Prompt #3 - Uniting Reason and Faith

Samantha Smith

Mrs. Wagener

AP English 11

3 August 2013

Uniting Reason and Faith

            The concepts of “faith” and “reason” have caused great controversy for quite some time. They have stumped even some of the greatest philosophers, forcing them to choose between the two. In the “Middle Ages” chapter of Sophie’s World, two amateur medieval thinkers, known as Aquinas and St. Augustine, were the first people to establish an understanding between these concepts by “Christianizing” Aristotle and Plato’s beliefs. Christianizing is simply creating a Christian outlook on certain beliefs or ideas.

            Before Aquinas and St. Augustine, Christian’s felt almost insulted by the early philosophers. It seemed as though they were somewhat contradicting the Christian faith with their reason. St. Augustine and Aquinas provided an explanation for faith. They proved that Aristotle and Plato’s reasoning could actually go hand in hand with religion. For example, Aquinas described Aristotle’s “progressive scale” that moved from plants and animals up to humans. He then went on to explain his own belief in the scale that again began with plants and animals and moved to man, to angels, and then to God. He used this comparison to provide the idea that Aristotle also believed in some sort of maximum existence, such as God, which went along with the Christian faith. By relating these two ideas, it gave Christians the reassurance that reason does not go against faith and that they had nothing to feel insulted about.

            If it were not for Aquinas and St. Augustine combining the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, and the Bible, the philosopher’s ideas would not have been carried on throughout this day. The simple task that these two medieval thinkers did allowed “faith” and “reason” to finally be understood as one.