Aquinas: Faith and Virtue

[cakewalk]

In what way for Aquinas is Faith a Virtue?

[arahant]

philosophy paper due tomorrow?

[carlo]

Aquinas speaks of Virtue as a habit in which by its perfection is a Virtue. There are four cardinal virtues which are temperance,justice,prudence and fortitude. These would be considered moral virtues which are cardinal virtues.

The Treatise on Habits contains discussion of virtues especially Q's 61-62,

In speaking of faith Aquinas speaks to the theological virtues. He states the the Divine Law contains percepts about the acts of faith, hope, and charity. Therefore faith,hope and charity are virtues directing us to God. Therefore they are the theological virtues.

Summa Theologica--www.ccel.org/a/aquinas/summa/home.html

[BluffTHIS!]

Here's a link to the newadvent site's version of the summa: The virtue of faith itself. (http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3004.htm) Scroll down to Article 5 "Whether faith is a virtue?".

[yukoncpa]

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Here's a link to the newadvent site's version of the summa: The virtue of faith itself. Scroll down to Article 5 "Whether faith is a virtue?".



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Hi BluffThis,

Your link boggled my mind a bit, I really couldn’t follow all the logic, etc. But I have to say that it sounded specious. For example, from your link:

"For it belongs to the very essence of 1. faith that the intellect should ever tend to the true, since nothing false can be the object of faith, as proved above (1, 3): while the effect of charity, which is the form of faith, is that the soul ever has its will directed to a good end. Therefore living faith is a virtue."

How is this remotely possible, that nothing false can be the object of faith?

[Peter666]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Here's a link to the newadvent site's version of the summa: The virtue of faith itself. Scroll down to Article 5 "Whether faith is a virtue?".



[/ QUOTE ]

Hi BluffThis,

Your link boggled my mind a bit, I really couldn’t follow all the logic, etc. But I have to say that it sounded specious. For example, from your link:

"For it belongs to the very essence of 1. faith that the intellect should ever tend to the true, since nothing false can be the object of faith, as proved above (1, 3): while the effect of charity, which is the form of faith, is that the soul ever has its will directed to a good end. Therefore living faith is a virtue."

How is this remotely possible, that nothing false can be the object of faith?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is so, because the faith being discussed in this article is a direct grace from God. And God who is perfection cannot give one a false faith.

It is possible to have "faith" in something false, but this is not defined as the virtue of faith (as given by God and discussed by Aquinas) but a mere human imagining.

[yukoncpa]

Hi Peter

[ QUOTE ]
This is so, because the faith being discussed in this article is a direct grace from God. And God who is perfection cannot give one a false faith.

It is possible to have "faith" in something false, but this is not defined as the virtue of faith (as given by God and discussed by Aquinas) but a mere human imagining.



[/ QUOTE ]

How is it possible to distinguish between the faith of a mere human imagining, which may be false, and the faith God gives us, which is a virtue?

[Peter666]

"How is it possible to distinguish between the faith of a mere human imagining, which may be false, and the faith God gives us, which is a virtue?"

That's a good question. The virtue of faith is the supernatural consent of the will to supernatural truth. It is a direct act of God in one's soul, and one personally cannot know they have it until they actually have it, whereupon it is a self evident revelation. Those who really have it know that God knows the truth of their Faith and that is good enough subjectively speaking.

It is interesting to note that you can study the Bible, Christianity, Church history, or what not, and be absolutely convinced that it is all true, yet still not have the supernatural virtue of Faith.

At the same time, the virtue of Faith can never contradict human reason in the logical sense, as both our ability to reason and the virtue of Faith come from the same Creator.

So then the question becomes: how do we know other people have the virtue of Faith rather than a false human construct? We cannot know with absolute certainty what is going on in the other person's soul, but we can use our objective human reasoning to see whether what they say they believe contradicts reason or not.

If two people claim they have the true Faith, but each practices a different religion, then we know one is wrong, or both are wrong, but they cannot both be right. Thus we must examine the evidence and draw our conclusions from that using our natural human reason (if we don't have a direct revelation from God).

[yukoncpa]

[ QUOTE ]
"How is it possible to distinguish between the faith of a mere human imagining, which may be false, and the faith God gives us, which is a virtue?"

That's a good question. The virtue of faith is the supernatural consent of the will to supernatural truth. It is a direct act of God in one's soul, and one personally cannot know they have it until they actually have it, whereupon it is a self evident revelation. Those who really have it know that God knows the truth of their Faith and that is good enough subjectively speaking.

It is interesting to note that you can study the Bible, Christianity, Church history, or what not, and be absolutely convinced that it is all true, yet still not have the supernatural virtue of Faith.

At the same time, the virtue of Faith can never contradict human reason in the logical sense, as both our ability to reason and the virtue of Faith come from the same Creator.

So then the question becomes: how do we know other people have the virtue of Faith rather than a false human construct? We cannot know with absolute certainty what is going on in the other person's soul, but we can use our objective human reasoning to see whether what they say they believe contradicts reason or not.

If two people claim they have the true Faith, but each practices a different religion, then we know one is wrong, or both are wrong, but they cannot both be right. Thus we must examine the evidence and draw our conclusions from that using our natural human reason (if we don't have a direct revelation from God).

Post Extras



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Thanks Peter, I always enjoy reading your posts.

[Peter666]

You're welcome.

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