Moral System
Section 3 - III.
The notion of religion
202. A direct light, therefore, given to the human mind by its Author, reveals how majestic and awesome this Author is, and how, as Author of the light and of all things, he is worthy of all love, honour and obedience. God, as though keeping himself hidden from us, gives us this natural light, a divine ray and something entirely his, which leads us to him. Through it we know beings at their own level, and evaluate them correctly; when the object of our evaluation is the supreme Being, the evaluation exceeds every limit.
203. We immediately sense our duties to him; this is the principle of religion. Among these duties is that of listening to his sublime voice when he speaks. This is the faith we owe to revelation. And if he deigns to give us commandments, we have the further duty of keeping them, that is, of obeying the command and law of the supreme Superior and Legislator. These communications from God (whether through external revelation or through internal grace) and our corresponding duties enlarge and complement religion.
204. Such is the notion of religion. We will now examine briefly the relationship between morality, whose principle is the acknowledgement of truth in general, and religion, whose principle is the acknowledgement of the supreme Being.