Arguing against those who said that natural philosophy was contrary to the Christian faith, (Aquinas) writes in his treatise Faith, Reason and Theology that "even though the natural light of the human mind is inadequate to make known what is revealed by faith, nevertheless what is divinely taught to us by faith cannot be contrary to what we are endowed with by nature. One or the other would have to be false, and since we have both of them from God, he would be the cause of our error, which is impossible."
"Aladdin's Lamp: How Greek Science Came to Europe Through the Islamic World" by John Freely
Alan: If Aquinas' scholastic reasoning does not read clearly in Freely's passage above, here is another -- hopefully more accessible -- rendering.
Thomas is saying that whatever Science demonstrates to be true is true and does not require the application of any "doctrinal litmus."
Why?
Because whatever is demonstrably true cannot contradict "God's Truth" since "God's Truth" is The Origin of both secular truth and revealed truth, and therefore, they both must harmonize because both are "from God."
Thomas is saying that whatever Science demonstrates to be true is true and does not require the application of any "doctrinal litmus."
Why?
Because whatever is demonstrably true cannot contradict "God's Truth" since "God's Truth" is The Origin of both secular truth and revealed truth, and therefore, they both must harmonize because both are "from God."
Furthermore, as Aquinas elucidated in the lyrics of the Catholic hymn, "Tantum Ergo" - (his best known writing) - sensory knowledge is humankind's point of departure and we must let sensory knowledge take us as far as it will before calling upon revelation to illuminate what lies beyond the reach of sensory knowledge.
Global Warming, for example, is a demonstrable fact.
To deny Global Warming is, in the conservative psyche, a priori "reason" to deny fact as prelude to prolongation of faith in a political ideology that is desparate to deny any need for overarching political cooperation among the world's governments, which, in the view of most conservatives will give way to the overarching horror of One World Government - a moral "menace" that is not mentioned in the Bible or in orthodox Christian tradition.
If anything, the Catholic Church has always believed in One World Government, which is to say the unitary government of The Vatican.
More recently, Pope John XXIII called for certain forms of planetary governance.
John XXIII: "Pacem In Terris" And World Government
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.mx/2012/11/pacem-in-terris-and-world-government.html
Aquinas, Trump, Truth... And "Alternative Truth"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.mx/2017/02/aquinas-trump-truth-and-alternative.html
"Tantum Ergo"
Conservatives Trust In Science (From The Latin Word For "Knowledge") Hits All-Time Low
U.S. News And World Report
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/04/conservatives-trust-in-science-hits-all.html
That "Christian" conservatives deliberately ignore and/or contradict the factual findings of Science is a brazen display of intellectual cowardice whose purpose is to protect "blind faith" based on individual opinion while deliberately denying the truth that is accessible to our senses.
In effect, such cowardice displaces God-Truth ("I am the way, the truth and the light") so that every radically-individualizaed conservative Christian may usurp God's throne in the very act of pretending to be "His" servant.
That "Christian" conservatives deliberately ignore and/or contradict the factual findings of Science is a brazen display of intellectual cowardice whose purpose is to protect "blind faith" based on individual opinion while deliberately denying the truth that is accessible to our senses.
In effect, such cowardice displaces God-Truth ("I am the way, the truth and the light") so that every radically-individualizaed conservative Christian may usurp God's throne in the very act of pretending to be "His" servant.
Global Warming, for example, is a demonstrable fact.
To deny Global Warming is, in the conservative psyche, a priori "reason" to deny fact as prelude to prolongation of faith in a political ideology that is desparate to deny any need for overarching political cooperation among the world's governments, which, in the view of most conservatives will give way to the overarching horror of One World Government - a moral "menace" that is not mentioned in the Bible or in orthodox Christian tradition.
If anything, the Catholic Church has always believed in One World Government, which is to say the unitary government of The Vatican.
More recently, Pope John XXIII called for certain forms of planetary governance.
John XXIII: "Pacem In Terris" And World Government
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.mx/2012/11/pacem-in-terris-and-world-government.html
Aquinas, Trump, Truth... And "Alternative Truth"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.mx/2017/02/aquinas-trump-truth-and-alternative.html
Do Science And Religion Conflict?
It's All In How You See It
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