Summary of Reason, Faith, & Tradition

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Summary from Page 100-195 (Chapter’s 5, 6 & 7)
In this chapter, the author signifies the importance of differentiating human abilities and those of God. He goes ahead to describe humans as being limited in terms of possessing the ability to comprehend the unknown (God), adding that “God is the first cause that transcends all other causes” (Albl, 2009). Going from the main question pursued in this chapter, Albl neatly expresses the concept of revelation as a way of communication between humans and God, whom he addresses as the designer. Morality according to the author has a lot to do with the search for life’s true meaning among many humans, which explains the existence of a certain communication that transcends human understanding (Albl, 2009).
Contradictory conceptions about dualism in relation to good and evil are clearly brought out. It is especially better understood from the author’s view point, that all things were in the beginning, good and that at some point, evil emerged and thus the universal belief of good as belonging to a higher good power, and evil belonging to a higher evil power (light and darkness). Examples given in chapter one about Clara and Jeff in relation to a horizon of transcendence they cannot explain, clearly speaks volumes of the fact that whether we as humans are aware of it or not, God does communicate to us.
One of the main mediums of communication between humans and God as identified in this chapter is the human conscience. According to the author, Catholic teachings border on the fact that God’s ethical law is indeed imprinted in each individual’s conscience. An example is given of the Gentiles referred to in the book of Paul. They may have been unaware of the Ten Commandments, but Paul informed them that naturally, they were aware of what was good and right in the eyes of God. This in my opinion confirms the existence of supernatural communication between humans and God.
Page 132 of the book brings about the sixth chapter featuring an interesting topic about the trinity and its meaning. Albl defines the trinity as being one incorporating the father, son and the Holy Spirit (Albl, 2009). God is defined as a person as opposed to an abstract image of a powerful being. In page 140, Albl accords the transcendent God as being unified. This is furt...