Like Anselm, Aquinas was concerned with both the heart and the head. What do you see here that might especially appeal to the "head," to those seeking a rational approach to life? What do you see that appeals to the heart, to those who want a strengthening of their faith?
Many of the thoughts from Aquinas that speak to me seem to be addressed to both the head and the heart. I like such statements because that’s the way my mind works. I don’t think I would make a very good philosopher – I don’t like to sit around and define terms and debate the nuances of ideas. However, I am thoughtful, and things have to make sense to me. At the same time I also think that when talking about the spiritual world, there is a point at which our physical, earthly senses reach their limits, so the heart has to get involved.
ReplyDeleteOne such example: “Certain things that are true about God wholly surpass the capability of human reason, for instance that God is three and one; while there are certain things to which even natural reason can attain, for instance that God is, that God is one, and others like these, which even the philosophers proved demonstratively of God, being guided by the light of natural reason … If the human intellect comprehends the essence of a particular thing, for instance a stone or a triangle, no truth about that thing will surpass the capability of human reason. But this does not happen to us in relation to God, because the human intellect is incapable by the natural power of attaining to the comprehension of His essence: since the intellect’s knowledge … originates from the senses: so that things which are not objects of sense cannot be comprehended by the human intellect … accordingly some divine truths are attainable by human reason, while others altogether surpass the power of human reason.”
I believe that God is fair and just, and it would not be right for only intellectuals to be able to understand that He exists. Aquinas says, “If one of two men perceives a thing with his intellect with greater subtlety, the one whose intellect is of a higher degree understand many things which the other is altogether unable to grasp; as instanced in a yokel who is utterly incapable of grasping the subtleties of philosophy. In Luke 18, Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” This says to me that the heart is as important as the head in understanding God.
Aquinas did an amazing job in getting his ideas across in such a way as to appeal to both the heart and head. I think chapters IV in Book 1 speaks the loudest to both the head and the heart. In chap IV he showed three disadvantages of thinking truth comes only by reason. First, he claims few men would have knowledge of God for various reasons; laziness, some are preoccupied with household affairs and not everyone has the same tools for acquiring the same information. Secondly, it would take a considerable amount on time to come to the conclusion of God’s existence because when going about the search for truth by way of reason, there is a great deal of study and thought that takes years to digest. The third disadvantage is that human reasoning is faulty because humans are imperfect. Aquinas felt that there wasn’t room for faith by supernatural inspiration if it was all based on reason. I really like this because by utilizing faith, we acknowledge God’s power and existence as something greater than our simple minds can imagine. God is greater than us; therefore he is greater than reason since reason is limited by our understanding. This speaks to both the head and the heart. True faith comes from the heart providing faith when the head cannot fully comprehend something.
ReplyDelete“For diving Wisdom Himself, Who knows all things must fully, deigned to reveal to man the secrets of God’s wisdom [Job 11:6] … by performing works surpassing the capability of the whole of nature, namely, the wondrous healing of the sick, the raising of the dead to life, a marvelous control over the heavenly bodies …”
ReplyDelete“On the other hand those who introduced the errors of the sects proceeded in contrary fashion, as instanced by Mohammed, who enticed peoples with the promise of carnal pleasures.”
Both of the above quotes seem to appeal to the heart. The first is somewhat exciting, and rather than dealing with the likely somewhat tedious issues of, for example, if God and Jesus are the same beings or not, it just gets straight to the good stuff – the miracles, the awesome power of God. That’s the kind of thing that might stir something in a believer’s heart, and maybe the reminder would resolve them in their faith. The second one is just the beginning of a section where Aquinas points out the differences in Christianity and other beliefs. Earlier in the course, a blog option was why some people might not like Christianity. I said something about it making life “hard,” or perhaps less “fun.” I think many Christians, myself included, have probably wanted to do things that we can’t or shouldn’t do, and perhaps have questioned why we restrict ourselves to the teachings of Christianity when others get to do things we would like to participate in. The reminder that despite those things looking appealing, or fun, they are just empty and destructive things that have no place in our lives is a good one to keep in mind.
For appeals to the head, I think you could cite most of Aquinas’ writings. He’s very methodical and lays out everything in a very clear, organized manner. Perhaps Chapter XIII of Summa Contra Gentiles is a good place to look, where Aquinas makes the argument that the sun, an object in motion, must have a mover. He goes on for several pages to argue that ultimately, that mover must be immovable itself and that immovable being must be God. It’s tough to wrap my head around it, but it sure should be appreciated by those concerned with reason and logic.
While skimming through, I found a quote that I think appeals to the heart rather nicely. “On the other hand those who introduced the errors of the sects proceeded in contrary fashion, as instanced by Mohammed, who enticed peoples with the promise of carnal pleasures.” While this could have many meanings, the meaning I believe it has is if we see, hear, or try something we know it not right but keep going back to it, eventually we will be addicted to that thing. Even if the heart thinks it is wrong, we will keep doing the thing because it makes the head feel good.
ReplyDeleteMoving onto the head. There are a lot of good passages and quotes in his writings that could appeal to the head, to many to write here.
Aquinas is one of my favorite church fathers to read through personally, although I do not have enough understanding to grasp his theology quite yet, fully. He was brilliant in his systematic theology, which I would greatly attribute to the head. Systematic theology dives into every topic and tries to tie them together as they relate to Christianity. This theology is something that I value very profoundly, especially as it relates to the whole of Christianity. We have so many denominations, and knowing what to follow or believe in is hard. Systematic theology is complex as it looks at every part of the faith and then relates them to the whole, as Aquinas did. It is really the best way to deconstruct your faith and rebuild it with the principles and ideas that most closely draw you toward God. However, as I stated above, a great deal of this is done inside the head using reasoning to support your evidence.
ReplyDeleteI was once Catholic and needed to analyze what I was genuinely following, and early on, I began to read Aquinas. What I found in his works was his ability to look at each piece of evidence and relate them to the whole. This led me to do much of the same at a far more superficial level than Aquinas because much of the work had already been reasoned through. However, I systematically worked through theology to the best of my ability to come up with what I thought represented true faith. I wish we could still be of one true religion and do this; however, pride has gotten in the way throughout history.
The idea of pride is what I will use to get to my next point in that it is the heart of a man, especially like Aquians. You see, his works reflected his brilliance, so imagine if he had desired to become the pope, which he, to me surly, could have done. He could have likely changed how the church looked, especially with how he worked through theology. He did not desire that; however, he wanted to be a part of the larger body of Jesus Christ. His heart seemed so pure to him and his admittedly humble nature. It was not in power that he became closer to Christ; instead, in turning to know Christ, he grew closer to Christ. In doing this, he put aside pride and arrogance and let his walk with Christ show through his writings. Then at the end of the day, if you disagree with him, that is perfectly fine. As he is only telling you what he knows to be true of God, but far more significant than that, Aquinas desires for the reader to know the most important thing he has discovered about God is how he loves God within his heart. Anything more than the love gained for Christ is merely the reflection of their relationship in his mortal life.
Tanner Simon