Faith, Reason, and Theology, Questions I-IV of the Commentary on Boethius' De Trinitate

The Topics Here Are Of Vital Interest To The Christian Philosopher And Theologian. Question 1 Treats Of The Possibility Of Our Knowing God, And The Human Limitations Of This Knowledge. Question 2 Concerns Theology As A Science Which Reaches Out To God By Faith In His Revealed Word And Uses Philosophical Reasoning To Throw Light On The Contents Of Revelation. In Question 3 Aquinas Takes Up The Nature Of Faith, Showing Its Relation To Religion And Its Necessity For The Welfare Of The Human Race. He Argues For The Catholicity Or Universality Of The Christian Faith And Defends The Orthodox Teaching Of The Trinity Of Persons In The One God. Question 4 Turns To A Set Of Philosophical Problems Occasioned By Boethius' Treatise On The Trinity: The Factors That Cause A Plurality In General, Specials And Individuals. In This Connection Aquinas Makes One Of His Most Controversial Statements Of The Principle Of Individuation. Translator's Introduction -- St. Thomas' Introduction -- Boethius' Preface -- St. Thomas' Literal Commentary -- On The Knowledge Of Divine Realities. Does The Human Mind Need A New Illumination By The Divine Light In Order To Know The Truth? ; Can The Human Mind Arrive At A Knowledge Of God? ; Is God What The Mind First Knows? ; Is The Human Mind By Itself Able To Arrive At A Knowledge Of The Divine Trinity? -- On Making The Divine Knowledge Known. Is It Permissible To Make Divine Realities An Object Of Investigation? ; Can There Be A Science Of Divine Realities? ; Is It Permissible To Use Philosophical Reasoning And Authorities In The Science Of Faith, Whose Object Is God? ; Should Divine Realities Be Veild By Obscure And Novel Words? -- Boethius, De Trinitate, Chapter 1 -- St. Thomas' Literal Commentary -- On Topics Relating To The Praise Of Faith. Is Faith Necessary For The Human Race? ; How Faith Is Related To Religion ; Is The True Faith Fittingly Called Catholic Or Universal? ; Is It An Article Of The True Faith That The Father, The Son And The Holy Spirit Are Each God, And The Three Are One God Without Being Separated By Any Inequality? -- On Factors Relating To The Cause Of Plurality. Is Otherness The Cause Of Plurality? ; Does A Difference Of Accidents Cause A Diversity In Number? ; Can Two Bodies Exist, Or Be Thought To Exist, In The Same Place? ; Does A Difference In Place Have Some Bearing On A Difference In Number? St. Thomas Aquinas ; Translated With Introduction And Notes By Armand Maurer. Translation Of Selections From: Expositio Super Boethiium De Trinitate. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. The topics of Questions i-iv of St. Thomas Aquinas' Commentary on the De Trinitate of Boethius are of vital interest to the Christian philosopher and theologian. Written while Aquinas was a youthful Master of Theology, the Questions show his solidarity with Christian tradition, his wide acquaintance with Scripture and the Fathers of the Church, and his creative use of philosophy in addressing theological issues. Question i treats of the possibility of our knowing God, and the human limitations of this knowledge. Question ii concerns theology as a science which reaches out to God by faith in his revealed word and uses philosophical reasoning to throw light on the contents of revelation. In Question iii Aquinas takes up the nature of faith, showing its relation to religion and its necessity for the welfare of the human race. He argues for the catholicity or universality of the Christian faith and defends the orthodox teaching of the trinity of Persons in the one God. Question iv turns to a set of philosophical problems occasioned by Boethius' treatise on the the factors that cause a plurality in genera, species and individuals. In this connection Aquinas makes one of his most controversial statements of the principle of individuation.