Believing the Incomprehensible God: Aquinas on Understanding God’s Testimony

Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association (forthcoming)
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Abstract

While there has been recent epistemological interest as to whether knowledge is 'transmitted' by testimony from the testifier to the hearer, there is another facet of the epistemology of testimony that raises a distinct problem: whether a hearer can receive testimonial knowledge without fully understanding the content of the testimony. Aquinas' account of faith illustrates the problem of receiving testimonial knowledge without being able to comprehend the content of testimony. As Aquinas conceives of it, revelation provides a case in principle where the content of God's testimony is ultimately incomprehensible to human beings. Aquinas shows, I will argue, that we can justifiably suspend some kinds of understanding and yet acquire testimonial knowledge. This is similar to cases where we need to suspend understanding to receive knowledge from experts and might even have obligations to do so.

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