Perspectief 2019-45

2019-45 Prof. dr. Eduardo Echeverria 55 John Paul II gives such an account. Faith, believing, testimonial knowledge, says John Paul II, “involves an interpersonal relationship and brings into play not only a person’s capacity to know [the truth] but also the deeper capacity to entrust oneself to others, to enter into a relationship with them which is intimate and enduring.” Thus, “to believe in,” “to have faith in,” “to entrust yourself to,” comes to mean, in the pope’s view (see above), particu- larly in the case of divine faith, not simply a knowledge of propositional truths, but also a personal commitment to God, both a propositional knowledge and an affective trust, in- deed, an act of the whole man. John Paul adds, “In knowing by faith, man accepts the whole supernatural and salvific content of revelation as true. But at the same time, this fact introduces him into a profound personal relationship with God who reveals Himself.” Thus, through believing man participates in the knowledge of God himself because in this case only, we believe not only in the author of the (inspired) testimony who is God, but also, the Spirit of God uses that testimony to produce certain knowledge in us. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). 6. Divine Commands and the Order of Creation Lastly, another aspect of the culture – secular and pluralistic – that should have been re- flected in the questions posed by the authors of GC is not merely the error of legalism but also the antithesis of legalism, namely, antinomianism (from Greek, anti , against + nomos , law) – and we surely live in age of antinomianism, moral subjectivism, relativism. The au- thors of GC correctly understand that God’s moral law proposes what is good for us for living life in Christ. Yes, the Ten Commandments express the core of God’s will for us, a will that we must interiorize rather than merely treat as an external authority (nos. 65-66). In sum, they make the vital point in their reflections (nos. 66-76) on the Decalogue that the Ten Commandments are, as St. Paul teaches, holy, just, and good (Rom 7:12). Still, missing from their divine command ethics is a reference to the scriptural moral norms as expressions of God’s design, embodying an abiding law, for human life, indeed, for all men. The moral law, on this view, is oriented to the normative order of creation and the nature of things with its embedded principles and the inherent meanings of human life’s design. Of course, we live in a culture that denies that things as well as human beings have a nature.