Denver Catholic

31 DENVER CATHOLIC | MAY 26-JUNE 8, 2018 miracle that is a new human person. Sex speaks a language, and the pos- sibility of procreation is an essential part of that language. It says, "I give myself to you, and to the new life that may come forth from my gift." And as hard as we might try, we can't change that. I think women, being the ones who conceive and bear that life, are more naturally sensitive to this meaning. We can't always articulate it, but it's there. And hence, we are more reluc- tant to play with it carelessly. When the sexual revolution attempted to sever sexual activity from the possibility of procreation, they were essentially attempting to render sexual activity meaningless. They were saying, "From now on, this is just something we do with our bodies. It can mean as much or as little as you want it to mean." This is wrong on so many levels. For one, it takes away women's power. When we recognized that sex is pow- erful, meaningful and life-altering, a woman had the backing of her family and her culture in saying, "No, I will not place myself or my future children at that risk, and if you don't respect that, you clearly don't love me." Now, women are more or less on their own in fending oš the male sex drive — which, for good or for evil, could probably be considered one of the most powerful forces in the world. If sex is meaningless, then why in the world would she object? He wants it, and it might be fun for her too, so why wouldn't she be nice and acquiesce? It takes a very strong, very well- formed and dare I say holy young woman to have the courage to say, "I believe that God created sex with an inherent meaning, so my fi nal answer is no" and watch him walk out of her life forever. For the vast majority of young women, who can't articulate what they inherently sense about the sacredness of their bodies, it's a lot easier just to go along with the pro- gram and try to keep the guy. And then it moves from acquiescing to keep the boyfriend, to acquiescing to make the powerful man happy so that I can get the job, or keep the job, or get the role in the movie, or what- ever. The world becomes one big quid pro quo arrangement whereby we are expected to trade our bodies to get what we want or need. And the woman becomes "a mere instrument of selfi sh enjoyment." The hard lesson we should've learned from Humanae Vitae is quite simply that our bodies have meaning, sexual expression has meaning, and that God is God and we are not. And that when we start tinkering around with that meaning, people get hurt. We should have listened. Proving God's existence I f someone asked you if you could prove that God exists, what would you say? What would you have to draw upon to answer this question — rev elation, science, or philosophy? Revelation gives us knowledge of God as a free gift and does not require us to prove its con- tents, but to understand them with the help of the Church. Science cannot prove God's existence, because God is not an object of empirical study that can be measured with earthly means. This leaves us the option of philosophy — making arguments of reason based upon the nature of things and the dynamics of causality. Thomas Aquinas makes an import- ant distinction about proving God's existence through reason: we can know naturally that God exists, that there is an infi nite and perfect Being who created the universe, but we cannot know who God is by reason alone. The universe may bear the footprint of its Creator, but God is not a being or object within the universe, but BEING itself — he IS the One who IS. Nonetheless, knowing that God exists does help the mind a great deal, recognizing its natural dependence on the Creator and removing a major obstacle in coming to faith. Edward Feser has become one of the most distinguished Catholic phi- losophers in the United States and his new book, Five Proofs of the Existence of God (Ignatius, 2017), can help Cath- olics be prepared to answer objections to God's existence and will strengthen our own understanding of the truth. It is signifi cant that of the fi ve thinkers Feser uses for the arguments of the book, two are pagan, Aristotle and Plotinus, and another Protestant, Leibniz. The other two are St. Augus- tine, one of the greatest Fathers of the Church, and the Common Doctor, Aquinas. The variety of historical and cultural contexts from which these fi gures come itself proves the point: reason, not simply Christian revela- tion, can know that God does exist. A little more than halfway through the book, Feser oš ers a brief recap of the fi ve arguments. The Aristotelian proof begins with the fact that there are potentialities that are actualized and argues that we cannot make sense of this unless we a• rm the existence of something which can actualize the potential existence of things without itself being actualized, a purely actual actualizer. The Neo-Platonic proof begins with the fact that the things of our expe- rience are composed of parts, and argues that such things could not exist unless they have an absolutely simple or noncomposite cause. The Augustinian proof begins with the fact that there are abstract objects like universals, proposition, numbers, and possible worlds, and argues that these must exist as ideas in a divine intellect. The Thomistic proof begins with the real distinction, in each of the things of our experience, between its essence and its existence, and argues that the ultimate cause of such things must be something which is subsistent existence itself. The rationalist proof begins with the principle of su• cient reason and argues that the ultimate explanation of things can only lie in an absolutely necessary being (169). The book explains each of these proofs at length and details the more technical terms employed. The begin- ning of chapter six also explores some of the philosophical concepts in more depth and oš ers a brief primer that helps readers understand the logic of the arguments. Feser makes it clear that the book is not a study in the history of phi- losophy. His arguments refer to key elements of the thought of each of the fi ve thinkers, but he actively con- structs a compelling argument that stands on its own terms today. He also spends a considerable amount of time engaging opposing views and objec- tions raised by atheists, both through- out the book and in an entire chapter to conclude the book. The book is not written in scholarly language, but will provide a challenging read. Ultimately, it provides another way of forming our minds in truth. The Catholic Reader R. Jared Staudt, PhD, is a husband and father of six, the catechetical formation specialist for the Archdiocese of Denver, a Benedictine oblate, prolifi c writer, and insatiable reader. DR. R. JARED STAUDT PHOTO | WIKIPEDIA

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