Answer to Question #237289 in Philosophy for Mike

Question

What is the Problem of the Relation between Faith and Mind: Five Evidence of the Presence of God by Thomas Aquinas

Answer 1

Traditionally, faith and reason have each been considered to be sources of justification for religious belief. Faith and reason are both sources of authority upon which beliefs can rest. The problem between faith and mind or reason is that reason generally is understood as the principles for a methodological inquiry, whether intellectual, moral, aesthetic, or religious. Thus is it not simply the rules of logical inference or the embodied wisdom of a tradition or authority. Faith, on the other hand, involves a stance toward some claim that is not, at least presently, demonstrable by reason. Thus faith is a kind of attitude of trust or assent. 

The following are the five evidences of the presence of God according to Aquinas. 

(a) Thomas Aquinas defined God as the Unmoved Mover.

(b) He also defined God as the First Cause.

(c) Thirdly, he defined God as the Necessary Being.

(d) God as the Absolute Being. 

(e) Lastly, he saw God as the Grand Designer.