Do you believe faith and reason are opposites?

Question

G.K. Chesterton once said: "It is idle to talk always of the alternative of reason and faith. Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all." In the early church, "faith" was not a blind leap into the absurd. The Apostle Paul used the testimonies of those who witnessed Jesus after resurrection (he even vaguely encouraged his contemporaries to search them out), the fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament, and miracles of his own to persuade others to become Christians. Faith was understood as a reasonable trust or belief in something based on appropriate evidence. What do you believe about the relationship between faith and reason?

Answer 1

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." Albert Einstein.

Answer 2

No, not at all.

Even people who claim to be irreligious have faith. We have faith that when we go to sleep at night we'll wake up in the morning, the sun will come up, etc. We couldn't carry on a 'normal' life without faith, because faith is based on reason. We have reason to believe that the sun will come up tomorrow because we've seen it happen so many times before.

The problem for those who have no understanding or interest in spiritual life is that they think that 'religious' faith is somehow different than the ordinary kind. In reality its not. Or at least it doesn't have to be. Yes, there are many people who have blind faith, and not just in the religious arena. In fact, it could be argued that there is at least as much blind faith invested in the secular sphere as the religious. Is it not blind faith to believe that making money and getting rich will make us happy? Has anyone seen a truly happy rich person? This certainly seems like an instance of blind faith to me.

In any case, real faith in the Lord doesn't have to be divorced from reason or blind. The Lord is everywhere if you have the vision to see Him. Everything in existence is the energy of the Lord and we are His energy also. With the proper understanding, seeing the Lord everywhere and in everything is easy by His grace.

Answer 3

Scientists will soon explain why some people are religious (have blind faith) and believe in God, and why there’s so much trouble caused in the world by religion. Scientists have already shown that some people carry a "warrior" gene that makes them more prone to violence and criminal acts.

Some people are genetically predisposed to violence and criminal acts, and I believe scientists have also found that some people are genetically predisposed to religious or spiritual acts, but have yet to publish their full findings to avoid a public uproar.

Scientists may well discover that people who are predisposed to the “religious or spiritual” gene are probably more likely to also be predisposed to the “warrior” gene, which would ultimately cause these people to have religious conflicts like crusades and wars. It is already a well known fact that religion is responsible for the majority of wars, conflict and murder of innocent life since humanity began.

Religious people do not understand the question “why” and so God, Religion, the Bible, or whatever, takes over and controls their mind. The trouble with this solution, unlike science, is that anything can be twisted into whatever you wish to believe and therefore is always right. Sadly to say, that’s irrational thought.

However, there must be a rational explanation why religious people act in such an irrational manner, and I think scientists will prove in the near future that it’s all a function of genetic disposition.

Religious believers are truly blessed with a very special gift.

The violent troubles around our world are clearly associated with various religious factions. Scientists have published details about the “warrior” gene and the “spiritual or religious” gene which shows that certain people are genetically predisposed to violence and/or religion. Scientists have also published that religion could be the result of mental illness. This makes sound sense in our deeply troubled world.

It’s also a well known fact that intellectually handicapped people are often quoted as being the happiest people in the world. They are so blissfully unaware of the true world around them, and see and believe reality to be quite different in their mental worlds.

I think religious people are blessed with a similar “handicapped” gift which would explain why they see and believe in the imaginary world of religion, God and the Bible. I think religious people are also blissfully unaware of reality in their mentally handicapped world. This could help, explain their irrational behaviour.

Answer 4

I agree that faith is a reasonable trust or belief in something based on appropriate evidence.

Answer 5

i think faith and reason go hand-in-hand. i think it is reasonable to know that the only ideas we have about God should be from what God has revealed about Himself through the Bible and His Son and not through man's own making. And while many things that God does may not always make sense to us- God doesn't always owe us an explanation for everything. We are not ignoring bible difficulties, but we are trusting in the character of God after careful study of the Scriptures.

The Bible as you have mentioned has been scrutinized and found to be the most well supported document historically. We've to be able to reason that God is so much greater than us that some of his ways are beyond our understanding. How does the Trinity make sense? Our human minds think how can three be one? Not logical. But He is God! That makes sense that God can do something beyond the comprehension of man!

i believe the opposite of faith is fear! Faith moves us forward, fear paralyzes us. Faith trusts in God's faithfulness, fear refuses to trust in spite of evidence.

Well that's my "nick" el of thoughts,

Nickster

Answer 6

I think personally faith and reason can go together. For instance when the Scriptures say to love your enemy, after thinking about it for awhile there are many reasons why we should do this. Emotionally it's easier on us to let by gones be by gones. It's easier on us to love than to hate, physically too. Many things are like this in the faith. If we really take the time to think about things, it makes sense.

Answer 7

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is powerful!! Christ was not the only one to walk on water!!!

Answer 8

That's a great question, and you're right. All faith, unless it is blind faith, relies on reason to substantiate it. The Bible is full of reasons to believe what it preaches.

Answer 9

Faith is based on reason. You believe based on what you've learned and what you know. u have faith based on logic and reason. Non religious example:When u sit on a chair u have faith it will not break, based on the fact it has worked before so its based on reason

Answer 10

No. It is because of your personal reasoning, weather or not you would have faith.