John Of St. Thomas On St. Thomas Aquinas’ Position On Explicit Faith In Christ

Apr 11, 2026

John of St. Thomas was a famous Thomistic theologian who died in 1644. Like many other theologians of the period, he acknowledged that St. Thomas and St. Augustine taught that explicit faith in Christ is required by a necessity of means. A necessity of means is something that’s so necessary that it cannot be supplied even when one is invincibly or inculpably ignorant of the obligation. The fact that faith in Christ is absolutely required for salvation (and that faith is given in baptism) is dogmatically established. However, since so many false traditionalists deny this truth, it’s often useful to cite theologians on this point to further demonstrate that the aforementioned individuals have departed from Catholic Tradition.

Here’s what John of St. Thomas says about St. Thomas’ position.

John of St. Thomas, Cursus Theologi In Secundam Secundae D. Thomas, Disputation 4, A. 1., ed. 1663, p. 52: “Finally, St. Thomas agrees, who clearly seems to hold this position [that explicit faith in Christ is absolutely required]. For in Sentences Book 3, distinction 25, question 2, article 2, Quaestiuncula 2, he says: ‘That after the coming of Christ, all—both the greater (the learned) and the lesser (the simple)—are bound to believe explicitly, and if someone were not to have instruction, God would reveal it to him, unless he remained without it through his own fault.’ Therefore, St. Thomas thinks that this explicit faith is necessary by a necessity of means; for otherwise, if someone were not to have an instructor, he would be excused from such a precept—which St. Thomas does not admit. Instead, he has recourse to an extraordinary manner of instruction, which in the present case ought to be supplied.

And in Secunda Secundae, question 2, article 7, speaking at the beginning of the body of the article about what is necessary to believe by a necessity of means, he concludes that faith in Christ the Lord was required to be believed in some way at all times: ‘But after the time of the law of grace, all—both the greater (the learned) and the lesser (the simple)—are bound to have explicit faith in Christ.’ Therefore he is speaking about a necessity of means; otherwise he would not be speaking consistently.”