Rational Thoughts on God, the Soul, and Evil

I N T R O D U C T I O N.

insofar as—even without rational discourse—their way of living (a sign and effect of the internal influence and work of the Divine Numen; a Latin term for the divine power or the presence of a deity) was such that it revealed the beauty and decency of God (its efficient and exemplary cause), as well as the way of embracing and knowing Him, and the most certain way of advancing in that knowledge. Other things, if compared with those to which they devoted themselves continuously and without interruption, they used only rarely and occasionally, as being less primary and required. Indeed, it is notable that the few discourses they left behind are such that they cannot be rightly understood by those whose minds have not first been touched by the influence and operation of the Supreme Deity, and who do not seriously offer a mind ready to follow God so that they might later know Him more clearly. Therefore, whereas in that former way [of inner experience] there is all-encompassing security, in the latter way [of rational discourse], by contrast, much uncertainty and danger are often encountered by both the speaker and the listener of the arguments. For unless both are disposed as just mentioned—or at least strongly desire to be so disposed—it is true for both that they became vain in their reasonings and discussions. original: "In ratiociniis & dissertationibus suis evanuerunt." This is a reference to the biblical Book of Romans 1:21, suggesting that intellectual inquiry without spiritual grounding leads to empty results.

III. Nevertheless, it does not follow from this that we are so removed from God that we are not permitted to engage with Him through reason and speech based on innate principles. Rather, let us be stirred to compose our minds so that we may make the best and most useful use of these faculties, which He Himself certainly did not grant in vain. And since God Himself, the source of all good, wishes to grant such a thing: once the mists and clouds of corporeal phantasms The author refers to mental images derived from the physical senses, which were thought to clutter the mind and prevent the perception of pure spiritual truth.—and things even worse than these—have been driven away from the minds of those who are hindered and overwhelmed by them in conceiving spiritual things (and are sometimes quite troublesome), those things may be drawn out from the hidden depths of the mind which may serve, to some degree, in building or decorating a tabernacle for the uncreated mind The "uncreated mind" refers to God, while the "created mind" refers to the human soul. within the created mind.

IV. My intention in the following words is to briefly enough encompass those things which may excite clear ideas or concepts of God, the Supreme Being, and of His most excellent work, our soul, as well as of our perpetual adversary and enemy, namely evil or sin. However, it will not be necessary to recount every single detail in these matters, which would be a task of the greatest labor. Therefore, to keep ourselves within narrower limits, the following shall be excluded: (1) Regarding God, a formal demonstration of His existence (for which Descartes' Meditations René Descartes (1596–1650), whose "Meditations on First Philosophy" was a foundational text for 17th-century thinkers. The author assumes the reader is familiar with Descartes' rational proofs for God. may be consulted), the Mystery of the Trinity, and the attributes and actions of God which involve a relationship to the particular state of creatures, their salvation or destruction—such as His decrees Divine decisions, often discussed in theology regarding predestination., creation, preservation, providence, love, mercy, and any such...