Thomas Aquinas Faith Vs. Reason

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Synthesis Through Faith and Reason Whenever someone mentions medieval culture, although they may not know it, the high middle ages is usually what comes to mind. This is because at the start of the 11th century the middle ages were starting to show their medieval promise. Things were taking a turn for the good; there was an intellectual renaissance of great philosophers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and Saint Anselm and we also saw the development of such universities as Paris, Oxford, and Bologna. The high middle ages were also the home of some of the greatest architecture that Europe has seen, and with feudalism, trade, and overall happiness of the people at an all time high this is really the golden age of European history. Many people devoted a lot of time and effort into making these times so good. From King John to Thomas Aquinas, many people playing very different roles were able to make this such a progressive era. Religion played a great deal of influence on the high middle ages and although many movements and orders were being derived from Catholicism it remained the religious victor of the high middle ages through the success of the Crusades and the Inquisition. Another reason why this era was so rich would have to be the advancement of philosophical reasoning. One of the top philosophers of this time was Thomas Aquinas. He went through the process of creating his philosophy in order to find religious truth. Thomas Aquinas is responsible for the revival of the synthesis between faith and reason in the high middle ages. He clearly separates the two, but says that Theology give us knowledge through faith and reason, and philosophy gives us knowledge through the natural way of thinking that every human possesses (Lawhead 169). Even though he split them both up into two definitions, he clearly uses one to compliment the other. At an early age he studied at
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