“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

Variant: For those with faith, no evidence is necessary; for those without it, no evidence will suffice.

Last update Nov. 2, 2021. History

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Thomas Aquinas 104
Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catho… 1225–1274

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“For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”

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“To him who has had the experience no explanation is necessary, to him who has not, none is possible.”

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“For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation will suffice.”

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“It is a distortion to regard reason and faith as alternatives. Reason is a necessary coefficient of faith. Faith without explication by reason is mute, reason without faith is deaf.”

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“Explanations are clear but since no one to whom a thing is explained can connect the explanations with what is really clear, therefore clear explanations are not clear.”

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Context: Explanations are clear but since no one to whom a thing is explained can connect the explanations with what is really clear, therefore clear explanations are not clear. Now this is a simple thing that anybody who has ever argued or quarreled knows perfectly well is a simple thing, only when they read it they do not understand it because they do not see that understanding and believing are not the same thing.

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“If one has faith one has everything.”

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