Faith and rationality

Faith and rationality are two different ways that people approach truth and belief. Rationality is a process based on using logic, reason, and observable facts. Faith is a belief held through inspiration, revelation, or authority. These two concepts can exist in a state of conflict or in a state of compatibility. Some people define faith as a belief held independently of empirical evidence. Others view faith as a belief that possesses a degree of evidential warrant. This means that some evidence might actually support the belief.

Rationalists often study why people hold beliefs that seem irrational. There may be biological or evolutionary causes for these beliefs. For instance, certain irrational beliefs might increase a species' ability to survive and reproduce. Another explanation involves a process called operant conditioning. In 1948, B. F. Skinner conducted a study using pigeons to demonstrate this. He provided grain to the pigeons at regular time intervals. The pigeons received food regardless of their specific behavior. Eventually, each pigeon developed its own unique response to receive the grain.

Many religious traditions argue that faith and reason are not enemies. Some believers suggest that everyone holds certain beliefs through faith rather than pure reason. One specific view is that faith is based on warrant. This means that small pieces of evidence can explain much larger truths. In the Catholic tradition, Thomas Aquinas provided a deep treatment of this relationship. He described faith as a form of "intellectual assent." This suggests that faith is a way the mind agrees with a truth.

The Catholic Church has officially addressed how these two ideas interact. On 24 April 1870, the First Vatican Council adopted a document called Dei Filius. This was a dogmatic constitution regarding the Roman Catholic faith. The document stated that faith and reason can never be opposed to one another. Instead, the Council taught that they provide mutual aid to each other. Later leaders continued this discussion through formal writings. Pope John Paul II issued an encyclical letter called Fides et Ratio on 14 September 1998.

Modern religious leaders have continued to explore these connections in recent years. Pope Benedict XVI delivered a lecture on 12 September 2006. His lecture was titled "faith, reason and the university." He focused on how these ideas relate to academic study. In the Lutheran tradition, Alvin Plantinga offers a different perspective. He suggests that faith may result from evidence regarding truth claims. However, he also believes faith involves the internal persuasion of the Holy Spirit. To Plantinga, the Holy Spirit enables a person to believe the gospel.

Scholars also look at the linguistic roots of religious terms to understand faith. In the New Testament, the Greek word pistis is used over 240 times. The American biblical scholar Archibald Thomas Robertson noted its various uses. In Acts 17:31, the word is rendered as "assurance." Robertson also noted that the verb can mean "to furnish," which Demosthenes used for bringing forward evidence. Similarly, Tom Price suggests that the root of pistis means "to be persuaded." This supports the idea that faith is a response to being convinced by something.

Because of these linguistic links, many argue that faith is not "blind trust." The theologian W. H. Griffith-Thomas argued that faith is intelligent rather than blind. He stated that faith begins with a conviction of the mind based on adequate evidence. Alister McGrath views this as a reliable definition of the Christian understanding of faith. Other traditions also seek to balance these two concepts. In the 14th century, the Jewish philosopher Levi ben Gerson wrote about this reconciliation. He argued that religious Law does not prevent people from following what reason urges them to believe.