“The refutation of any argument against the Faith is not a demonstration of the truth of the Faith. It is the removal only of an obstacle to the Faith. For the Faith is not arrived at by demonstration, but by demonstration it is shown to be at least tenable. The Faith is not a conclusion which all can reach by the formal action of reason, but a revelation to be defended by reason. The Faith is not a theory, but a thing. It is rational, but not deductively arrived at. There is no process whereby all mankind can be convinced of it as an abstract proposition. But there is a process whereby all mankind can be convinced that each particular proposition against it has failed.”
Hilaire Belloc, The Catholic Church and History
One of these days I am going to have to actually read some Belloc.
Thanks to Defensor Veritatis
