No man can know everything. All by himself, it is impossible for
any man to know everything that can be known. Yet short of knowing it all --- of
being omniscient --- it is also almost totally impossible for anyone to be
absolutely certain of anything. That is to say, apart from knowing that you
exist (and that, existing, you therefore see your own thoughts, passions &
sensations, as well as, apparently, your visible surroundings), there is,
without assistance, nearly no way to be 100% sure of anything else. Because
anything that you perceive --- beyond the bare facts that you exist & that
you see privately within yourself, not to mention that you see something,
seemingly, of the visible world which is outside your private self --- is
always open to misinterpretation. To wit, either you misuse the fundaments of
deductive logic to deceive yourself about what you see… or are deceived
by another about what you see. In either case, your knowledge is false. The
bottom line, then, is that you often do not correctly understand that which you
carelessly suppose yourself, with undue confidence, to accurately see, rightly
deduce and hence certainly know.
Now, obviously, no one can live his everyday life like this,
doubting all that he thinks that he knows; solipsism is not very practical.
Nevertheless, wisdom, honesty & humility compel us to admit the truth of
what we have just said. The challenge for each man therefore becomes the following:
How do I know what I really need to know? And how can I be sure
that it is true?
My dear soul, Epistemology is the Study of Knowledge. Pragmatically
& specifically, it is knowing how you know what
you need to know --- and that this knowledge is certainly true. As Pontius
Pilate queried rhetorically to Jesus Christ nearly 2000 years ago, “What
is truth?” (John 18:38a DRC) Pilate having asked Him if He was a king,
Jesus had proclaimed to him moments earlier:
“Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I
born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the
truth. Every one that is of the truth,
heareth my voice.” (John 18:37d-i DRC)
Meanwhile, one of Jesus’ choice apostles,
“Which he wrought in Christ… And he hath
subjected all things under his feet, and hath made him head over all the
church, which is his body, and the fullness of him who is
filled all in all.” (Ephesians 1:20a, 22-23 DRC)
And to the members of this Church, Jesus’ Body,
“This then I say and testify in the Lord: that henceforward
you walk not as also the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having
their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the
ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts. Who
despairing, have given themselves up to lasciviousness, unto the working of all
uncleanness, unto covetousness. But you have not so learned Christ;
if so be that you have heard him, and have been taught in him, as the
truth is in Jesus: to put off, according to former
conversation, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desire of error.
And be renewed in spirit of your mind: and put on the new man, who according to
God is created in justice and holiness of truth.”
(Ephesians 4:17-24 DRC)
Which is why
“These things I write to thee, hoping that I shall come to
thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that you mayest
know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the
house of God, which is the church of the living God, the
pillar and ground of the truth.” (1
Timothy 3:14-15 DRC)
And Jesus told His Apostles, the first leaders of His Church Body:
“If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will ask the
Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete,
that he may abide with you for ever. The Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not,
nor knoweth him: but you shall know him; because he
shall abide with you, and shall be in you… But I tell you the truth:
it is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete
will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he is come,
he will convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment. Of sin:
because they believed not in me. And of justice: because I go to the Father;
and you shall see me no longer. And of judgment: because the prince of this
world is already judged. I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot
bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will
teach you all truth. For he shall not speak of himself; but what
things soever he shall hear, he shall speak; and the
things that are to come, he shall shew you. He shall
glorify me; because he shall receive of mine, and shall shew
it to you. All things whatsoever the Father hath, are
mine. Therefore I said, that he shall receive of mine, and shew
it to you.” (John 14:15-17, 16:7-15 DRC)
Jesus is the King of Truth, being its Author & Origin
since He is the Author & Origin --- the Divine Creator & Supernatural
Source --- of all Creation. He is thus omniscient, knowing everything there is
to know; and He is infallible, knowing everything with absolute certainty. And
the Church, being His Body, is therefore infallible as well, exercising His
Divine Authority --- the Authority of the Author --- through the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit of Truth, so that any
man, created & reborn in His Image, might know whatever he needs to know in
order to save his soul from Hell and reign with Him forever in Heaven.
This Church, this Body of His filled & led by the infallible
Holy Spirit of Truth, is Roman Catholic and none other. It is the Roman
Catholic Church that He established, and no other religion or so-called
‘church’ that one may find in the world today. All other religions
or ‘churches’ are manmade. The Roman Catholic Religion was started
and is continually sustained by God Almighty Himself. It is “the pillar
and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15d DRC), being “his
body” (Ephesians 1:23a DRC), the Body of He Who is the King
sent into this world to “give testimony to the truth”
(John 18:37g DRC), Who in turn gave the Holy Spirit to His Church so that He
via its leaders might teach its members “all truth.”
(John 16:13b DRC) Outside of this Faith of the Roman Catholic Church, there is
simply no possibility of Salvation for any man at all, period, since there is
no possibility for an ignorant & wicked man to know & obey all of the
truth that he needs to certainly know & obey in order to save his soul.
While within this Roman Catholic Sanctuary, which any man may enter
given that he professes all of its dogmas & obeys all of its
commandments, there is always Hope of Salvation, provided that
he perseveres in that profession & endures in that obedience!
My dear soul, this website seeks to demonstrate the certainty of
these audacious-sounding statements. It is thus a work, endeavoring to
convert the faithless sinner to belief in & obedience to The Truth.
More sweepingly, and in the old-fashioned sense of a place of industry where an
important service useful to the public is performed (think, e.g., of a
‘Water Works’ or a ‘Steel Works’), it is a Works.
And, being concerned with the knowledge that will save men’s souls…
indeed, giving men the means to know with infallible certainty that any man
really can know the truth about the Singular Path to Eternal Salvation, viz.,
Epistemology… then this website is to be known as The Epistemologic
Works.
By God’s Grace & the Assistance of Heaven’s Holy
Hosts --- especially of God’s Mother, the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary, Queen
of Highest Heaven, and of Saints Cecilia the Virgin Martyr & Celestial
Songstress, Catherine of Alexandria the Patroness of Catholic Philosophy,
Mariana de Jesus Torres of Our Lady of Good Success, Frances Xavier the Patron
of Catholic Missions, Frances de Sales the Patron of Catholic Apologists &
Converter of Protestant Heretics, Peter the First Pope, Paul the Missionary to
the Gentiles, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Loyola the Servant of the Papacy
& Defender of Catholicism, John the Apostle & Evangelist, Mary
Magdalene the Penitent, Elizabeth of Hungary, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, George the Dragonslayer,
Francis of Assisi the Humble Seraph, Dominic the Preacher the Humble Cherub,
Patrick the Magnificent Apostle of Ireland, Louis de Montfort
the Indefatigable Champion of Mary, Mary of Agreda
the Flower of the Immaculate Conception, Christine the Admirable & Appeaser
of God’s Just Wrath, Margaret of Cortona, Mary of Egypt, Margaret of Costello, Peter of Verona, Rita of Cascia, Bernard of Clairvaux, Clare of Assisi, Hildegard the Mystic, Philip Neri the Holy Inquisitor, Gregory VII the Pope of God's Heart, Michael the Archangel, Gabriel the Annunciator, Raphael the Protector & my own precious
Guardian Angel --- I shall accomplish what I have declared.
Consequently, my dear soul, you cannot survey this site without now
having a good idea of what you’re in for. It is Roman Catholicism
unabashed and missionary proselytizing without apology; should this too greatly
infuriate, amuse or weary you, then you’ll not likely wish to waste your
time. For, surrounded by a world of darkness & rebellion, the writings on
this site that are composed for a more general audience (or for the individual
who is willfully obstinate) will sometimes take a strident & even militant
tone, while that which is written for a more limited audience of humility &
good will, will strike a tone of patience & even-handed compassion. Nonetheless,
both will uphold the Catholic Religion. As a result, neither of them will
interest the person of bad will, despite being excellent remedies for his
spiritual blindness.
In either case, the man who is interested in truth above all
things will find what he is looking for. For those craving brevity &
simplicity --- leastwise, in the individual queries or responses --- stick more
with the Questions & Answers section, as well as the Straight & Simple
section when it is posted. For those desiring more length & intricacy,
investigate the areas for Books & Articles or Letters & Admonishments.
Each will grow as time passes by. Meanwhile, for those seeking to convert,
carefully examine the instructions in What Must I Do To
Be Saved? Also survey Prayers & Devotions, which will include practical
(literally, concerning practices) information on true Catholicity. If
not already truly Catholic, then I pray for the conversion of your soul. If truly Catholic already, then I plead for the sanctification of
the same & your ultimate perseverance in the state of grace unto an Eternal
Reward.
Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus!
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
Ad Jesum Per Mariam!
+
+ +
Pilate’s
query met:
Note:
if you have come
to this webpage directly from a search
engine or other
website, then, when done viewing this webpage
--- and assuming
you wish to view more of this website’s pages ---
please type the
website’s address (as given above right before this
note) into the
address bar at the top of your browser and hit the
‘enter’ button on the keyboard of your computer.
Please go here about use of the writings
on this website.
© 2008 by
Paul Doughton.
All rights
reserved.