Aquinas’ Synthesis: Faith, Reason, and Existence of God
Thomas Aquinas: Faith, Reason, and Existence of God
Faith and Reason
Thomas Aquinas integrated faith and reason, drawing on both revealed and philosophical learning, following precedents set by St. Augustine and St. Anselm. He emphasized the subordination of reason to faith, asserting that true wisdom lies in understanding the path to human salvation. This knowledge, essential for salvation, is revealed by God in Scripture.
Revelation encompasses truths unattainable through reason alone. While philosophy explores knowledge accessible through human reason, its ultimate subject, like that of human salvation, is God. Aquinas reconciled these domains, rejecting the Averroist doctrine of double truth.
The Existence of God
God, as being, principle, and ultimate end, is the central subject of philosophy. While the existence of God isn’t immediately obvious, Aquinas argued against relying solely on the ontological argument of St. Anselm. Instead, he focused on demonstrating God’s existence through other means.
The Essence of God
Having established God’s existence, Aquinas acknowledged the limitations of human understanding in grasping God’s infinite essence. He posited that God’s essence is identical to his existence, his very being. However, we can still understand and describe what God is.
Thomistic Ontology: God’s Creation
Everything, except God, is created by God. This makes all creation radically contingent, contrasting with God’s necessary existence. In creation, essence and existence are distinct, unlike in God. God, as pure intelligence, possesses divine ideas, establishing a partnership between creator and creatures.
The world and nature are explained through Aristotelian concepts of potentiality and actuality, the four causes, hylemorphism, and the distinction between substance and accident.
Thomistic Anthropology
Rejection of Dualism
Aquinas rejected the anthropological dualism of Plato and St. Augustine, asserting that humans are a unified substance of soul and body. The union of body and soul is substantial, with the soul being the form of the body, its matter. To preserve the soul’s immortality, Aquinas argued that the human soul is a subsistent, spiritual, and incorruptible form.
Soul and Body
The human soul serves as a bridge between the material and spiritual realms.
Human Knowledge and Morality
The soul’s essential connection to the body, bridging the spiritual and material, is evident in human knowledge. Intellectual knowledge depends on sensory experience. Human nature, grounded in moral norms, reveals the purpose towards which humans are oriented: the good. Rationality, the essence of humanity, guides us toward this good.
Natural Law and Morality
Moral law, or morality, stems from natural law. Reason dictates moral precepts, guiding us to seek good and avoid evil. This principle manifests in the preservation and conservation of human life.