Aquinas 101 - Course 1: Why Aquinas? Episode 2 – Is Faith Irrational: Aquinas on the Rationality of Belief | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
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Aug 30, 2019 Is Christian belief a leap in the dark, or can faith and reason work together? This talk explores Aquinas’s distinctions between knowing and believing, the role of trust in accepting another’s word, and why faith reaches beyond what reason can prove. It also examines how faith becomes a relationship with God, not merely a collection of religious claims.
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Belief Is Trusting a Witness
- Belief is often accepting a truth on the word of another rather than direct verification.
- Fr Legge illustrates with a released prisoner telling parents their journalist son is alive to show unconditional assent to a witness.
Faith and Reason Share One Source
- Aquinas argues faith and reason share the same source, God, so they cannot ultimately contradict each other.
- He calls certain philosophical truths preambles to faith and says faith coheres with proofs about God's existence and confirming signs like miracles.
Use Reason Fully Without Fear
- Do pursue scientific and philosophical inquiry confidently because Aquinas teaches right reason and faith will not contradict.
- Fr Legge warns only incorrect science or philosophy leads to apparent conflicts, so do science properly.