Moral System
Section 3 - II.
The practical acknowledgement of beings according
to truth is confirmed on the authority of Scripture
194. The principle of the practical acknowledgement of the truth, that is, of the beings we conceive, is indicated on nearly every page of Scripture. The way of speaking by which every virtue is called truth, and every vice lie, clearly demonstrates that the principle of morality is posited in the union of our will with beings in the way prescribed by truth. Sinners are called liars;(119) to have committed a crime is to have `acted a lie; (120) `to do what is true means to practise virtue.(121) In the sacred books `the path of falsehood frequently means the behaviour of a wicked person, `the path of truth the behaviour of a righteous person.(122)
195. This same admirable wisdom is also present in all those places where the word `to know indicates all other human actions, that is, actions virtually contained in knowledge. The knowledge in question is formed with the wills assent and is called practical, that is, OPERATIVE knowledge. According to this meaning, a person is blamed for `not having known, or is praised for `having known; sinners are `proud people who do not understand,(123) and are reproached for making themselves `like the horse and the mule.(124) The statement, `They have not known the way of peace, means they have not followed the way of peace.(125) `Not to know God is the same as not to love or honour him.(126)
196. The faculty of (speculative) knowledge is necessary; the faculty of (practical) acknowledgementis subject to our freedom. This distinction between these two faculties is clearly seen in the following well-known passage from Isaiah: `Go, and say to this people: Hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. (127) The phrases, `see with their eyes, hear with their ears and know with their hearts, express very aptly the willed act of acknowledgement (frequently mentioned in Scripture) as if those who know something without willing it do not see with their eyes or hear with their ears or know with their hearts. The eyes, ears and heart are personal and proper to the human person only in so far as they are controlled by the will; basically they belong to human nature, not to human beings themselves. Thus Joshua told the Hebrews that they would know with all their mind the fulfilment of the divine promises.(128)
197. In Scripture acknowledgement of ones faults and their expression by external confession always presuppose the willed act of the intellect we are discussing.(129) We are told, for example, that a wicked person does not obey the truth, that he is not satisfied with the truth, that he withdraws from it, and resists it. The just person, on the other hand, rejoices in the truth.(130) Truth is characteristic of justice and holiness: `the justice of truth, `the holiness of truth. The same is said about faith, which is called `faith of the truth.(131)
Knowledge of an action is taken for the action itself, that is, the cause for the effect. This gives rise to expressions like `the ox knows its owner, `the sun knows its setting.(132)
Scriptures way of speaking often shows that the false, culpable judgment of the intellect is caused by the will directing the judgments attention away from what it dislikes to what it likes Isaiah says: `They do not know neither do they understand; they are given over to darkness because their eyes have not seen nor did they understand with their heart. They do not consider in their mind; they do not know or hear. (133) In the same way, the intellects partiality for what it is thinking of is very well expressed by the scriptural phrase, `to know the person of a human being in judging, or `to know someones face.(134)
When Christ says that `he will not know those who have not known him, `he is not known by the world, `his sheep know him, etc., he expresses not only the supernatural light given to his followers but the willed attention to his divine prerogatives which would have produced love and esteem for the prerogatives, and encountered as it were the grace that came towards them.(135) God says that `among all the peoples, he knew only Israel.(136) This expression, used of God, refers to what takes place in human beings: the thing which human beings know, value and love the most is that to which they give most of their intellectual attention.
198. We see therefore that the word `know in sacred Scripture, and indeed generally in languages (and coming apparently from a very ancient tradition), has two distinct meanings corresponding to the two ways of knowing proper to human beings. One of these ways is direct apprehension, that is, theoretical knowledge; the other is free judgment of the thing apprehended, that is, practical knowledge. For example, in one place we read: `Elijah came and they did not know him but they did to him all they wished. (137) If we did not distinguish the two ways of knowing, it would seem a contradiction to inflict upon Elijah all the evil they wanted, but without knowing him. But the sentence means: `They did not acknowledge him for the human being he was, worthy of love and esteem. This way of speaking passed into common usage and resulted in gratitude being called recognition and acknowledgement, and ingratitude lack of acknowledgement.
199. In Scripture, `not knowing is the cause of punishment and reward. In Jeremiah, for example: `I will bring evils upon this people, the FRUIT OF ITS THOUGHTS, because they did not hear my words and have rejected my law. (138) And as a willed act of knowledge gives rise to all our morality in this life, Scripture, always faithful to itself, teaches that in the other life an act of knowledge will form the happiness of every human being: `This is eternal life, that they KNOW you, the one true God, and him whom you have sent, Jesus Christ. (139)
200. Finally Scripture wonderfully expresses the moral dependence of human affection and external action on truth. We hear the characteristic of an upright, effective love: `Whom I love IN TRUTH;(140) and of an upright action: `Let us love not in word or speech but by act and TRUTH. (141)
201. In the sacred books, therefore, the natural, necessary connection between our practical judgments and affections, and between our affections and external actions, is clearly expressed. By means of this connection our affection and actions are subject to the same self-justified law presented to our intellect, that is, the law of truth. Similarly, the first law is clearly that which commands us to `acknowledge beings according to their exigency or in equivalent words, `to acknowledge truth practically. From this first obligation the command of every superior receives its authority and obligating force.
Notes
(119) Ps 115: 11 [Douai].
(120) `From prophet to priest everyone deals falsely' (Jer 8: 10). And the inspired writer explains why what they do is a lie: they did not want to acknowledge their error; they considered themselves wise, knowing how to choose what was best, while in fact they did their worst because they opposed God's law. `How can you say, "We are WISE, and the Law of the Lord is with us"? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a LIE. The wise men shall be put to shame, they shall be dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and WHAT WISDOM IS IN THEM?' [Jer 8: 8–9]. — Also: `Why do you love vanity and seek after LYING' (Ps 4: 3 [2 (Douai)]. In Hosea (7: 1 [Douai]): `For they have committed FALSEHOOD.' In Isaiah: `LYING sons' (30: 9), `offspring of DECEIT'(57: 4). And speaking of the devil, Christ says: `for he is a LIAR and the father of lies' (Jn 8: 44).
(121) Jn 3: [21].
(122) In Jeremiah (23: 14) we find: `. . . walk in lies'; in St. Peter (2nd letter, 2: 2) the author speaks of `the way of truth'.
(123) `The dull man CANNOT KNOW, the stupid CANNOT UNDERSTAND this' (Ps 91 [92: 6]). In psalm 35: [4 (Douai)] the words describing the unjust tell us that he speaks to himself in his heart to persuade himself that God does not see: `The WORDS of his mouth are iniquity and guile: he would NOT UNDERSTAND that he might do well' (he did not want to acknowledge truth practically — if he had, he would have done good, but this he did not want). In psalm 94: [11 (Douai)] God swears that he will not let sinners enter into his rest because they did not know his ways.
(124) Ps 31 [32: 9]. Similarly, in Isaiah 1: [3], the prophet reproaches Israel for `not having known' its Lord, although the ox knows its owner, and the ass recognises his master's crib. Such ways of speaking are frequent in Scripture (cf. Jer 8); they clearly indicate the practical knowledge which is the true efficient cause of action. Hence there is never practical knowledge without consequent action, which explains why one is taken for the other, the cause for the effect.
(125) Ps 13: [3 (Douai)]: `Destruction and unhappiness in their ways; and THE WAY OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN: there is no fear of God before their eyes. The phrase, `there is no fear of God before their eyes,' shows how an evil will turns the intellect's attention elsewhere to prevent the intellect's fixing itself in truth and loving it.
(126) Cf. ftns. 123, 124. In Jeremiah 4 the prophet asks why the people flee the battle. The Lord replies: `Because, my foolish people have not known me. They are senseless and foolish children. They are wise in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.' These last words recall those of St. Paul: `Be prudent in doing good, and simple in evil', words which show how the knowledge of good and of evil are for the most part freely chosen, because the will determines the intellect to apply itself to one thing rather than another.
(127) Is 6: [9–10]. Similar expressions are found in common speech, as well as in Scripture: `See and know' (1 Kg 24; 12 [Douai]; `Hear and know' (Is 33: 13 [Douai]); `Know and understand' (Jer 26: 15 [Douai]), etc. These expressions show the difference between the two faculties.
(128) 23: [14 (Douai)]: `You shall know with all your mind'; similarly, Ps 138: [14 (Douai)]: `I will praise you, for you are fearfully magnified: wonderful are your works and MY SOUL KNOWS RIGHT WELL.' Whenever God gives evidence of himself, Scripture says he makes himself known; holy men say they have known him whenever they internally admire his great work. For example, in the following passages: Ex 18: [11 (Douai)], Jethro says: `Now I know that the Lord is great above all gods'; Ps 9: [17 (Douai)]: `The Lord shall be known when he executes judgments'; Ps 118: [75 (Douai)]: `I know, O Lord, that the judgments are equity,' and in other similar ways, as can be seen in Ps 134: [5 (Douai)] and many other places.
(129) Ps 50 [51: 3]: `I KNOW MY TRANSGRESSIONS. Cf. similar expressions in Ps 59: [3] and Jer 14: [20], etc.
(130) Gal 5: [7]: `obeying the truth'; Rom 2: [8]: `who do not obey the truth'; Tit 1: [14]: `of men who reject the truth'; 2 Tim 3: [8]: `oppose the truth': 1 Cor 13: [6 (Douai)]: `rejoice with the truth'.
(131) Cf. Eph 4: [24 (Douai)]: `In justice and holiness of truth'; 2 Thess 2: [13]: ` by belief in the truth'. A phrase similar to these is found in John: `consecrated in truth' (17: [19]).
(132) Is 1: [3], Jer 8: [7], Ps 103 [104: 19].
(133) Is 44: [18–19].
(134) Prov 24: [23 (Douai)]: `It is not good to have respect to persons in judgment'; 28: [21 (Douai)]: `He that has respect to a person in judgment does not well.'
(135) Jn 1: 10; 10: 14 etc.
(136) Amos 3: [2]: `You only have I known of all the families of the earth.' Also: `I know how many are your transgressions' (5: [12]).
(137) Mt 17: [12].
(138) Jer 6: [19].
(139) Jn 17: [3].
(140) 3 Jn 5: 1.
(141) 1 Jn 3: 18.