Comments for Updating the Faith Instinct at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 5 out of 5 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Sat, 25 May 2013 08:26:47 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/updating-the-faith-instinct.html#comment-8660 @Manfred: I'm sure you have had the experience of speaking to someone who can hear you quite well, but because of distracting inner voices or previous commitments doesn't have the "ears to hear you." If you think the Father intends some persons not to be able to respond willingly to the Word, that is Calvinism, not Catholicism. - Howard Kainz Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:33:32 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/updating-the-faith-instinct.html#comment-8657 Howard: I am sure you are familiar with the fact of Catholic predestination. An example of this is in the Parable of the Sower. His disciples ask Christ why He speaks to crowds in parables. His response is those who have ears to hear will hear, i.e., those whom My Father intends to benefit from these teachings will comprehend and respond. The parable itself admits that three of the four groups cited all hear the Truth but eventually come to ignore it. - Manfred Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:12:04 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/updating-the-faith-instinct.html#comment-8635 @John: From what I've read of the "illative sense," it seems to have a much wider connotation than the faith-instinct. It seems similar to what Aristotle called "phronesis," the facility for making the right decision in concrete matters, without going through any elaborate process of deliberation -- something like a "knack" for making good choices. - Howard Kainz Sat, 22 Oct 2011 05:23:48 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/updating-the-faith-instinct.html#comment-8634 Interesting piece. Eric Hoffer put it this way: "Though ours is a godless age, it is the very opposite of irreligious. The true believer is everywhere on the march, shaping the world in his own image. Whether we line up with him or against him, it is well we should know all we can concerning his nature and potentialities." - Grump Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:53:54 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/updating-the-faith-instinct.html#comment-8633 "St. Thomas Aquinas makes many references to an instinctive grounding for faith. [ . . . .] The faith-instinct that Aquinas speaks of is not only susceptible to misdirection, but, as a natural orientation to the supernatural, is obviously paradoxical." Mr. Kainz, I recently read Newman's 'Grammar of Assent'. Do you think any comparison can be made between Aquinas' "faith-instinct" idea and Newman's "illative sense". I enjoyed your essay. - John Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:33:32 +0100