This book offers a new reading of Aquinas’s views on faith. The author argues that the theological nature of faith is crucial to Aquinas’s thought, and that it gives rise to a particular and otherwise incomprehensible relationship with reason.
The first part of the book examines various modern and contemporary accounts of the relationship between faith and reason in Aquinas’s thought. The author shows that these accounts are unconvincing because they exhibit what he calls a Lockean view of faith and reason, which maintains that the relationship between faith and reason should be treated only by way of evidence. In other words, the Lockean view ignores the specific nature of the Christian faith and the equally specific way it needs to relate to reason. The second part offers a comprehensive account of Aquinas’s view of faith. It focuses on the way the divine grace and charity shape the relationship between evidence and human will. The final part of the book ties these ideas together to show how Christian faith, with its specifically theological nature, is perfectly compatible with rational debate. It also argues that employing the specificity of faith may constitute the best way to promote autonomous and successful rational investigations.
Aquinas on Faith, Reason, and Charity will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working on Aquinas, philosophy of religion, Christian theology, and medieval philosophy.
Roberto Di Ceglie is Full Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Pontifical Lateran University, Italy. His essays have appeared in journals such as Philosophy, Philosophia, Sophia, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, and others. His book – God, the Good, and the Spiritual Turn in Epistemology – is forthcoming.
Title: Aquinas on Faith, Reason, and Charity (Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Religion)
Author: Di Ceglie, Roberto
ISBN: 9781032194080
Binding:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publication Date: 2024-01-29
Number of Pages: 196
Weight: 0.3811 kg
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""""""""We might be tempted to think that there is nothing new to say when it comes to the perennial debate between faith and reason, but Di Ceglie artfully dismantles this notion by showing us that we remain gridlocked by the assumptions of modernity. He allows Aquinas’s insights to shine through with their original splendor, revealing that authentic faith is not a source of naivete or hubris but rather a gift from God.""""""""
Stewart Clem, Aquinas Institute of Theology, USA
""""""""This fine book … is the product of an author who combines mastery of current analytical philosophy as well as of the last hundred years of Thomistic scholarship… The basic idea is that…Christians with a faith that is a virtue granted by God, occurring as ‘perfected’ by charity, would love exploring whatever invites engagement by our powers of reasoning…as Di Ceglie puts it…at the end of this splendid book""""""""
Fergus Kerr in The New Blackfriars
""""""""Di Ceglie offers a salutary correction to readings of Thomas that neglect faith's supernatural and volitional nature. His analysis of faith's merit, the preambles of faith, and unformed faith will be of particular interest to Aquinas specialists. Finally, his novel apologetic case for faith's value as a motivator of rational enquiry merits consideration and development.""""""""
Gregory Stacey in The Review of Metaphysics
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