The comparison of Saint Bonvaventure and Saint Thomas Aquinas lays in their own philosophical differences and personal interpretation and understanding of Aristotle. In order to do this first we must note the important differences between the two. "The translation project of Aristotle's works in Toledo in Spain, which made available the Philosopher's works to Arabic thinkers, giving Aristotle an Islamic career that predated the west by about one century. Spain was where Islam, having been driven back from France, coexisted in an uneasy truce with Christendom. The Arabic interpretations of Aristotle's works will have a profound influence on questions pertaining to the relationship between the thought of Aristotle and the Christian faith, i.e., the relationship between reason and faith.
The subsequent translations of Aristotle's Ethics, Physics, Metaphysics, De anima, et al., by Islamic scholars, whose names would be latinized to Avicenna and Averroes, meant that the traditional complementarity between secular and sacred learning had to be rethought. For some, the arrival of Aristotle threatened both the traditional curriculum in reference to where his works belonged, and the faith. For if Aristotle taught things in conflict with the faith, he could hardly be thought of as complementary to it. Thus, the stage is set for some conflicting views on Aristotle between Bonaventure and Aquinas." -John Quinn (The Historical Constitution of St. Bonaventure's Philosophy)
[...] Now to look at the other side of the coin, Bonaventure. Bonaventure was much more impacted by the significance of the downward movement that “illumination” suggests. “Abstraction is OK when you want to account for things around -The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy 2nd Edition. But how does one account for our knowledge of the immaterial things . How is one able to be abstract with immaterial things when comparing to materiality? Bonaventure states that we can‘t. So, considering said area of metaphysics, illumination holds its stance, when compared within the world of philosophy, abstraction does. [...]
[...] It as well seems, that through the various articles and understanding of most all the information I have read that literature does represent Bonaventure as continuing Augustinianism, while Aquinas is the one who constantly rejects it. Together the two can be best surmised in the Suma Theologica's own words. The point of departure for this reflection is the person of Jesus Christ, and the revealed fact that He “exists before all things and in him all things hold together, and he is the Head of the Body, that is the Church. [...]
[...] 4.) Therefore, there must be a first mover (which is god). The first way lye's in the premise that is firmly rooted in human beings own sensory experiences. The second way has similarly the same structure, but starts at the experience of an instance of efficient causation. The third way relies more heavily upon a distinction between contingent and necessary being. Aquinas's fourth way is a mixture of Moral Argument. It begins with the factual claim that we do make judgments about the relative perfection of ordinary things. [...]
[...] Faith for Aquinas does not go against nature, science, or human knowledge. Both religion and philosophy become accepted in their own respective centers, while reason and faith go hand in hand in the seekers advancement for the discovery of truth. Lets look at another variance between Bonaventure and Aquinas, that lays in their reading of De magistro, which is the dialogue between Augustine's and his son. The main focal point for this conversation is “Christ the Teacher“, and his teaching within. [...]
[...] Bonaventure's Philosophy) Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), is a main contemplator for the middle ages, and has set his goal to combine philosophy and science of the famous Aristotle while embedding the various truths of Christianity, as well. “That is true Aristotelianism Holding goal is not the whole truth, he Reconciled the philosophy of Aristotle with the truth of Christian revelation. Aquinas was a disciple of Aristotle COMMITTED goal was even more sincere disciple year of the Church“. -Dr. Edward W. Younkins Saint Thomas had thoughts that man comes to know of his God in said same way that he is able to know other things exist. [...]
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