Course 4 of 18
Faith & Reason
How faith and reason shaped the next great questions.
What this course covers
Faith & Reason works through how faith and reason shaped the next great questions. across 3 lessons. Each opens with a short teaching passage, then tests whether the idea actually landed — and explains every answer rather than just marking it.
The lessons are sequenced, not a menu. Faith Seeking Understanding comes first because augustine, Boethius, and Anselm is what the rest of the course assumes; by the end you reach Aquinas and the Great Synthesis.
How it starts
For early medieval thinkers, faith and reason were partners, not rivals. Augustine argued that belief comes first and opens the door to understanding, while Boethius, awaiting execution, found comfort in reason itself. Anselm later crystallized this spirit as 'faith seeking understanding'-using logic to explore what faith already accepts.
“I believe so that I may understand.”
Who you will be reading
Thomas Aquinas is the thinker this course leans on. Each has a profile with their full set of passages in thinkr's library.