Philosophy of Man

Christian's conception of the world is the result of a mixture of elements: the sacred texts and its different interpretations, sometimes even opposed, the influence of Neo-Platonism and stoicism and the controversial dialogue with classic philosophy. First of all Christianity is a salvation doctrine, that is to say, a set of ideas about reality and a set of rules whose fulfilment grant paradise to believers after this world. Nevertheless, philosophy and religion have some elements in common: philosophy tries to give a rational solution to the great problems of man, whereas religion, on the other hand, displays its own privileged solution to these problems based on faith. Naturally, religions -Christianity in this case- are not philosophy, but some of the most important elements they use in their salvation proposal have been traditional objects of philosophy, and that's why they usually use this discipline as foundation for some of their beliefs.

One of the most important concerns of medieval thought is the relation between theology and philosophy or, in other words, between faith and reason. The genuine problem here is to determine the relation between supernatural knowledge, achieved by revelation, and natural knowledge, achieved by the intellect and the senses. Thus, reason and faith are two different sources for knowledge that can be compatible or not.

I. THE PROBLEM OF THE RELATION BETWEEN FAITH AND REASON

This problem reaches its culminating point with Saint Thomas and, for many theologians, its solution. The distinction between philosophy/theology rests on the difference between natural and supernatural order. They are two different levels, but they are not opposed or contradictory one to the other but complementary: the order of natural knowledge comes from human reason, from which arises philosophy with its own laws, methods and demonstrative value. The supernatural order, on the other hand, comes from revelation and faith and is essentially a dark knowledge ("the act of believing is an understanding act that asserts divine truth by the empire of the will moved by God through grace"); some of the divine truths are within the reach of the reason, others exceed our intellect. Both kinds of knowledge ultimately come from God, and for that reason they cannot be contradictory. Saint Thomas uses this explanation to reject Averroes's theory of the double truth.

These two spheres of knowledge can collaborate: revelation serves as guide for reason (preserving it from mistakes and indicating the final solution it must come to); and reason serves to clarify, explain and defend the mysteries of faith. The result of this collaboration is theology. Some beliefs could never be demonstrated by reason (for example, the mystery of Trinity or the Eucharist) but others can, like the basic beliefs of faith (the existence of God