St. Augustine's Argumentative Analysis

All throughout history, there have been countless controversies and arguments over a wide array of topics. One of the greatest controversies is the one on faith and reason. Within this argument, people are trying to distinguish if there is a clear-cut difference between both faith and reason. Some believe that both serve the same purpose while others seem to think that there is no relation between the two at all. Those who believe they are completely different, are adamant in that faith purely serves the purpose of an extension of religion, while reason takes on a more logical and pragmatic. This has been a topic of discussion ever since the Ancient times and even before that. Numerous, scholars have said their ideas and voiced their opinions,

One of the greatest writers of the fourth century was St. Augustine. While St. Augustine voiced his opinions on a variety of topics, he specifically spoke out about and often defended the Christian religion. He also felt very strongly that some of the few great philosophers were the Platonists. When it comes to faith, he agreed with them that, if people are genuine and in sync with their faith, they will grow. He discourages those who are hypocritical and those who unrightfully hold faith. In his On Christian Doctrine, St. Augustine references Cyprian and many other Greek figures and the examples that they set in this quote, “Do we not see with what a quantity of gold and silver and garments Cyprian, that most persuasive teacher and most blessed martyr, was loaded when he came out of Egypt? How much Lactantius brought with him? And Victorinus, and Optatus, and Hilary, not to speak of living men! How much Greeks out of number have borrowed!... But they gave their gold and their silver and their garments to the people of God as they were going out of Egypt, not knowing how the things they gave would be turned to the service of

Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas was an Italian thinker and friar that lived in the early thirteenth century. Still to this day, he is considered to be one of the most influential philosophers and theologians. In his writings, Aquinas explores the many aspects of faith and how it may pertain or relate to reason. What makes St. Thomas Aquinas different from St. Augustine is that Aquinas believes that there is more of a direct correlation between reason. He does not think that they are completely unrelated. He alsoo seems to stand firm in his belief that there are many truths, both theological and logical that extend beyond human reason and understanding. He also believes that one could potentially understand these incredible truths even without a solid faith. However with this being said, without a solid faith or just plain faith at all, one may not understand the truths fully. These ideas are illustrated in this quote from Aquinas’ On Sacred Doctrine, “Hence it was necessary for the salvation of man that certain truths which exceed human reason should be made known to him by divine revelation.” This quotes is simply stating and referring to his concept that only with help from God will humans be able to understand the reasons of life and if they do not have God’s help, then they will not fully understand them. Later in the document, Aquinas goes on to explain that once God helps the human understand reason, the human must then use faith to understand