Introduction
Faith refers to a general influence of the mind that a certain statement is true. It is a confident belief or trust in truth or constancy of an individual, concept or thing. It entails attitude, conviction and conduct based on the true relationship with God. Aquinas believes that faith is a rational activity because it involves possessing certain traits that are interrelated and rely on the facts about God. He argues that it involves agreement to propositions; God being the object.
According to Aquinas, propositions involve revelation. A person agrees to believe in something due to the fact that God must have revealed it to him or her. This brings in a correlation of revelation to faith. Faith requires one to be wholehearted. This makes faith to be different from knowledge as it involves voluntary steps being taken.
There is always a rationale underlying faith though it is voluntary. The fact that some truths concerning God are well known makes the belief in faith rational.
According to Aquinas, faith is exclusively different from knowledge in that if one know something as being true, it is not absolute that he or she will have faith in that very thing as being true.
Assumptions that underlie Aquinas’ argument
Aquinas’ arguments are based on the assumption that through faith one accepts proposals by revelation that is reflected as being reasonable by believing that the natural theological proposals can be revealed first. The revelation enables one to know what is right and wrong and act accordingly.
Agreeing to the propositions through revelation is seen to be reasonable because in normal circumstances, propositions of natural theology are given the first priority. Aquinas asserts that true faith should believe in what has been revealed by God
The agreement that characterizes faith is being wholehearted and not timid. Voluntary faith differs from knowledge and opinion as it calls for wholeheartedness (Conlan 70).
Following the voluntary aspect of faith, there has to be a rational basis underlying it. Some of the realities concerning God are demonstrated. Other concerns about God are known and are demonstrated, reflecting faith as the true way and hence believing on it is rational. Through faith, humanity gets closer to God. God is known through believing that He is there and that he controls actions.
The Soundness of Aquinas’
Aquinas’ argument seems to be sound in that the element of revelation is very important. Through revelation one accepts the propositions in faith that God has revealed to him or her. Since true faith must not agree to anything a part from that revealed by God, the argument seems to be sound. Faith requires one to be wholehearted and should not possess the traits of timidity. This is very true because a believer has to be fully submitted to the revelation by God; this is based on the truths concerning God (Conlan 56).
Conclusion
It can be concluded that Aquinas believes that one being knowledgeable about something does not necessarily mean that he/she has faith in it. This is an indication that faith is exclusive from knowledge. We need faith within ourselves to enable us to succeed in whatever we do. Knowledge acts as guidance in ensuring that whatever we believe in is achieved. Faith and Knowledge therefore co-relate but can never be the same thing.
Works Cited
Conlan, William. The definition of faith according to a question of MS. Assisi 138: study and edition of text. New York: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1999.