03 July 2019

The Catechism of the Summa - XV. OF THE MIND AND ITS ACT OF UNDERSTANDING (B)

(B) 

What is it to know truth? 

To know truth is to know things they are.

What then is it not to know things as they are? 

It is to be in Ignorance or in error.

Is there any difference between being in ignorance and being in error?

Yes, there is a great difference; to be in ignorance is merely not to know things as they are; whereas to be in error is to affirm that a thing is, when it is not, or conversely.

Is it an evil for man to be in error? 

Yes, it is a great evil, because man's proper good consists in knowledge of the truth which is the good of his intellect.

Has man a knowledge of the truth at birth? 

No, at birth man has no knowledge of the truth; for though he then has an intellect it is in an entirely undeveloped state; its unfolding, necessary for the attainment of truth, awaits the development of the powers of sense which are its handmaids (LXXXIV. 5).

When then does man begin to know truth? 

Man begins to know truth when he has attained the use of reason, that is at about the age of seven years.

Next - The Catechism of the Summa - XV. OF THE MIND AND ITS ACT OF UNDERSTANDING (C)

Pegues OP, R P Thomas. Catechism of the "Summa Theologica" of Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Use of the Faithful (pp. 69-71). Veritatis Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition.

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