, without overthrowing all certitude. Hence if we are convinced by natural reason of the truth of any fact or doctrine, we rely on the first principles of the intellect, we trust to them, in a word, we believe in our own intellectual nature. But what do we mean, if we hold anything to be true by divine faith? We believe it because God speaks directly to man and enlightens at the same time the human reason by the supernatural light of grace. The conviction, produced in this manner in the human mind, is the effect of divine operation, man only co-operating ; it is, therefore, necessarily much stronger than the mere natural conviction ; for natural reason, though infallible in its first principles, as it is the limited faculty of a finite being, is subject to the possibility of error in its operations, in the application of its first principles or the conclusions drawn from them. But in divine faith it is God Himself Who speaks to man and guides the human reason in its action by the supernatural light of grace - Hence the conviction, produced by divine faith, is a participant of the divine infallibility. Man in believing with divine faith, does not rely merely on conclusions, drawn from the first principles of reasoning, he does not seek truth by the natural power of his intellect only, but relying on the infallible word of God, he believes in Him and embraces the object of his conviction with a supernatural energy, added to the natural light of reason through the influence of divine grace. Natural conviction and divine faith, therefore, belong to a different order ; the one does neither exclude, nor supersede the other ; no, they go together, and the more perfect each is in its own sphere, the more perfect will be the knowledge of truth, possessed by the human mind....
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<br>Subjects: Bible. -- Gospels; Authority -- Religious Aspects; Bible. -- Gospels -- Evidences, Authority, etc; Bible</div>
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Heiss, M. (Michael), 1818-1890</div>
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