The Role of Reason in Faith in St. Thomas Aquinas and Kierkegaard

What is it about?

Many people consider Thomas Aquinas and Soren Kierkegaard as polar opposites; that Thomas advocates reason and understanding as necessary to understand God whereas Kierkegaard is often understood as 'anti-rational' that we can only come to a knowledge of God through experience. However, when the uses of the terms ‘reason’ and ‘understanding’ are carefully considered, it is clear that Thomas and Kierkegaard are quite similar that reason and understanding are important to our understanding of God. ]

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Why is it important?

In our current world we often emphasize rational thought as more important than experience (or vice versa) in the understanding of God. This has sometimes resulted in the neglect of the consideration of the thought of Kierkegaard, a loss of a vibrant perspective of theology.