LINK TO THE THEME SONG FOR THE UNITY CONGRESS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQU2rty-WE0
UNITY CONGRESS V –
APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF NORTHERN ARABIA (KUWAIT)
YEAR OF FAITH 11
OCTOBER 2012 – 24 NOVEMBER 2013
DOOR OF FAITH –
PORTA FIDEI Pope Benedict XVI
24th September 2012
Faith, Reason and Certitude: The Modern Question
Rev. Fr. Mathew Vekathanam
Blessed Pope John Paul II released an encyclical letter on faith and reason, entitled Fides et Ratio.*
The encyclical is called
"Faith and reason" - not "Faith or reason" - because the
two work together. There is a profound unity and harmony that the late Holy
Father says are, "like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the
contemplation of truth." There is a false dichotomy that is commonly posed
between faith and reason which leads to an undermining of both when in truth
there is no opposition between the two.
THE
ARGUMENT AGAINST FAITH
Science requires that
facts be verified and this is done through sense perception as well as
experiments that seek to prove that we stand on solid ground. However, in matters of faith, there can be no
certainty instead we are asked to submit ourselves to the authority of the
Church through the submission of our minds. It is through verifiable
knowledge alone that we can be led to the freedom of enlightenment. Religion
and monarchy call for submission and in doing so there is an element of
slavery present. The tyranny and bigotry of religion and monarchy
perpetuate the enslavement of the mind. Voltaire said that man will never
be free until the last king is strangled by the entrails of the last priest –
both must perish.
The reign
of reason and the eclipse of religion and God. The consequence of this ideology was seen in the French
Revolution which resulted in the brutal tyranny of the mob.
Bertrand Russell:
Christians hold that their faith does good but other faiths do harm what I
maintain is that all faiths do harm.
Faith is a firm belief
in something for which there is no evidence whereas when there is evidence no
one speaks of faith. We speak of faith when we substitute emotion for
faith.
The prevalent attitude of
religious critics is the tendency to give a very distorted portrayal of faith
since it is their idea of faith which cannot be subjected to the
scientific method.
Faith they say is the
infantile emotion on the level of emotional fanaticism and is ultimately
disassociated from reason.
Faith is holding firmly on
to something for which there is no evidence it, therefore, degenerates into
obscurantism. It is a case of the blind leading the blind.
REFUTING
THE ARGUMENT AGAINST FAITH
John 1:1
In the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
The general Greek
translation of the Word is Logos but it is also translated as reason.
Now let us look again at
the above verse replacing the word, ‘WORD’ with the word REASON’
“In the beginning was the
Reason and the Reason was with God and the Reason was God.
We humans participate in
the Great REASON WITH OUR little, small and finite reason. Anything
against reason is against God. A religion without reason, a faith without
reason is not worthy of belief.
EVIDENCE
FOR FAITH
Empirical evidence is based on experience, experiment, observation, and practical application
and has formed the basis of man’s knowledge for centuries. Science,
scientific evidence and proof came much later it is therefore not the
most prevalent source of certitude. God created man with reason –
He created a rational human being and this is what served him centuries before
scientific enlightenment.
There are other types of
evidence for faith.
Wisdom of the ancients,
traditions, hereditary, inherited wisdom proved by time and therefore is
reasonable to believe. We cannot limit ourselves to scientific evidence.
Testimonial
Evidence – reliability of the
witness. Cannot err and has no intention of misleading. Trusting
another is not slavery. Man depends to a great extent on others as
a source of knowledge.
In interpersonal
relationships belief is possible when we entrust ourselves to each other. This belief based on trust that what the
other has declared or revealed is true.
Intuitive
Evidence:
In the field of esthetics
– beauty, poetry, love.
The beauty of a rose
cannot be proved scientifically in a laboratory. A piece of art requires
the intuitive ability to recognize it as worthy of appreciation. So also
symphonies, music – we know intuitively what is harmonious and melodious and
what is not.
Love is not dependant on
reason. The heart has reasons that the mind does not
comprehend. There are many ways by which we can come to the knowledge of
truth.
Reasonable /
Rational:
There is a difference
between the two. It is the privilege of human beings to be both
reasonable and rational but rationality alone is unreasonable as it
considers human reason as superior. There are realities above science and
human reason.
FAITH:
Normally speaks of God and
supernatural realities. Faith is natural and makes life possible.
It is the most important element of our experience. It is the driving
force of our daily life without which we cannot live. Faith drives the conviction
that all things are possible. Natural faith drives conviction.
Desire without conviction is day dreaming. Faith enables us to put our
talents into operation. Faith leads to success. It is the power and drive
of conviction which urges us on to achieve our goal. Without it human
progress is impossible. Faith comes first operation follows.
Science and technology can do nothing by themselves, they are blind, it is what
man’s faith directs them to do that makes it possible to produce its effects.
SUPERNATURAL
FAITH in the context of natural
faith. There are areas of desire that are beyond human limits. Life
can be made better but not perfect. There is within man an infinite
horizon. He is never satisfied and is constantly wanting more. His
cravings go beyond anything that the world can offer or satisfy.
The craving for God is in
every human person. God is not within a man’s natural disposition only
God can make Himself availab"MsoNoSpacing" style="font-fafor us ignites our
quest for him. We are created for God. The self giving of God is at
His disposal, His revelation of Himself. His self-giving is at His
initiation. Faith is trust in God. The promise of God is the giving
of Himself which is engraved in our hearts by our quest for Him. The
revelation of God’s love becomes visible in the incarnation of His Son.
Trust in the promise of
God which is engraved in our hearts is supernatural faith. Nothing fully
satisfies, GOD ALONE SUFFICES. We enter into a personal relationship with
God who makes this relationship with Himself possible. We cannot escape
this experience.
REASON AND
FAITH (Fides Ratio)
Faith and reason cannot be
separated they are as two sides of a
coin. When reason is devoid of faith it
becomes unreasonable. When faith is
stripped of reason and denies man’s natural intellectual ability it becomes
groundless and leads only to personal preference thus the very possibility of
believing anything or anyone is destroyed.
Reason and faith go together as reason prepares the way to faith and
lays the foundation for it which makes revelation believable/credible thus
reason becomes the common ground between believers and unbelievers.
Faith without reason
withers into myth or superstition. Without
reason, faith is left with only feelings and experience and thus loses its
universality.
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