Truth is the correspondence of Reason and Reality. God is Absolute Truth, and with our reason and what God has revealed to us -Divine Revelation- we can reach truths about God and His creation.
There are two Kinds of Truth:
Truths of Reason These truths are learned by our reason and observations. They lead us to know that there is a First Cause, a source of all that exist.
Truths of Faith These truths are the truths we learn from God because we are not capable of learning them through our own reason and observation. They lead us to know who the First Cause is. They deal with realities we could never learn of by our human reason. They are based on God's reason.
The authority of God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, is why we believe. With God's aid, we believe. This believing is faith. Further, we naturally search for more understanding of what we believe in; the more we understand, the more clearly and firmly we believe.
This is a sketch of the relation between reason and faith.
My only hesitation with the diagram and the way you understand it is when another human asks an individual to suspend reason and to accept something "on faith." To accept the will of G-d, as manifested within your own life or those of others you can observe, on faith is one thing. To accept the word of man (no matter how well educated) on faith by suspending your own reason is another.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, both those meanings fall under the definition and applications of "faith" even though they are two very differet things.
(BTW, I enjoy the diagrams you've included recently)
The reason we accept things on faith is not because of someone's intelligence. If that were the reason, we would be able, with similar education, to come to the same or close to the same conclusion. Accepting what someone says because of their intelligence and education is what we do when we learn.
ReplyDeleteWhen we accept on faith, we do not suspend our reason. 'Suspending our reason' implies that our reason needs to be set aside and ignored, at least temporarily. Rather, we transcend our reason. We go beyond our reason's limits. And we accept what someone says because of their God-given authority.
I'm glad you like my diagrams!
And yes, I will look at your 3rd lesson soon, I promise.