Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles – Book 1 PDF

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Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles – Book 1 St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) o Fuse Christianity and Plato together o Empiricist Two types of truth about God: o Some truths that are k nowable by  means of reason (philosophy can prove) – books 1-3 § God exists § There is only one God § God had mediatorial attributes § God has revealed truths about himself that we can figure out o  ot knowable by reason but only because God has revealed them – N book 4 § Trinity § Incarnation Questions for Discussion: Why should we think that there are any truths about God that surpass reason? B o  ook 1 chapter 3 o Our knowledge of insensible things are fairly limited o The knowledge of god we can have by reason can fall short o If we can’t know every last truth about a fly inside and out, why should we suppose that human beings can know every truth about God without reason o All of our knowledge is derived from our sense – what ever we know about God is derived from our senses –paragraph 3 o Premises 1: what we can know about God is from our senses o Premise 2 – if we build our knowledge about God using facts – we cant rise to a knowledge about God o Premise 3—there are truths about God we cannot know Why would God reveal truths about himself that we are able to figure out by ourselves? o Chapter 4 – paragraph 2 o It’s a good thing God reveal truth about himself because saying a truth is knowable isn’t like saying God is easily known

 akes years for philosphers to be able to prove things T about God o Very few people possess the knowledge of God § Only the elite would know § Some people aren’t smart enough § Some don’t have the time § Some are too lazy to do it Why should we believe truths about God which transcends human reason? How are these kinds of truths related? Is there a possibility for them to conflict? Can reason be used to defend truths about God which go beyond humans? o

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