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Chapter 1. My Soul Longs for You, O God • 5
many to assume responsibility for their actions and causes them to hide
from God (cf. Gn 3:8; Jn 3:19ff.). Others may resist acknowledging God
because they do not wish to follow and obey God. Still others may allow
1. How have people expressed their quest for God
throughout history?
In many ways, throughout history down to the pres-
ent day, men have given their expression to their quest
for God in their religious beliefs and behavior: in their
prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These
forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities
they often bring with them, are so universal that one may
well call man a “
religious being
” (cf. Acts 17:26-28). (CCC,
no. 28)
2. What do we mean by “proofs” for God’s existence?
Created in God’s image and called to know and love him,
the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of
coming to know him. These are also called proofs for the
existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natu-
ral sciences, but rather in the sense of “converging and
convincing arguments,” which allow us to attain certainty
about the truth. These “ways” of approaching God from
creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical
world and the human person. (CCC, no. 31)
3. Can we know God?
The Church teaches that the one true God, our Creator
and Lord, can be known with certainty from his works,
by the natural light of human reason (cf. First Vatican
Council, can. 2 §1: H. Denzinger and A. Schonmetzer,
Enchiridion Symbolorum
[DS] 3026). (CCC, no. 47)
FROM THE CATECHISM