Thomas Aquinas followed Aristotle and expanded on Plato’s ideas in the early thirteenth century in his Summa Theologica.
He believed that people can use their senses to determine «intellectually» the existence or non-existence of objects of perception.
It means that objects do not exist for the senses without our knowledge, but they exist, at least for those who have the ability to recognize their existence.
Thomas Hobbes argued that all objects can be cognized, although there is only one truth. Only human senses can know everything; all other knowledge is the result of assumptions.
In his later works, Thomas expanded his theories about the subjective relationship between sensory perception and sensitivity. The intellect can only perceive those things that exist, or at least exist in the realm of the senses; a thought that transcends this sphere of discrimination is known as a «poetic concept.»
Some philosophers have concluded that a philosopher can only perceive truth through the creation of a consciousness that precedes his or her own feelings. He must create «pure consciousness» before he can perceive the world, and thus he will gain access to the essence of things or knowledge about it. With a pure consciousness, a Christian can see what the Lord has seen, and he can become the unique being that God created him to be. Christian mysticism views nature as a living being created by the hand of God; without the power of Christ, nature is considered a meaningless mass of material.
Comparing this with Thomas Aquinas, it becomes obvious that he distinguishes his ideas from those of Plato and Aristotle. His concepts can be summarized as follows: «Faith, not reason, determines what can be cognized, and reason determines what cannot be cognized.»
Thomas was not aware of the various philosophical doctrines that developed after his death, it is more likely that he tried to synthesize different ideas and developed his own.
Thomas Aquinas in his work «Sum against the Gentiles» noted that although God is the only possible reason to believe in His existence, a person can perceive and know the existence of God through other reasons (namely, experience and logic) … In many cases, these «alternative causes» are obvious only to those who are not in the immediate presence of the object in question.
Later, Thomas developed and expanded these ideas in his later works to such an extent that they turned out to be his own ideas, rather than the ideas of the ancient philosophers with whom he was inspired.
In Christianity, Augustine Hippopotamus created his own theory of knowledge based on reason and experience. Augustine believed that the world is a single organism, and all things are products of one essence – God. Augustine believed that the intellect of God is active and separate from the physical intellect of the world; physical intelligence could only comprehend the world through experience. Using this concept, Augustine wrote that an ignorant person cannot have true knowledge of the world, but can only gain imperfect knowledge given to him through experience. An example of this would be if an ignorant person describes his experience with a tree; the knowledge of God will be expanded through real experience.
Augustine taught that for true knowledge of the world it is necessary to know the place, qualities and characteristics of various things in the world, but this knowledge was often very difficult to obtain. Augustine believed that nature should be greater than physical; it had to be experienced spiritually and immaterially. In his City of God, Augustine expands on his ideas about knowledge by saying that one must receive revelation through faith in Jesus Christ in order to truly know the nature of God. Augustine also noted that a person’s relationship with God is a relationship of love, not commitment.
Augustine believed that the true knowledge of the Lord was superior to any other knowledge, and that his knowledge was separate from the knowledge of other people. This was similar to Aristotle’s belief that human knowledge in nature was very limited because the human mind had not fully developed its potential.
Augustine also wrote that any true knowledge of the nature of God or the meaning of life comes to man through faith in Jesus Christ. Augustine also created his own cosmological system of the universe, in which he believed that the earth and all other natural objects are a physical manifestation of the divine. To truly understand the universe or the true meaning of life, you need to have faith in Jesus Christ and salvation.
Christians of the Christian Reformed tradition held some views similar to those of Augustine, although they generally differed from his ideas in that they believed that human knowledge of the world and the universe is limited.
Augustine’s doctrines and theological views began to spread throughout Europe in the sixteenth century with the works of John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, and others.
The Roman Catholic Church held a higher degree of rationalism and believed that theology and metaphysics were unnecessary for salvation. However, the Roman Catholic Church did not reject the theology of Augustine, as it was of the opinion that it should be part of human understanding, and, therefore, a person is limited in his knowledge. The Roman Catholic Church was divided in its views on faith even regarding the ideas of Augustine, although the majority believed that human knowledge is limited, and therefore the only thing that salvation extends to is the doctrines of God.
Calvin himself was a Calvinist and adhered to the same ideas as Augustine, but added two different ideas to Augustine: in a first, Calvin believed that human knowledge is limited, but that through the Holy Spirit and faiths in man can reach the knowledge of the rational nature of God and secondly, that man is limited in his understanding of the nature of God, but through his actions he can achieve an understanding of God.
However, John Calvin rejected the doctrine that man was limited in his understanding of the universe; Calvin believed that through faith a person can know the universe and understand God.
Jean Calvin also explained Augustine’s epistemology and added that Augustine believed that everyone can receive a clear revelation about God through the Holy Spirit, through faith, and through reason.
In the sixteenth century, Johannes Reuchlin, an associate of Jean Calvin, was the first to write about Augustine’s philosophy, especially his doctrine of intelligence. Reuchlin made little reference to Augustine’s doctrine of grace, but rather to Augustine’s theology. Augustine always believed that the intellectual abilities of people are limited, and Reuchlin believed that this limited ability is the reason for a person’s need for salvation. Augustine taught that man is sinful and, as a result, cannot attain true knowledge. Reuchlin rejected Augustine’s teaching that humans are incapable of understanding the universe and that they need faith in God and use reason to be saved. Reuchlin believed that regarding Augustine’s view that human knowledge of God and the universe is limited, Reuchlin believed that Augustine’s view was wrong.
Augustine, according to Reuchlin, was wrong in teaching that man cannot receive true knowledge of the universe, but that man can attain knowledge through faith and the Holy Spirit in the knowledge of God. Although Augustine believed that human knowledge is limited, Reuchlin believed that human knowledge of the universe is unlimited. Reuchlin believed that with the help of reason, a person can receive a clear revelation about God and the universe.
Reuchlin was the first to suggest that human intelligence has unlimited potential. However, Reuchlin believed that a person’s ability to know is limited and that he can achieve knowledge of God only through faith and through the Holy Spirit.
Augustine believed that God is perfect, just, and good. Reuchlin believed that God was good and perfect, but the attributes of perfection were of such a nature that man could not achieve them. Reuchlin believed that the knowledge of God can be obtained through faith.
Reuchlin’s followers adhered to a form of Calvinism known as systematic theology.
Augustine, like Calvin, believed that human knowledge of God and the universe is limited. John