Eliz Cuevas
December 10, 2013
Introduction to Philosophy of Religion
Professor Brad Art
Faith
Based on the definition of faith, it can be interpreted that faith suggests proof of a higher or supernatural being in the works. So by faith how can we know that there is truly an omnipotent, morally perfect god? Faith is defined in two ways a secular meaning and a religious meaning. The secular meaning is a strong trust or belief in someone or something, this could be said that human reasoning must be involved. The second meaning of faith, which falls under a religious meaning, is belief in a god through spiritual understanding. Well doesn’t the definition give you some insight? Both depend on one another to truly come to a conclusion, if a higher power exists or not? Merely a use of human reasoning and not the latter would lead us to an infinite search of the truth. Now, I want the reader to notice the two very distinct meanings, one involves human reasoning, the other involves spiritual understanding. An example of the secular meaning is in William Paley’s “The Argument of Design” he mentions the watch and how we come to a conclusion that the watch must a have a maker. We as humans base our conclusions on “examinations and some previous knowledge of the subject” (Paley 5). We could say, this applies to science and philosophy as a whole, they rely upon human reasoning. Now, the watch mentioned by Paley, he explains how something built with complexity could not just come to existence without having had a maker. This falls under the secular meaning of faith, in which based off our observations, past knowledge of craftsmanship, and human reasoning an object such as a watch could be created into existence. Even though we could not explain the other parts of the watch, it does not discredit our ruling of the conclusion or derides the confidence “in its truth” (Paley 7). We know enough for our argument to remain valid. Paley elaborates on this by explaining our knowledge of the laws “It is a perversion of language to assign any law, as the efficient, operative cause of anything. A law presupposes (implies) an agent; for it is only the mode, according to which an agent proceeds: it implies a power; for it is the order according to which that power acts. Without this agent, without this power, which are both distinct from itself, the law does nothing; is nothing.” (Paley 7). So what does Paley mean by the laws? In terms of the watch, he speaks of “the laws metallic nature”, which we know that there is no such thing. But why couldn’t this be justifiable as to how the watch came to existence, especially since it similar to the laws of vegetable nature, animal nature, or nature in general? These are all laws established in the absences of an agency - a person or thing that takes an active role or produces a specified effect (agent). All of these laws, conclusions and basis of belief are nothing more than the result of human reasoning through the faith of our knowledge. Now what happens when an event of supernatural forces occur, something beyond human reasoning or comprehension? How do we know for sure that a higher being is in the works? The truth is we cannot proof it through the simple ability of human reasoning; we must approach it through spiritual reasoning. This brings me to the second definition of faith, which involves spiritual understanding. In order to further elaborate, in chapter 5 “that the truths the human reason is not able to investigate are fittingly proposed to men for belief” by Thomas Aquinas, explains “there exists a twofold truth concerning the divine being, one to which the inquiry of the reason can reach, the other which surpasses the whole ability of the human reason, it is fitting that both of these truths be proposed to man divinely for belief” (Aquinas 14). In other words, the higher being is the divine and human reasoning can only get us so far to understanding or finding the truth until we have to approach it in a different manner. The manner is none other than spiritual reasoning, which leads us to the understanding of a higher being. Almost all philosophy targets the knowledge of a higher being, and according to Aquinas is the reason “metaphysics, which deals with divine things, is the last part of philosophy to be learned” (Aquinas 14).
Aquinas further explains on three consequences of why we cannot only leave human reasoning to investigate the truth behind the existence of a higher being. First, few men would possess the knowledge of God, some by physical disadvantages through learning, other through necessities “which prevents them to reach the highest level of human knowledge which consists in knowing god” (Aquinas). Second, “those who…come to discover the truth would barely reach it after a great deal of time.” The human mind was meant to understand by natural investigation only after it’s trained to do so. If human reasoning was the only way to acquire the knowledge of god, the human race as a whole would still be lost in the darkest shadows of ignorance. In which Aquinas addresses through scripture, “for which the human reason offers no experimental evidence,” (2 peter I: 16). Third, the weakness of our intelligence in judgment, and some to the mixture of images would keep us ignorant of the power of demonstration, in which we doubt things that have been demonstrated.
Furthermore, the truths that maybe demonstrated, sometimes in the mix is something false, which is not shown but instead spoken in confidence from the conclusion of a sophisticated argument, which is still yet to be demonstrated. Would you not say this sounds very similar to the bases of philosophical teachings?
This is why the divine instructed to hold by faith even those truths that the human reason is able to investigate, which allows all men to have a share in the knowledge of a higher being. In which Aquinas addresses through scripture, “for many things are shown to thee above the understanding of men” (Eccles. 3:25). “So the things that are of god no man knoweth but the Spirit of God. But to us God hath revealed them by His Spirit” (I Cor. 2: II, 10).
Based on the definition of faith, it can be interpreted that faith suggests proof of a higher or supernatural being in the works. So by faith how can we know that there is truly an omnipotent, morally perfect god? Both depend on one another to truly come to a conclusion, if a higher power exists or not. Merely a use of human reasoning and not the latter would lead us to an infinite search of the truth. Which is why faith must come in to works, Tertullian explains “After Jesus Christ we have no need for speculation, after the gospel no need of research. When we come to believe, we have no desire to believe anything else; for we begin by believing that there is nothing else which we have to believe….if we are bound to go on seeking as long as there is any possibility of finding, simply because so much has been taught by others as well, we shall be always seeking and never believing” (Tertullian 12, 13).