What Could Silence St. Thomas?
Comments: If you want to find a succinct compendium of Thomistic Epistemology then this is a must read. While some of other reviews do a great job describing the details of the book, I will focus on what I believe to be Pieper’s true intent. The book should be read once to grow in knowledge and another time as spiritual reading. Pieper begins with an overview of Thomistic realism and shows the link between anthropology and cosmology and faith and reason. For St. Thomas, human beings are maked to love and know the creator. Creation is capable of being known through reason, and leads1to knowledge of the Creator. however, here lies the paradox as it pertains to silence. Pieper shows that while Thomas believes that the human mind can grasp the existence of many things, and since they have an existence they must also possess an essence, the essence of things in themselves cannot be known. Creation is a gift from God, yet, in itself remains a mystery. Why? Because even though the human mind
