Faith and Reason

An Introductory Look

“Big” Questions

• Where did I/we come from? (Past)• Where am I/are we going? (Future)• What am I/are we doing here now?

(Present)

• The answers to these questions is the truth that we long for and are seeking.

• 2 tools: faith and reason

• Heb 11:1: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”

• John 12:46: “I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

Scriptural Clues to Faith

But here, what do you command?That in simplicity I believeWhat I see and do not see,What is and what is not.

You seem human and are,Lord, what you seem to be, But though I see not God in you,I know you to be God.

Finally, the senses now Do not deceive,But infinitely more is here Than ever sight perceived.

-Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (+1695)

Santa Evidence

• https://www.youtube.com/v/OfZabn37nO8

Review

• ______ 11:1: “________ is the realization of what is _________ for and the _________ of things not ________.”

Faith• Faith is a matter of seeing• Faith is a matter of seeking meaning and

truth• Faith is a grace, that is, a gift of God and

needs the constant presence of the Holy Spirit

• Faith is also a human act which is not contrary to human freedom or reason (requires our cooperation with grace)

• Faith is necessary for salvation• Faith is certain because it is founded on the

Word of God who cannot lie• Faith is in a constant struggle with doubt

and uncertainty (and that’s ok/good!)

HW: Choose one of the following…

– Write a 10 sentence paragraph explaining what the “dilemma of being a man” means in your own words. Then describe whether or not understanding this dilemma is reassuring to you or troubling and why.

– Write a 10 sentence paragraph explaining the image of faith as a plank of wood above the abyss of the sea in your own words. Then decide and explain whether it depicts faith as weak or strong and why.

Fides Quae versus Fides Qua

• Fides Quae- the faith that we believe in (objective content, object of faith)– the Creed; “that which is believed”– Example: “the Catholic faith holds many

truths”

• Fides Qua: The faith that we believe with (theological virtue, act of faith) ; “believing”– Example: “I have a firm faith that Jesus was

true God and true man.”

Reason

• Definition: The power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking using the three acts of the mind.

• The three acts of the mind:

• Simple apprehension: defining terms

• Judgment: stating a premise using terms

• Reasoning: formulating an argument using premises to reach a conclusion.

– After applying the three acts of the mind you have a conclusion. If the terms are clearly defined, the premises true, and the argument free from fallacies then the conclusion must be true.

Review• Mr. Langenfeld’s class will have

many longueurs this semester.• Longueurs make the students lose

interest. • Therefore, many students in Mr.

Langenfeld’s class will lose interest this semester.

• Therefore, many students in Mr. Langenfeld’s class will move to Canada this semester.

Grading Sudoku

• 10: put in the effort and time to complete both puzzles correctly

• 9: put in the effort and time, completed both puzzles but had errors

• 8: put in the effort and time, but left the puzzles incomplete

• 7: put in some of the effort and time• 6: gave a poor effort/did not do the

required time but I’m being honest

Why Sudoku?• St. Thomas Aquinas:

– Even as regards those truths about God which human reason could have discovered, it was necessary that man should be taught by a divine revelation; because the truth about God such as reason could discover, would only be known by a few, and that after a long time, and with the admixture of many errors. Whereas man's whole salvation, which is in God, depends upon the knowledge of this truth. Therefore, in order that the salvation of men might be brought about more fitly and more surely…

• What is necessary for our exercise of faith and reason? Gratitude, humility, patience, perseverance

Fallacies

• https://www.youtube.com/v/zxO3HZK9MDM

• https://www.youtube.com/v/qegBFnYusPk

The Relationship between Faith and Reason

(Who asked who out first?)• There are five possible and logical

relationships between faith and reason.• All that is known by faith is known by reason

• All that is known by reason is known by faith

• All that is known by faith is also known by reason

F R

F R

F = R

The Relationship between Faith and Reason

• Nothing is known by faith is known by reason and vice versa

• Faith and reason overlap creating three possibilities of what is known– Some truths known by faith and not

reason – Some truths known by faith and reason – Some truths known by reason and not

faith

F R

F R

• Faith informs, purifies, and elevates reason.

• Reason prevents faith from becoming mere superstition.

• John Paul II: “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of the truth.”

• Pius XII: “Faith does not fear reason.”• John Paul II: “There can be no contradiction

between faith and reason.”• Fides et Ratio, 17: “There is thus no reason

for competition of any kind between reason and faith: each contains the other, and each has its own scope for action.”

• Kreeft: “Faith and reason are roads to truth.”

Faith Tested

• CCC 164-165 “Faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice, and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it. It is then we must turn to the witnesses of faith…” (Abraham and Mary)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocular_vision

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binocular_vision#Eye_dominance