On Thomas' S Theory Of Faith

Western culture has two big ideological source: Greek rationalism and Hebrew fideism.Greek rational spirit pursuits of the changeless concept which behind the phenomenon,and the Hebrew fideism trusts in “the evidence of things not seen”.The continued existence of the issue of faith since the Hebrew civilization,which has different explanations in each age.Christian philosophy confronted with Greek philosophy and had a continuously development,from Hebrew civilization to Patristic Philosophy to Scholasticism,finally arrived at a stable idea which was come up with Thomas.Thomas is the most important theologian and philosopher,the first synthesizer in the history of Christian thought,neither the study of western philosophy nor Christian theology can bypass.Thomas' s understanding and elaborating of the faith neither same as the early Hebrew thought,nor the Augustine's.Thomas analyzed the problem with a kind of Aristotle logic,the Christian faith is not simply believing in the God,and the way of the faith should be defined clearly.Divine revelation,grace,will and reason have different meanings to faith,which needs specific investigation.Thomas had carried on a rigorous logical analysis and explained these important questions in his work.He analyzed the main object of faith,God,in "Summa Theological" and "Summa Contra Gentiles",although God is uncertain,he can make use of human reason to make certain cognition still.Compared with the so-called "faith" represented by Augustine,Thomas is a typical "rationalist".The significance of reason is emphasized in his demonstration of the existence of God.He stressed that faith cannot exist without reason,meanwhile reason needs faith to make up,by dividing the boundaries between faith and reason,we can finally achieve the harmony between faith and reason.Faith and reason no longer conflict with each other,which laid the foundation for the integration of philosophy and Science.