the heart's reasons

Created in the "image and likeness" of God, man is endowed with the faculty of "knowing." It is this faculty that provides the human being with the ability not only to understand himself and the world, but also to contemplate and worship his Creator. In other words, it is through knowledge that man perceives himself as existing and achieves the true meaning of life. In the beginning, according to Holy Scripture, he was endowed with exceptional knowledge about himself, about the world, and about God (Genesis 1:26-28; 3:8-13).  With the Fall, however, man lost all this cognitive framework. He lost himself and God. Now, thunder, lightning frightens him. He no longer knows himself: he does not know where he came from, where he is going, and the reason for his existence in the world. He no longer knows the world: the sea frightens him and the immensity of the universe amazes him. He no longer knows God: in his heart he thinks that there is no God or worships, as gods, el...