This is the second part of a review of the book Wisdom shall enter by Leo Trese, Imprimatur 1957, published by the Fides Publishers Association Chicago in the USA and by Geoffrey Chapman, Ltd. In London.
It makes an unusually clear, in my mind at least, explanation of why God’s knowledge of the future is not “predestination” but really “pre-knowledge.” Though He knows what we are going to do because He is all knowing, He also can give us our own will because He is all powerful. This, in my opinion, is the scariest part of the terrors of hell, because since its inhabitance have reason and free will, those in hell will have only the limit of their intellect as to the horrors its inhabitance can inflict on one another, “assisted” by the angelic intellects of Satan and his minions.
With regard to predestination Father Trese relates the following:
” If God is absolutely unchangeable, then what’s the use of praying? If God has decided from all eternity just how things are going to be, then I can’t make Him change His mind. If I am sick , God already has decided whether or not I’m going to get better; it’s a waste of time to pray for a recovery!”
At some time or another, we probably have heard someone talk like that. Maybe we even have had a sneaking thought like that ourselves, and dismissed it hastily as being a doubt against Faith. Or, more likely, we have reasoned the thing through, and have found the answer for ourselves.
The answer of course is found in another attribute of God. He not only is eternally unchangeable, but He also has infinite knowledge. Since God is infinitely perfect, since nothing at all exists independent of Him, there just isn’t any knowledge that God hasn’t got; there just isn’t any truth outside of him.
Knowing all things, God knows what we call the future. From all eternity God has known just what prayers we would say, just what sacrifices we would make, just what good deeds we would do.”
If we believe God is all-powerful we must believe He can make creatures that have free will and can make decisions without “manipulation” from God. But since He is all-knowing, though He did not directly influence any decision we might make He knows what decision we will make.
This is the last part of the review of this book and it is hoped the examples of clear understandable explanations will encourage you to find this book at your local library or buy a copy and read it. If you are curious about the catholic faith or just a catholic who is unclear about basics of the faith, this book goes a long way in clearing them up. The table of contents are as follows:
Introduction 1
Does God Exist? 8
What is Man? 15
Immortal and Free! 22
Why Religion 29
How Religion Began 36
Weighing the Truth 43
Are Miracles Possible? 51
He said He Was God 59
The Greatest Miracle 66
Did Christ Establish a Church? 74
The Church Grows 83
Unity Points the way 91
One Altar, One head 98
The Voice of Holiness 105
Time, Territory and Truth 113
Church Of the Apostles 120
Appendix I [what kind of God?] 128
Appendix II{Who Goes to heaven?] 141
Traditional Thomistic Catholic 