Saint Thomas Aquinas: Reason, Faith, and Scholastic Philosophy

Saint Thomas Aquinas and Scholastic Philosophy

Saint Thomas Aquinas represents the culmination of medieval Christian philosophy, reaching the climax of the scholastic tradition in the thirteenth century. In line with his teacher, Albert the Great, Aquinas incorporated much of Aristotle's thinking, inaugurating the Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy, which subsequently became the official doctrine of the Catholic Church.

His Aristotelianism challenged the prevailing Platonic-Augustinian thought of the time. Nevertheless, his intellect successfully synthesized the various philosophical traditions that emerged during the Middle Ages. His demonstration of the existence of God through the Five Ways had profound implications for both philosophy and theology.

The Necessity of Divine Revelation

Aquinas argues that divine revelation is necessary for human salvation, as certain truths cannot be achieved through reason alone. His main ideas include:

• It was necessary that, besides philosophy, there be another science whose object of study is God.
• God addresses man beyond the capacity of human reason.
• Because the purpose for which God directs man is his salvation, it was necessary to know through divine revelation everything concerning God that exceeds human reason.
• Even truths about God that human reason can comprehend need to be known by divine revelation so that divine truths are accessible to all men, allowing them to achieve salvation more easily and safely.
• Consequently, besides philosophy based on reason, there is a doctrine based on revelation: theology.

Explanation of Thomistic Philosophy

One of the primary problems addressed by medieval Christian philosophy, and Thomas Aquinas in particular, is the relationship between reason and faith, and between philosophy and theology. This text highlights a relevant aspect of the Thomistic solution: reason and philosophy have limits, beyond which lie faith and theology.

The central thesis is that for all men to achieve salvation, it is necessary to know the truth about God through faith and revelation. This implies that theology, based on faith, is a distinct science from philosophy. This need arises because some truths about God are inaccessible to human reason. Furthermore, even for accessible truths, knowledge based on divine revelation is required to ensure that all men—given that God is the end to which man is directed—can attain salvation.