ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 aims at solving a tension that has for the most part been overlooked by scholars of Thomas. It is a tension between Aquinas’s view that faith is not only a mere intellectual act (faith as “formed faith,” i.e., perfected by charity) and his idea that faith can sometimes be taken as a mere intellectual act (faith as “unformed faith,” deprived of charity). It is argued that unformed faith corresponds to what Aquinas calls “faith commonly so called,” which is not held firmly nor is it caused by charity.
This argument is then reinforced by focusing on the unformed faith of demons. They too seem to have “faith commonly so called.” This explains Aquinas’s view that they believe the revealed truths, and do not see them.
Finally, it is argued that there are not only two levels of faith, that is, formed and unformed. Rather, since charity can increase and can make faith increase, there are varying degrees of intensity at which one can experience formed faith.
