A2RS 3RSTb Ontological and relationship between faith and reason

Faith and Reason

Today we sometimes think of reason and faith as in opposition to each other. Why? Evolution vs creationism? Galileo vs the Catholic church? Scientific views regarding the creation of the universe... Augustine Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. In the past it was often thought that reason would justify faith. That all enquiry would lead one to God That reason and science was a way to understand Gods creation But some have thought that reason is the enemy of faith. That faith requires trust not proof. One View There can be no conflict between the faith and reason Reason properly employed and faith properly understood will never produce contradictory or competing claims Another View Faith and reason can (must?) be in genuine contention about propositions and/or methodologies. If this is true which should prevail? Faith and Reason Kierkegaard-faith is all! Locke-if a religious viewpoint is irrational it cannot be true Faith and Reason Kierkegaard embraced logical gaps -"leaps of faith." When a truth was apparent to an individual, according to Kierkegaard, that was the truth regardless of evidence to the contrary. Living is the art of the existentialist -previous philosophies engaged only in thought. Philosophers were studying concepts, but not the individual behind the concepts Kierkegaard did not believe in universal truths, only truth as seen by one individual. Truth is subjective. The highest form of subjectivity was passion. Faith and Reason Locke We all can have knowledge of Gods existence by attending to the quality of the evidence available to us, primarily the evidence from miracles. Our moral obligations, says Locke, are divine commands. We can learn about those obligations both by Gods revealing them to us and by our natural capacities to discover natural laws. Yet another view Faith and reason each govern their own separate domains Cases of apparent conflict are resolved on the side of faith when the claim in question is a religious or theological claim, but resolved on the side of reason when the disputed claim is empirical or logical. Some Modern Philosophy Logical positivists denied there is a domain of human existence rightly governed by faith All meaningful statements and ideas are accessible to thorough rational examination. Can religious language can hold meaningful cognitive content? What are faith and reason? Sources of authority upon which beliefs can rest. What are faith and reason? Reason -demonstrability Faith-not demonstrable by reason -a kind of attitude of trust or assent. An act of will / a commitment on the part of the believer. A belief that makes some kind of reference to a transcendent source. Based on revelation direct or indirect, usually from the testimony of another.

A2RS 3RSTb Ontological and relationship between faith and reason Religious faith and evidence Evidence-sensitive faith as closely coordinated with demonstrable truths Evidence-insensitive an act of the will of the religious believer alone. Either or both might be the basis for a faith The revelation on which faiths are based are immune from rational critique. If we could demonstrate that there was no great flood-what would that mean for faith? How might a faith interact with reason? CONFLICT. Faith and reason are making claims of similar kinds. When they say different things there is CONFLICT One or the other is TRUE INCOMPATIBILIST Reason aims at empirical truth; religion aims at divine truths. No rivalry exists between them. St Paul I Corinthians Chapter 1 18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. 20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. Tertullian 160 220 A.D.Christianity is not merely incompatible with but offensive to natural reason. credo quiaabsurdum est (I believe because it is absurd) religious faith is both against and above reason , when we believe, we desire to believe nothing further. Augustine 354 -430 Intellectual inquiry into faith was to be understood as faith seeking understanding (fides quaerens intellectum). To believe is to think with assent (credere est assensione cogitare). It is an act of the intellect determined not by the reason, but by the will. Faith involves a commitment to believe God, and to believe in God. Anselm one must love God in order to have knowledge of Him. the smoke of our wrongdoing will prohibit us from this knowledge. ontological argument-it is possible for reason to affirm that God exists from inferences made from what the understanding can conceive within its own confines. seeks not to understand in order to believe, but to believe in order to understand. reason doesnt judge faith but helps to find its meaning. Faith cannot be shaken by reason. Galileo Darwin The Big Bang To what extent can reason challenge faith? To what extent can reason inspire faith?