Article
'Faith: The basis of Justice'
The Heythrop Journal
(2015)
Abstract
Thomas Aquinas argues on various occasions that faith is the basis, the origin, or cause of
justice.1 However, in almost every instance of the argument Thomas means something different
by faith and by justice; at times he uses faith in an ordinary sense, at times withreference to the infused theological virtue; at times he uses justice in a human or naturalsense, and at others the way a human acquires an internal justice (or justification) throughGod’s grace. These various different instances of the argument that faith is the basis of justiceare nonetheless intrinsically interconnected (and even cross-referenced) in Thomas’ discussions.It seems, therefore, that there is some kind of analogous relationship between theordinary philosophical sense in which faith is the basis of justice and the theological. In whatfollows, I will attempt to tease out from Thomas’ various arguments precisely what he meansby the claim that ‘faith is the basis of justice’ and the implications, therein, for the role offaith in the political.
Keywords
- Thomas Aquinas,
- faith,
- justice
Disciplines
Publication Date
May, 2015
DOI
10.1111/heyj.12223
Citation Information
Brook, A. (2014). Faith: the basis of justice. Heythrop Journal, 56(3), 361-372. DOI: 10.1111/heyj.12223