Fede, ragione e carità. Una prospettiva tommasiana

Abstract

Among studies on faith and reason in Aquinas’s thought, harmony between them is usually shown by reference to that which is common to them, i.e., the fact that there is an intellectual aspect of faith given that faith is an intellectual assent to divine revelation. If one only considers this aspect, however, one runs the risk of subjecting faith to reason, which means that faith can be rejected if this is required by the available evidence. In this essay, I first show that according to Aquinas faith is an intellectual assent to revelation, assent which is mainly due to charity. I then argue that charity enables the believer to firmly believe, even if the available evidence seemingly disproves faith. I conclude that in this way the believer seems to be put in the best possible condition to promote intellectual activity.