Natural Knowledge of God

Daniel Salomão Silva

In a previous article¹, we presented an introductory comparative analysis between certain Spiritist ideas and those of the contemporary Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga, who has spent the last decades advocating the reconciliation of academic philosophy and belief in God. According to Plantinga, “there isn’t the faintest reason to think that Christian belief lacks justification, rationality, or warrant”², contrary to what has often been argued in certain academic circles.

Now, in the current article, we examine the foundations of this discussion, in which Plantinga revisits the conclusions of two of Christianity’s most influential thinkers, Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) and John Calvin (1509-1564), both of whom appear to agree that each of us possesses “there is a sort of natural knowledge of God.”³(quoted in Plantinga, 2000). Emphasizing the importance of dialogue between Spiritism and the conclusions of philosophy, science, and religion, as Allan Kardec consistently advocated, it is noteworthy how this idea resembles the teaching found in The Spirits’ Book.

In his Summa Theologiae (Vol. I, Q. 2, Art. 1), Thomas Aquinas argues that “to know in a general and confused way that God exists is implanted in us by nature.” Likewise, in the Institutes of the Christian Religion (Book I, Chapter III), the Reformer Calvin maintains that “there is a sort of instinct, a natural human tendency, a disposition, a nisus to form beliefs about God under a variety of conditions and in a variety of situations.” This is what he calls the sensus divinitatis (sense of the divine), an innate capacity for theistic belief. Similarly, the Spirits teach that “our inner sentiment about the existence of God be the result of education and the product of acquired ideas,” since it is universal and found among peoples and cultures that could not have received such instruction. Every human being possesses this “instinctive” or “innate” sense.

For Plantinga, this may suggest that this “instinct” regarding God’s existence does not have its “evidential basis in other propositions,” but is immediate In other words, it does not depend on prerequisites or supporting evidence. However, this does not negate the importance of reason in its development. On the contrary, for Calvin, “the functioning of the sensus divinitatis is triggered or brought about by a wide variety of circumstances” (The Institutes…, vol. I, v), such as the very observation of the beauties of the universe. For St. Thomas as well,

For Plantinga, this may suggest that this “instinct” regarding God’s existence does not have its “evidential basis in other propositions,” but is immediate⁹. In other words, it does not depend on prior assumptions or supporting evidence. This, however, does not deny the importance of reason in its development. On the contrary, according to Calvin, the operation of the sensus divinitatis is triggered or occasioned by a wide variety of circumstances (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book I, Chapter V), such as the contemplation of the beauty of the universe¹⁰. Likewise, for Thomas Aquinas,

For, when men see that things in nature run according to a definite order, and that ordering does not occur without an orderer, they perceive in most cases that there is some orderer of the things that we see. (Summa Theologiae, Vol. I, Q. 2, Art. 1).¹¹

For both, however, given the existence of an impulse that favors such knowledge, this inference is almost instantaneous. Kardec and the Spirits appear to move in the same direction from the very first chapter of our foundational work:

4. Where can proof of God’s existence be found?

In an axiom that you apply in your sciences: there is no effect without a cause. Seek the cause of everything that is not the work of man, and your reason will answer you.

To believe in God, one need only cast one’s eyes upon the works of Creation. The universe exists; therefore, it has a cause. To doubt God’s existence would be to deny that every effect has a cause, and to claim that nothing could produce something

4. Where may we find proof for the existence of God?

“‘In an axiom you apply to all your sciences: ‘There is no effect without a cause.’ If you would search for the cause of whatever is not the work of human beings, then reason will answer your question.’

To believe in God, we need only to behold the works of creation. The universe exists; therefore, it must have a cause. To doubt God’s existence would be to deny that every effect has a cause and to believe that something could have resulted from nothingness.”¹²

Thus, belief in God is inferred from observing the universe in all its complexity—from everything that was created neither by humanity nor by “nothing.” Consequently, its primary cause must be a supreme intelligence, which we define as God.¹³ Elsewhere, the Spirits also point to humanity’s awareness of its own weakness, which “leads humans to bow before the One who can protect them”—as evidence of the existence of a higher power¹⁴.

Developing this theme further in Genesis, Kardec acknowledges that even where there is no “revelation” or philosophical and scientific advancement among certain peoples, belief in “the existence of a superhuman power” arises instinctively. Nevertheless, beyond this “instinct,” it is through observing “things that are beyond human capability” that the existence of God is inferred¹⁵.

Interestingly, Thomas Aquinas recognizes the possibility that this inference may not occur, and that this “instinct” may amount only to the belief that there is something, even if it is merely, for example, the laws of nature, that orders the things we observe¹⁶. This view is found among contemporary naturalists and materialists, who deny the need for an author of those laws. In the Spiritist Codification, this position is challenged, for example, when the Spirits reject the idea that God is the resultant of all the forces and all the intelligences of the universe combined¹⁷, or that the universe has existed “from all eternity” and therefore requires no Creator.¹⁸

In conclusion, it seems that, much like Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin, Spiritism acknowledges the knowledge of God as a natural human disposition. Nevertheless, this disposition reaches maturity through observation and reflection upon the world around us, from which we infer the existence of God.

___________________

1. SILVA, Daniel Salomão. “Divine Providence: A Dialogue with Alvin Plantinga.” O Médium, no. 761. Juiz de Fora: AME/JF, 2025. Available at: https://omedium.amejf.org.br/2025/01/17/providencia-divina-um-dialogo-com-alvin-plantinga/.
2. PLANTINGA, Alvin. Warranted Christian Belief. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits’ Book. Translated by Evandro Noleto Bezerra. Brasília: FEB, 2011, qq. 6, 651–652.
7. Ibid., q. 5.
8. Ibid., qq. 650, 652.
9. PLANTINGA, Alvin. Warranted Christian Belief. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits’ Book. Translated by Evandro Noleto Bezerra. Brasília: FEB, 2011, q. 4.
13. Ibid., q. 1.
14. Ibid., q. 650.
15. KARDEC, Allan. Genesis: Miracles and Predictions According to Spiritism. Translated by Evandro Noleto Bezerra. Brasília: FEB, 2013, ch. II, item 7 (cf. The Spirits’ Book, q. 650).
16. PLANTINGA, Alvin. Warranted Christian Belief. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
17. KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits’ Book. Translated by Evandro Noleto Bezerra. Brasília: FEB, 2011, q. 14 (cf. qq. 15–16; Genesis: Miracles and Predictions According to Spiritism, ch. II, item 6).
18. KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits’ Book. Translated by Evandro Noleto Bezerra. Brasília: FEB, 2011, q. 37.