We begin to see now what exactly Thomas took issue with in this Platonist way of thought. St. Augustine writes in his Confessions the closer he drew to God and more learned and God-fearing he became, the less he truly knew about God. He opens his Confessions with a series of questions concerning the nature of God and how one can know Him and call on Him. Though filled with God and His Spirit as a result of his conversion and faith, Augustine was still as far from truly comprehending God’s nature as when he first begun. Naming God and fundamental belief in God, thus, is a humbling experience marked by faith not by philosophy.
This kind of abstract notion of faith and the Christian conversion and walk is exactly what Thomas finds fault in with Platonism and why he thus devotes his line of thinking to the Aristotelian method. Thomas walks the line between the two fields of empirical philosophy and theology believing that this delicate balance will be a powerful tool in inspiring faith. Yet his work does not compel the reader to profound faith, otherwise there would be no debate about religion or who God is and whether He exists or not. Whereas Thomas sets out to develop a balance of philosophy and theology to further the Christian faith, he ultimately does neither very well in his treatment on the existence of God. His philosophy works within itself, yet cannot be taken to be an open and unbiased philosophical investigation into the question of God, and his theology falls short of fundamental Biblical accounts, placing a greater emphasis on demonstrating God with the mind rather than an earnest search for God with the heart.
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