Seven Ways Faith and Reason Work Together (Aquinas 101)

Faith does not frustrate reason. They are in harmony, which can be spelled out in seven principles.

Harmony of Faith and Reason: Seven Principles (Aquinas 101) - Fr. James Brent

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This video was made possible through the support of grant #61944 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

[michaelmaillard]

Praise God for Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church

[MaranathatoJesusthroughMary]

If only everyone knew the free stuff you guys are teaching here. I pray for that to happen or at least as many people as possible.
Thanks guys God bless, protect and guide you all.🙏❤

[NaruIchiLuffy]

Fantastic series with an incredible ending. Thank you for all you do in service of our God.

[neuronneuron]

1. Consistency - Right faith and right reason are logically consistent with each other
2. Support - Right reason can demonstrate many truths about God and support many of the things we believe about God.
3. Defense - Right reason can refute objections to articles of faith
4. Service - Right reason can serve to understand many of the truths God has revealed
5. Correction - Right faith serves to correct the common errors of reason
6. Sapiential - Right faith allows a person to see all things in relation to God
7. Fulfillment - Right faith provides answers to some of the most profound questions that human reason cannot answer on its own or answer easily

[ys]

This is how our catholic faith should be taught at christian schools. ¡Viva Cristo Rey!

[roisinpatriciagaffney]

Glory be to God for dappled things. Thank you, Father Brent.

[antoniomoyal]

Very helpful to articulate Divine and Natural law, and how reason and faith interact.

[pharmapilly]

much sense God thank you for the church and its people u have always ordained to lead us will continue to pray for u all goosh felt goose bumps hearing i this so beautiful listening to intelligent people....not fire and brimstone and christian fights goosh

[jonathanw]

Thank you! This was very encouraging/informative and made helpful distinctions. May God richly bless you all!

[mirajimenez]

Amazing explanation... Everyone must know the works of St Thomas Aquinas.... Thank you for this... God bless your work.... Amen

[mauijttewaal]

In theory there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is;-)

[daymagtoto]

Thank you very very much for this! It helped me understand my faith. Video full of wisdom. More power to you!

[aiantenor]

This is new to me Fr Brent. Thank you and God bless you

[JohnR.T.B.]

Thank you for the educating video!
I think we have faith because we can understand and accept sound teachings, divine revelations, which touch upon the thirst for truths in our minds, hearts, this thirst for truths which is planted by God. And these desires for truths, if not guided by the true divine revelation of God, are manifested into the different faiths, beliefs, and even superstitious thoughts, and lately into "science" that tries to make sense of our existence here, life beyond earth, what lies beyond the universe, etc.

The hunger for explanations, for what is really true, what is beyond what we see in our daily lives, what makes us conscious, what makes us unique, what (or who) created all in the universe in the first place; ultimately require the harmony of faith and reason.

Purely believing in whatever "supernatural" tales or stories of how things are will not satisfy this thirst for truths, not in the long term anyway as we walk into our problems in life which demand sound thinking and reasoning to be understood more deeply, and purely trusting and relying on our reasoning alone based on what we can see or sense (by doing "science") will also never answer the truths which are far beyond our reaches, which ultimately are inseparable from us, and most in the "science and reason" camp will ultimately suppress their natural instincts for supernatural truths, things beyond, things far above and within, out of reach of the senses and instruments.

We are not just flowing energies, atoms, and molecules interacting with one another due to the laws of physics and chance probabilities. Our sustained existence can be described in such a way of course, just as we can analyze the chemical compositions of the painting of Mona Lisa, but to understand the meaning of Mona Lisa, what is being shown, the message, the meaning, the value of its beauty, why it was made in the first place, we need to have both faith and understanding, and the heart of the human, to understand the heart and mind of the painter; which will never be found by looking at Mona Lisa through the microscopes or by breaking down all of its molecular compositions.

[peytonevans]

"Faith in general consists of believing something on the testimony of another. And Faith in God consists in believing something on the testimony of God".
That's actually very interesting and helpful. In that case, I suppose the most straightforward position against religious faith would be to deny that such a testimony was ever given. If one doesn't believe that divine revelation has ever legitimately occurred, then there really isn't that much left to work with. I'm curious about the role that intuition plays here. It may simply be that some intuitions can't be imparted to someone who holds the opposite ones. I wonder if it's a bit like trying to explain whatever is funny about a really disturbing joke. If you don't already have a dark sense of humor, it may just never make sense.

[varginabrown]

*Jesus Christ is the only Living Supernatural Creator God*

[spidermankelly]

Father, I have a question for you, I would desire you can answer my question with total sincerity. I would like to know how many years the soul of a sinner person will be tortured after their dead?

[josenicolasdelosreyesalgar]

Does anyone know where the 7 principles are specifically articulated in Aquinas' writings? If so, I would like to know. Thanks.

[benjo]

If you propose a Cartesian substance dualism of body/matter and mind/soul: How do you solve the mind-body problem? Is there a specific explanatory approach that convinced you personally? Or is there even some explanation that is considered part of the Catholic dogma?

[melvindias]

How about a specific church keeps statues and pray to Saints? Is that Biblical?