In Article 10, St. Thomas explains, to the great relief of the theologian, that learning about the reasons behind our faith does not diminish faith’s merit—not necessarily, that is. But I want to pull out one point from his argument:
Cum enim homo habet promptam voluntatem ad credendum, diligit veritatem creditam, et super ea excogitat et amplectitur si quas rationes ad hoc invenire potest. Et quantum ad hoc ratio humana non excludit meritum fidei, sed est signum maioris meriti, sicut etiam passio consequens in virtutibus moralibus est signum promptioris voluntatis, ut supra dictum est.
Here St. Thomas asserts the experience of every real theologian, namely that when you have a particularly powerful faith, when you desire nothing more than to submit your mind to God’s truth, precisely then do you love the truth you believe and therefore desire to delve into it. This seems to mean that when faith follows the impulse that is precisely its own, then people “do theology”—seeking the reasons for what is believed, the connections between articles, and so on.
