Today, January 28, 2025 is the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas and is celebrated as the 800th anniversary of his birth (even though history does not record the actual date), and so it begins the third of the Three Jubilee Years commemorating also the 700th anniversary of his canonization in 1323 and the 750th anniversary of his death in 1274.
As I noted in my feast day post from 2023:
Saint Thomas was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Saint Pius V in 1567, and over the centuries, the Church has conferred on Saint Thomas three doctoral designations: the Angelic Doctor, the Common Doctor and the Doctor of Humanity (the last conferred by Pope Saint John Paul II). Thomas Aquinas College continues to make available a homily by Fr. Romanus Cessario, O.P, in which he admirably elucidates these three titles and the propriety of ascribing them to Saint Thomas.
Since for that year I reflected on his title of Angelic Doctor, I thought I would explore a little of what Pope Saint John Paul II meant when he conferred the title Doctor of Humanity upon Saint Thomas, and the reasons he gave for doing so in 1999.
“Doctor Humanitatis” is the name we give St Thomas Aquinas because he was always ready to receive the values of all cultures (Address to the Participants in the VIII International Thomistic Congress, 13 September 1980; Insegnamenti, III, 2 [1980] 609). In the cultural conditions of our time, it seems truly appropriate to develop further this part of Thomistic doctrine which deals with humanity, given that his assertions on the dignity of the human person and the use of his reason, in perfect harmony with the faith, make St Thomas a teacher for our time. Human beings, especially in the contemporary world, are concerned with this question: What is man? In employing this epithet, “Doctor Humanitatis”, I am following in the footsteps of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council regarding the use of the teaching of Aquinas´ writings, both in the philosophical and theological training of priests (Decree Optatam totius, n. 16), and in deepening the harmony and agreement between faith and reason in universities (Declaration Gravissimum educationis, n. 10).
INTER MUNERA ACADEMIARUM, no 4.
It is, of course, well recognized that Saint Thomas was a champion of the compatibility of faith and reason, theology and philosophy, science and religion. We can easily overlook the fact that in his time, this was quite controversial, and his audacious attempt and ultimate achievement lay in incorporating the newly recovered works and teachings of the ancient pagan philosopher (the Philosopher) Aristotle into Christian theology, and safeguarding the faith from their misuse or any outright error they might contain. In this he laid the groundwork for a religiously autonomous and independent investigation into nature, such that empirical science was able to grow and flourish in ways it did not do in any other ancient cultures, despite their impressive astronomical and natural observations.
How Saint Thomas was able to accomplish this intellectual feat, however, and the reason for the compatibility of faith and reason does not receive as much attention. It is possible, indeed necessary, he argues, because of what has become the hallmark of his theology: that grace does not destroy, but builds upon nature. (What follows comes from my essay on Christian Philosophy which explores these points in greater detail.)
While throughout his career, Saint Thomas was concerned with how to incorporate secular, pagan philosophy (mostly that of Aristotle) into Christian theology, his concern was also with defending genuine philosophy based on, as he says, the light of natural reason, not some pseudo-reasoning which is really religious belief in rational disguise. His earliest treatment of the subject occurs in his Commentary on Boethius’s On the Trinity written during his graduate studies in theology in 1256. Aquinas presents several elements of his program of integrating the two disciplines that respects the distinction and autonomy of each, though obviously favoring theology and his Christian faith. Perhaps, most importantly, is his insistence that grace does not destroy nature, but presupposes and builds upon (restores, perfects, and elevates) nature.
Leo J. Elders, SVD, “Faith and Reason: The Synthesis of St. Thomas Aquinas,” Nova et Vetera, English Edition, Vol. 8, No. 3 (2010), p. 530.
Indeed, grace is not meant to do away with human nature, but to raise and perfect it. Grace renders nature more perfect. It does so in agreement with nature’s basic characteristics.
In this, Aquinas’s position is opposed to the view that human nature and reason are inherently evil or irredeemably corrupt, and fundamentally opposed to grace and faith. In Question 2, Article 3 of his commentary on Boethius’s work he states:
I answer that it must be said that gifts of grace are added to those of nature in such a way that they do not destroy them, but rather perfect them; thus, even the light of faith, which is infused in us by grace, does not destroy the natural light of reason, given to us from God. And even though the natural light of the human mind is insufficient for the discovery of those truths revealed through faith, nevertheless it is impossible that those truths divinely handed on to us by faith should be contrary to what we are endowed with by nature. One of these would have to be false, but since we have both from God, God would be the author of our error, which is impossible. Rather, since in imperfect things there is found some likeness to the perfect, in those things known by natural reason there are certain likenesses to what is taught by faith.
Now, just as Sacred Doctrine is founded upon the light of faith, so philosophy depends upon the light of natural reason. Thus, it is impossible that things belonging to philosophy be contrary to things belonging to faith; even though they fall short of them. Nevertheless, they contain some likenesses to the latter, and a certain preparation (preambula) for them, just as nature is a preparation (preambula) for grace.
If, however, anything is found in the teachings of the philosophers contrary to faith, this does not belong to philosophy, but rather to an abuse of philosophy arising from a defect of reason. And so it is possible from the principles of philosophy to refute an error of this sort, either by showing it is altogether impossible, or is not necessary. For just as those things which belong to faith cannot be demonstratively proved, so certain things contrary to them cannot be shown demonstratively to be false. But it can be shown they are not necessary.
Thus, in Sacred Doctrine we are able to make a threefold use of philosophy:
- First, to demonstrate what are preambles of faith, which it is necessary for faith to know, such as the truths about God that can be proved by natural reason: that God exists, that God is one, and other such truths about God or creatures proved in philosophy which faith presupposes.
- Second, to better understand what belongs to the faith through certain likenesses, as Augustine in his book, On the Trinity, uses many comparisons taken from the teachings of philosophers to elucidate the Trinity.
- Third, to resist those who speak against the faith, either by showing that their statements are false, or by showing that they are not necessarily true.
Nevertheless, those using philosophy in Sacred Doctrine can err in two ways:
- In one way, by using teachings contrary to faith, which do not belong to philosophy, but are the corruption and abuse of it, as Origen did.
- In another way, by including what belongs to faith within the bounds of philosophy, as if one should be unwilling to believe anything except what could be established by philosophy. On the contrary, philosophy should be brought within the bounds of faith, according to the saying of the Apostle, “bringing into captivity every understanding unto the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor 10:5).
To these points, Aquinas adds in his Reply to Objection 5, “Wherefore those who use philosophical doctrines in Sacred Doctrine in service to the faith, do not mix water with wine, but change water into wine.”
Even in this very early work, sees the value and autonomy of philosophy originating, like grace and faith, in God, Who is, as Aquinas will later teach, Truth Itself. (ST I, q. 16, a. 5) Philosophy, then, is useful to theology if, and only if, it is true, and just to the extent it is true. If a proposition is false, Aquinas writes, it is not philosophy, nor the product of natural reason, but an abuse of these.
Thomas vindicates the autonomy of philosophy, while in theology he uses without any hesitation many philosophical concepts, definitions, principles, and analyses, which he recognizes as true. His certitude concerning their truth is based on their intrinsic evidence and on their astonishing harmony with the doctrine of faith.
Leo Elders, art. cit., p. 540.
A teaching’s truth is its guarantee that it originates in God, and so he is confident that it must be compatible with faith. And since divine grace guarantees that faith and revelation are true, what conflicts with faith cannot be, nor can it truly (pun intended) be philosophy.
By the same token, Aquinas argues, it belongs to philosophy as an exercise in natural reasoning to discover the error in arguments opposed to the faith and correct them, or at least show that the conclusion is not necessary. During his second Paris tenure which began in 1269, Aquinas engaged in these sorts of philosophical exercises to show that Latin Averroist positions mentioned before – e.g., all people having a common intellect – are false and not what Aristotle taught. Similarly, Aquinas argues philosophically that the eternity of the world, which Aristotle did teach, is not a necessary conclusion. He does not try to prove, however, that the universe had a beginning in time, as he believed that that could only be known because God reveals it in Scripture. Both erroneous positions relate to matters of faith in challenging the possibility of life after death and the truth and reliability of Scripture. They also challenge the reputation of Aristotle as a reliable teacher of true philosophy, which Aquinas was likewise eager to defend.
To read more just exactly how Saint Thomas is able to guarantee the autonomy and independence of philosophy (and eventually science) within the context of religious belief in revelation (faith), continue reading Christian Philosophy.
Would that humanity discover or recover, through the intercession of the Doctor Humanitatis (Doctor of Humanity), Saint Thomas Aquinas, an appreciation for the value and harmony in true philosophy (and in objective truth, itself) and reasonable faith.
Sancte Thoma Aquinatis, ora pro nobis. (Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.)
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