  Aquinas does reject certain conceptions of divine illumination. He denies that human beings in this life have the divine ideas as an object of cognition. And he denies that divine illumination is sufficient on its own, without the senses. Neither of these claims was controversial. What Aquinas further denies, and what was controversial, was the claim that there is a special ongoing divine influence, constantly required for the intellect’s operation. Aquinas instead argues that human beings possess a sufficient capacity for thought on their own, without the need for any “new illumination added onto their natural illumination” (Summa theol. 1a2ae 109.1c). From one perspective this makes for an important difference between Aquinas and his Franciscan contemporaries. But from another perspective the difference seems slight, because Aquinas is by no means removing God from the picture. Here is how he expresses his endorsement of illumination theory: