Excerpt: ...54 ) "by a process of reasoning, let him hear that first principles are incapable of demonstration, for they are neither by art" ( ), which is "practical solely, and not theoretical," "nor by sagacity" ( = practical wisdom), which is "conversant about objects which are susceptible of change," 55 but are "primary," "self-evident," and "indemonstrable." 56 Thus this "demonstration by a process of reasoning," apart Pg 36 from Sensation and Understanding, is only "to syllogize;" "for to draw the proper conclusion ...
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Excerpt: ...54 ) "by a process of reasoning, let him hear that first principles are incapable of demonstration, for they are neither by art" ( ), which is "practical solely, and not theoretical," "nor by sagacity" ( = practical wisdom), which is "conversant about objects which are susceptible of change," 55 but are "primary," "self-evident," and "indemonstrable." 56 Thus this "demonstration by a process of reasoning," apart Pg 36 from Sensation and Understanding, is only "to syllogize;" "for to draw the proper conclusion from the premisses is merely to syllogize. But to have also each of the premisses true is not merely to have syllogized, but also to have demonstrated," "so that if there is demonstration at all, there is an absolute necessity that there be something that is self-evident, which is called primary and indemonstrable." 57 On the basis of this theory of knowledge, it is evident that the usual arguments for the existence of God would have but little weight. For they either attempt to attain their end by formal thought alone, and thus result in mere "syllogizing;" or, starting from valid enough premises, they try to extend the conclusion beyond the limits imposed by the laws of "demonstration." For St. Clement, then, God is not "apprehended by the science of demonstration." If the Deity is to be known, there must be some place in which a union of the material and formal elements of "demonstration" of His existence is to be found. This he places in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, who, as God incarnate, furnishes the "evidence" which "is common to Understanding and Sensation," and thus translates the "Infinite" and "Ineffable" into terms of the finite and comprehensible. In this paradox Christian theology has ever since been content to rest as one of the fundamental mysteries of the Faith. But even with all the aids of revelation, the Fathers would not claim that man...
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