The Reason of Faith

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth - Pope Leo XIII, 1879.

I touched upon the topic of faith in last week's  article. Let try to elaborate further on that. What is faith? Is reason superior to faith?

Faith is usually used in the context of religion. All religious followers adhere to certain doctrinal beliefs which give them faith about the purpose of their existence. There's an unshakable confidence among the believers that they are guided by some divine power.

The faithful are driven by some inner drive and strength because they have a strong sense of certainty that certain outcomes will materialize. Whenever doubt creeps in, they just remind themselves of their core beliefs to forge a new resolve. Faith is constantly renewed through regular communal rituals and activities. 

Faith is powerful. It can imbue believers with a deep sense of purpose and mission, including sacrificing their lives for some kind of recognition or reward in afterlife. Faith, once cultivated is like a magnetic field that aligns all the particles in one's body an soul towards a particular direction. 

Can faith be blind? Most certainly. This is where reason comes in. Faith is only one part of the equation--very much like how a car requires power from fuel and a driver to steer it towards its destination. Without the fuel of faith, a person with all the knowledge of direction would not be able to get to its goal. The power and  'faith' of the engine works in tandem with the 'reason' of its driver.

Faith is holistic. It is a feeling that arises from deep within and posesses one's entire body and soul. One can have all the faith in the world but if the faculty of reason is weak, there you will find a religious extremist.

Religion has a bad name because of blind followers who does not question 'truths' that are written in supposedly holy books. The wisdom in any scripture can only be distilled by men who have reason honed by years of thinking and reflection. 

Cultivate faith, sharpen your reason. Question faith. Doubt reason. It's the interplay of these two qualities that brings forth wisdom.