My priest class buddy (I call him "Padre," Spanish for 'Father') brought up an awesome point in class today.
We were talking about how one of the themes of the novel we're reading is the contrast between faith and reason. Padre brought up the point that people usually associate reason as being man-made and faith as something God-given, when it's really the complete opposite. Reason is actually God's gift to man--it's our God-given reason that separates humanity from animals and other living things; while faith is actually derived from man. In a way, faith is man's gift to God; having faith is a way to humbly accept the circumstances that reason can't explain.
I know there is a scripture that says that God has given every man a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). He gives us the ability to be confident in what we can't prove, but we're the ones who have to put it into action.
Faith fills in the gaps reason can't account for.
4 comments:
Or as Anselm of Canterbury said, "fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeking understanding)."
The commitment to believe is what opens the doors for understanding.
i'm going to disagree with your catholic friend (live i've never done that) - faith provides a premise from which we can begin our rational approach.
the premise, in order for it to work, is that "God is". without that premise, no amount of reason can justify anything we do in the name of faith. anyone who isn't willing to accept the premise of "God is" will never accept our positions towards social order and morality.
ooh, this is going to be a fun conversation with my seminary friends over coffee. THANKS CHANTELL!!
Brian, thanks for making my comment section look all seminarian-intellectual with the Latin quotation. ;-)
b, I think that's a good point--without accepting the premise that "God is"(an act of faith) a lot of our reasoning kind of breaks down, especially with regard to arguments concerning social order and morality, as you've mentioned. But I don't think your point is in disagreement with the statement Padre made about reason being a divine gift to man and faith being a human act with respect to God.
I just thought it was cool because we normally associate reason with man and faith with God when, if you think about it, where those two things, faith and reason, originate is the opposite.
ok ... that part i agree with.
;-)
Post a Comment