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How did Thomas Aquinas distinguish faith from knowledge and opinion?
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Thomism
St. Thomas Aquinas Enthroned Between the Doctors of the Old and New Testaments, with Personifications of the Virtues, Sciences, and Liberal Arts, fresco by Andrea da Firenze, c. 1365; in the Spanish Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence.
In the theology of Thomas Aquinas, faith, knowledge (scientia), and opinion are distinguished by the nature of the intellect's assent to truth.1
- Knowledge (Scientia): Propositions that constitute knowledge compel the intellect to assent because they are either self-evident or demonstrably derived from self-evident premises.1
- Faith: Unlike knowledge, the propositions of faith do not compel assent through evidence. Instead, faith is defined as an act of the intellect assenting to revealed truths at the command of the will. Because it requires a voluntary, free, and responsible act of trusting acceptance, faith is considered a virtue. One cannot possess both knowledge and faith regarding the same proposition, as faith arises only in the absence of knowledge.1
- Opinion: Faith is further distinguished from opinion, which is inherently changeable and allows for the possibility of doubt. In contrast, faith is the wholehearted acceptance of revealed truth, which excludes doubt.1
While faith extends beyond the findings of human reasonāaccepting mysteries such as the triune nature of GodāAquinas maintained that reason and faith are consistent, as both originate from the truth.21