

These "ways" of approaching God from creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person.ģ2 The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe.Īs St. These are also called proofs for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natural sciences, but rather in the sense of "converging and convincing arguments", which allow us to attain certainty about the truth.

You yourself encourage him to delight in your praise, for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." 6ģ1 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. Despite everything, man, though but a small a part of your creation, wants to praise you. And man, so small a part of your creation, wants to praise you: this man, though clothed with mortality and bearing the evidence of sin and the proof that you withstand the proud. You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised: great is your power and your wisdom is without measure. But this search for God demands of man every effort of intellect, a sound will, "an upright heart", as well as the witness of others who teach him to seek God. 4ģ0 "Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice." 5 Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness. 3 Such attitudes can have different causes: revolt against evil in the world religious ignorance or indifference the cares and riches of this world the scandal of bad example on the part of believers currents of thought hostile to religion finally, that attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from God out of fear and flee his call. For 'in him we live and move and have our being.' " 2Ģ9 But this "intimate and vital bond of man to God" ( GS 19 # 1) can be forgotten, overlooked, or even explicitly rejected by man. 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:įrom one ancestor made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him - though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 1Ģ8 In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behaviour: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth.

He cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator. For if man exists it is because God has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. This invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for: Read more About Us, Use BST on your site, and view our Online Bible Sitemap.27 The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Search over 200 topical verses to meet your need, or sign up for our daily bible to receive a verse by email to start your day. Our most popular content, Bible verses by topic, provides Biblical encouragement and wisdom for all of lives situations and events. Our library of resources also includes Bible reading plans, Parallel Bible, and many other additional Christian resources including dictionaries and encyclopedias.įor a more in-depth study of Scripture, our website offers Greek and Hebrew Interlinear for the New and Old Testament, lexicons for original Greek and Hebrew reading of Scripture, as well as popular Church history books. Our rich online library includes well known and trusted commentaries including the popular Matthew Henry Commentary, concordances like Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Naves Topical Concordance, Bible dictionaries, Biblical encyclopedias and historical Christian and church books including Fox's Book of Martyrs. Search verses using the translation and version you like with over 29 to choose from including King James (KJV), New International (NIV), New American Standard (NASB), The Message, New Living (NLT), Holman Christian Standard (HCSB), English Standard (ESV), and many more versions of the Holy Bible.
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