Faith and Reason in Religion - Assignment Example

Rashed Almalki Dr. Jeffrey Tiel Phil 317 02 20 Faith and Reason Faith is usually brushed-up aside by a number of people especially in the days of vast technological advancements. Events or circumstances are always accompanied by justifications backed-up by scientific facts and observations thus giving a concrete reasoning of the event. However, this is not always the case. For the longest time that has passed and will come, Science and Religion are two aspects which may not or will not complement each other. One thing for sure is that these two fields would negate each other one way or another. Often enough, reason needs tangible and concrete facts to be validated and as for faith, it is more on the intangible aspect (Tavani, 1). One can connect the relationship between faith and reason to a couple’s relationship. There would be sides of stories but for a relationship to work, one party should make an effort to recompense if both parties would want the relationship to succeed. This is very relatable to faith and reason, throughout the centuries; the worlds of religion and science have collided without any signs of slowing down. Yet both John Locke and St. Thomas Aquinas believe that faith is a kind of reason. Reading through the works of both Lock and St. Aquinas, both have seemed to suggest that faith can be considered as reason. Even for some from the religious sect, they are using faith in giving reasons as far as miracles or unexplainable occurrences (Tavani, 2-4; Nash, 58). Religion often uses the faith of their most loyal devotees in reasoning about the existence of things which are intangible and cannot be justified by any scientific methods. With such statement being said there is an aspect of religion that is also a part of a feature of science. One point that can be considered by the belief of both Locke and Aquinas is that it can also be reversible. Reason can also be a species of faith. It is not just a one-way relationship. Just what has been stated earlier, faith and reason can be compared to a relationship where one party can complement the other. One party may not always be correct but the other would complement its shortcomings to make the relationship work. Reason may not always have concrete values and scientific explanations yet people who have heard the reason could believe in it and therefore result in having faith in the reason whether or not it has intangible supporting facts which may or may not be resolved any further (Tavani, 3-5). Locke believes that the scriptures have no role in divine right but rather deep thoughts on the absence of existence of some aspects such as the police and government. Through this, he concluded that engaging in deep reasoning of the natural law is what gives people the rights as individuals. Other obligations according to Locke arise from creating social bond with others and this in turn leads to the development of private property (Woolhouse, 39). St. Thomas on its part believes that, in the argument from design that some things happen because of the existence of a directing force. This is what makes natural bodies to work as a team and achieve something. He also argues that most natural things do not have knowledge.in this context; there is a conflict argument because Locke believes that reasoning is the major driver of some phenomenon but St. Thomas believes that things happen because of a driving force from a supernatural power (Elders, 140). Locke’s thoughts try to mediate religion and science because he believes that miracles are the proofs on God’s existence. He considers thoughts, which are used to explore some scientific knowledge as one of these miracles because he thinks that the quest to explore knowledge through science is a divine command from God (Woolhouse, 39). In this case, he therefore agrees with St. Thomas thoughts on the proofs on the existence of God that states that some things occur because a supernatural commander directs them to happen. From this context therefore, it is acceptable that both parties believe on the existence of God but differ in practice because St. Thomas would require that after this proof people should worship but Locke on his side believes that people should use the power of God to explore knowledge. There will always be conflicts within the relationship yet it will always be resolved. Scholars from both science and religion cannot seem to combine the two aspects in a harmonious pattern. Yet come to think of it, there is no perfect relationship. There is always a conflict, whether minor or major which would make the relationship in-step with the changes in the environment. At present times, faith and reason are becoming vaguer with the emersion of different studies especially in technology. What one is not aware of is that faith and reason will always be present whether the scholars are unaware of it being there. The latter statement just made both faith and reason intangible and without any physical evidence to support it contradicting methods requiring concrete indications (Nash, 88-9; Farinaccio, 25-6). After Locke and Aquinas, there have been scholars who followed up on their idea for faith being a species of reason. With the number of scholars who continued their idea and further developed statements, none of them did wrote anything about the possibility of what Locke and Aquinas presented can be true even when it is done in reverse. One should have had the idea of the possibility yet it was never presented and gives the question why. A reason that popped into mind is that up to the time of the writing of this paper, there has not been any concrete and massive following of the original principle. This makes one think that it would take a longer time before the reverse would be accepted to be true in a society being dominated mainly by technology (Nash, 143-45; Farinaccio, 25-30). There could also be instances when faith and reason goes hand to hand. It is a possibility which is yet to be explored. Without negating the idea of Locke and Aquinas, it is safe to state that reason is also a species of faith and not just faith as a species of reason. Every once in a while, there would be scholars who would propose different ideas which may affect the statements previously presented throughout the course of making the idea widely accepted. Faith and reason are always present in a person, whether the person is unaware of the fact. It is faith that makes him believe in things. It is also the same faith that makes him make reasons to accompany this belief. Reason on the other hand makes faith acceptable for others who need further statements to accept certain ideas (Nash, 143-45; Farinaccio, 25-30). There are reasons why people have faith in things which one cannot see nor have a grasp on. In this case, religion and science is complementing each other without ruining the beliefs of either. One cannot immediately accept nor deny any idea which has been presented upfront. There would always be things which will hinder the growth and development of principles though this should not be the case. Reason justifies faith and faith does the same for reason whether people would find it acceptable or not. It will continue and evolve into an idea which can make breakthroughs in the years to come. A person may find difficulty in accommodating ideas that may present itself as a taboo for others. It is not the first instance, whether documented or not, that such events happen. Often than not, this is the reason why ideas have been neglected and rejected though it has enough supporting facts rather than hearsays. Though it may sound illogical to others but having stated the reasons in such belief in the idea gives a person faith in the statement presented at hand. In addition, faith in the statement was enough reason to pursue in researching other scholarly evidence to support the idea to be expounded and further develop. Works Cited Elders, Leo. The Philosophical Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Leiden: Brill, 1990. Print Farinaccio, Joseph R. Faith with Reason: Why Christianity is True. Pennsville, NJ: BookSpecs Publishing. 2002. Nash, Ronald H. Faith & Reason: Searching for a Rational Faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 1988. Tavani, Herman T. The Classic Debate on the Relationship Between Faith and Reason: Some Contemporary Challenges from the Perspective of Relativism and Postmodernism. InSight 4 (1). 2008. Woolhouse, R S. Locke: A Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print. Read More