The Ongoing Debate Over Faith And Reason
Faith and rationality are two F ideologies existing in opposition to each other. Plato argued that know- edge is simply memory of the eternal. Aristotle set down rules by which know- edge could be discovered by reason. These crises have presented a challenge o religious thinkers to explain how an admittedly non-rational individual can ore sent meaningful cognitive content. Faith refers to a belief that lacks Eason and evidence. It rests on inspiration, revelation and may be held without any evidence or reason. Believer’s elieve, salvation is possible through anth alone. The belief that the universe sa sensible place and that our minds allow us to arrive at correct conclusions about it, is a belief we hold through faith. Nationalists contend that this is arrived it because they have observed the world ing consistent and sensible, not because they have faith that it is. The question is, if you are a rational thinker, can you be religious? If you are a believer, can you be intellectually honest? Do religious beliefs have any evidence? Is there evidence for religious beliefs and does it matter? When serious thinking seems to leave us with more questions than answers about religion.We would do well to keep several things in mind. Because it always goes beyond the available evidence, religion always poses a degree of uncertainty or risk. But every significant venture of religion holds an element of mystery to unfold in every important relationship, not just our relationship with God. So it should not surprise us to discover a measure of doubt in even the strongest religious experience it doesn't mean our religious life is coming to an end. Faith is a reasonable choice, the act of commitment itself shows us that all human knowledge and reason is seen as dependent on faith, faith in our senses, faith in our reason, faith inour memories, and faith in the accounts of events we receive from others. The evidence for faith is never overwhelming. Faith must continually subjugate doubt as God has created the possibility of doubt. Those who wish to doubt will have opportunity; while those who really desire to know the truth will find plenty of evidence on which to rest their faith. Forthis reason, faith always has a certain quality; it holds on to its beliefs despite factors that make belief difficult. Faith always believes more than reason can fully establish. Similarly, reason can remove obstacles to personal trust in God, and when faith is already present, reason can help it to grow. Reason properly employed and faith properly understood will never produce contradictory or competing claims Satisfying answers to religious questions often come from action rathan reflection. The ultimate test offaith is not intellectual but practicaMore important than whether or nocan explain our beliefs is whether o not we can associate with believers, worship and pray with them-in shoto act as if they already had faith. "Believe that life is worth living, ancyour belief will help create the fact.Few people find faith through a deliberate process of investigation.Thefamous proofs that God exists, foexample, are notoriously ineffectiveproducing religious conversions. Rather, people find faith through nonrational means-the subtle influencother people, the emotions that accompany certain experiences or even vaimpressions they are not fully award.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Vijay Hashia and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Vijay Hashia and Speaking Tree,Times of India
The Ongoing Debate Over Faith And Reason
Faith and rationality are two F ideologies existing in opposition to each other. Plato argued that know- edge is simply memory of the eternal. Aristotle set down rules by which know- edge could be discovered by reason. These crises have presented a challenge o religious thinkers to explain how an admittedly non-rational individual can ore sent meaningful cognitive content. Faith refers to a belief that lacks Eason and evidence. It rests on inspiration, revelation and may be held without any evidence or reason. Believer’s elieve, salvation is possible through anth alone. The belief that the universe sa sensible place and that our minds allow us to arrive at correct conclusions about it, is a belief we hold through faith. Nationalists contend that this is arrived it because they have observed the world ing consistent and sensible, not because they have faith that it is. The question is, if you are a rational thinker, can you be religious? If you are a believer, can you be intellectually honest? Do religious beliefs have any evidence? Is there evidence for religious beliefs and does it matter? When serious thinking seems to leave us with more questions than answers about religion.We would do well to keep several things in mind. Because it always goes beyond the available evidence, religion always poses a degree of uncertainty or risk. But every significant venture of religion holds an element of mystery to unfold in every important relationship, not just our relationship with God. So it should not surprise us to discover a measure of doubt in even the strongest religious experience it doesn't mean our religious life is coming to an end. Faith is a reasonable choice, the act of commitment itself shows us that all human knowledge and reason is seen as dependent on faith, faith in our senses, faith in our reason, faith inour memories, and faith in the accounts of events we receive from others. The evidence for faith is never overwhelming. Faith must continually subjugate doubt as God has created the possibility of doubt. Those who wish to doubt will have opportunity; while those who really desire to know the truth will find plenty of evidence on which to rest their faith. Forthis reason, faith always has a certain quality; it holds on to its beliefs despite factors that make belief difficult. Faith always believes more than reason can fully establish. Similarly, reason can remove obstacles to personal trust in God, and when faith is already present, reason can help it to grow. Reason properly employed and faith properly understood will never produce contradictory or competing claims Satisfying answers to religious questions often come from action rathan reflection. The ultimate test offaith is not intellectual but practicaMore important than whether or nocan explain our beliefs is whether o not we can associate with believers, worship and pray with them-in shoto act as if they already had faith. "Believe that life is worth living, ancyour belief will help create the fact.Few people find faith through a deliberate process of investigation.Thefamous proofs that God exists, foexample, are notoriously ineffectiveproducing religious conversions. Rather, people find faith through nonrational means-the subtle influencother people, the emotions that accompany certain experiences or even vaimpressions they are not fully award.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Vijay Hashia and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Vijay Hashia and Speaking Tree,Times of India