Faith and Reason

 

Descartes, before becoming hoarse

I have recently been accused of cynicism.

Actually, I feel recent revelations in the wider world have taught us all we have been too trusting of what we have been told by authorities of all kinds. Do I need to enumerate examples? The greater availability of information thanks to the internet is showing a lot of our trust to be misplaced: in the media, in “the science,” in the church hierarchy, in the government, in politicians, in the medical establishment, and on and on.

More generally, there is no virtue in just accepting what we have been told is true. I suspect this comes from a perversion of Luther’s concept of “salvation by faith alone.” It is obviously wrong that we are saved by belief, because there is no moral value in that. Choosing a belief is like flipping a coin. And how can we know, without examination, that this or that belief is not from the Evil One?

I embrace Descartes’s approach, Bishop Berkeley's approach, or that of the Buddha: doubt everything it is possible to doubt. This is the moral stance. For unlike arbitrary belief, it requires effort. It is heroic.

Since God is ultimate truth, we are morally obliged to seek truth to the best of our abilities. Reason and free will are of our divine essence, that which elevates us above the animal soul. Reason is the organ that permits us to seek truth, as free will is the organ that permits us to seek the good.

Not to exercise our reason to the fullest extent possible is to turn away from God, and towards some convenient idolatry.

So what is the role of faith? 

Faith is trust, not arbitrary belief. Faith is trust in God. Faith is beyond reason, but never a replacement for it.