Faith and reason are not easy to separate

One definition of faith given by the Mirriam-Webster dictionary is “firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” This is consistent with popular conceptions of faith that place it in conflict with reason and evidence. Richard Dawkins stated, 

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is the belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence… Faith is not allowed to justify itself by argument.”  

[The Magic of Reality, 1992]

This view is similar to Sigmund Freud’s vision that “reason will replace faith in God.” These views present a false dichotomy between faith and reason, and between faith and evidence. They also misrepresent what Christian faith is,  as I discuss below, and how science is practised.

The ideal of only believing things that we can be certain of, based on incontrovertible evidence, is appealing. It would be nice to eliminate subjectivity and the risk of believing things that may not be true. 

Faced with the challenge of deciding what to believe and how to act in any given situation, we can rationally explore different options. Nevertheless, at some point our exploration ends because we run out of time, lose interest, or get tired. Then we decide what is “reasonable.” However, often this means, possibly sub-consciously, trusting and accepting a particular authority, whether it is intuition based on our own experience or a specific tradition. This is also true even if we remain “undecided” and to “keep an open mind.” This trust is in some sense “faith” and involves personal commitment and risk. This is true whether we embrace Christianity, science, conservatism, Marxism, feminism, or atheism. We cannot escape traditions and their influence, for better or worse. 

I now consider what “faith” means in the Christian tradition.    The Greek word translated as faith in New Testament is pistis, which means trust or allegiance. A Christian is to trust Jesus to save them and to change them. They are to commit their allegiance to Jesus who was born, lived, taught, crucified, and rose from the dead. In the Gospel of John the verb pisteuō is translated as “believe” and is inextricably linked to love. Faith, hope, and love cannot be separated. Hence, Christian faith is not a leap in the dark, believing something without any evidence, or just intellectual agreement. It is not wishful thinking. Christian faith is not primarily about intellectual assent to specific theological, doctrinal, political, cultural, philosophical, or scientific positions. Christian faith requires humility. It acknowledges humans are finite and prone to error, including in thinking. 

The Bible leaves room for doubt. Authors of many Psalms wrestle with their doubt about whether God is actually present and acting in the world. Jesus did express his disappointment at the “lack of faith” of some of his disciples, but nevertheless accepted them. A father brought his sick son to Jesus, who then told him, “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Jesus responded positively to the man’s response, “I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.” 

Augustine considered that reason and faith were inseparable. He stated that “I believe so that I may understand” and “I understand so that I may believe.” Christian faith is predominantly trust and commitment, not intellectual assent. It is not against reason but is a response to uncertainty and the limitations of reason. Faith versus reason is a false dichotomy.