Sacred Doctrine and the Need for Salvation

For the past few weeks in Great Books, we’ve been reading Summa of the Summa by Thomas Aquinas. Written in a very logical and organized way, Aquinas goes through philosophical questions in a structured way, separating each question into subquestions, called articles, with objections that Aquinas later refutes in responses. It has been an enlightening experience, opening my eyes to just how dumb I really am. When I learned we had to write an interpretive essay on the book, I almost cried. So buckle up your seatbelts, because you’re about to read a 750 word, sweet tea fueled, tear-soaked analysis on the first question of the most difficult text that was ever written.
In the first question of Summa of the Summa, Thomas Aquinas attempts to explain what sacred doctrine is. Understanding sacred doctrine is essential because it helps man to know about the nature of God. Article one tries to determine if sacred doctrine is even required. Objection one points out that “besides philosophical science, we have no need of any further knowledge… Any other knowledge besides philosophical knowledge is superfluous.” (p. 35) In other words, one can prove the existence of God through basic philosophical reasons and learn basic principles of what He is like. To go beyond that would be similar to the building of the tower of Babel, mankind trying to elevate themselves to a status close to God. Thus, sacred doctrine is unnecessary.
However, Aquinas answers, “It was necessary for man’s salvation that there should be a knowledge revealed by God, besides philosophical science built up by human reason… Hence it was necessary for the salvation of man that certain truths which exceed human reason should be made known to him by divine revelation.” (p. 36) He explains that there is a very practical reason for sacred doctrine: salvation. There are basic things about God we can learn from reasoning. His existence is obvious in the complexity of nature, but reasoning can’t show us how God relates to mankind. It is because of the direct revelation of sacred doctrine that we are shown His plan of salvation, ensuring that each of us has access to the complete and unflawed Word of God.
Because God is above reason, philosophy can only help us understand so much about Him. We cannot reason ourselves into Heaven, which is what Aquinas points out. The revelation of sacred doctrine is required to show us the exact nature of God and how He relates to us.
Now that Aquinas has established that sacred doctrine is necessary, he attempts to determine whether it is a practical or speculative science. A practical science guides human action, and a speculative science guides human understanding. Objection one of the fourth article points out that “It seems that sacred doctrine is a practical science; for a practical science is that which ends in action… Bust sacred doctrine is ordained to action: Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:22). Therefore sacred doctrine is a practical science.” (p. 39)  Because sacred doctrine is telling mankind how to live, it has to be a practical science.
Aquinas answers that although sacred doctrine does guide action, it also deals with the nature of God, it also has to be speculative. “Although among the philosophical sciences one is speculative and another practical, nevertheless sacred doctrine includes both; as God, by one and the same science, knows both Himself and His works. Still, it is divine things rather than with human acts; though it does treat even of these latter, inasmuch as man is ordained by them to the perfect knowledge of God, in which consists eternal bliss.” (p. 39) Because of the complexity of sacred doctrine and how it shows us the requirements for salvation and also shows us God himself, it would be both practical and speculative, but would be more speculative than practical because it reveals knowledge of divine things which as a consequence influences our actions.
Aquinas also goes on to establish that sacred doctrine is the most noble of the sciences since it is both practical and speculative and that it is wisdom because it pertains to the highest cause in the Universe; God. “This doctrine is wisdom above all human wisdom; not merely in any one order, but absolutely. For since it is the part of a wise man to arrange and to judge, and since lesser matters should be judged in the light of some higher principle, he is said to be wise in any one order who considers the highest principle in that order…” (p. 43) Aquinas shows that sacred doctrine is both necessary and noble, and in order to achieve salvation, one must dedicate their life to understanding its wisdom.