Faith and Reason in the Pursuit of Truth
The term truth extends to towards the realms of honesty, sincerity and acceptance of reality. Faith and reason are two facets that are vital in the pursuit of truth. The clash between religious and scientific truth since time immemorial, thus leading to the emergence of two truth doctrines. Faith in the Pursuit of Truth Biblical definitions of knowledge govern faith in the pursuit of truth. According to the Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, the grace of God and everything enriched through him is the source of all knowledge.
That faith in God, the creator shall render unity to mankind, due to uniformity of mind and judgment. This statement entails that anything that comes from God’s grace shall become the utter model of truth, and everything that beseech this knowledge shall not become divided. And that the only wisdom that shall rule in the world, is the heavenly wisdom bestowed upon only by the divine being. In the above statement, it only means that anything that comes from God’s wisdom entails the only natural truth. It is a truth that man should ought to pursue and obtain.
Hence, this claim of truth is anchored solely from belief of God. On the other hand, this same teaching of God has caused several questions on the pursuit of truth. The writing “Seek and you shall find” instigated a number of doubts and debates on how truth shall be sought and perceived. This statement meant that one must be able to seek for what he ought to believe after finding. Boundaries are set for humans to be willing to believe in anything that he has found, and anything that the great Lord has taught him (Tertullian, Chapter 10).
Thus, the process of seeking and believing, as an endless process comes to a halt. Hence, faith and belief of a person are important factors when it comes to what he ought to seek and to believe. Thus, the rule of faith indicates that inquiry of the truth shall not impair the values of faith. For it is one’s faith that shall determine which he would call his “own” comes the point that his seeking drives him to multiple facts and choices. It is his faith that shall aid a person to come up with what he perceives as truth. Reason in the Pursuit of Truth
According to Descartes, possessed highest truths are achieved through or from the use of senses. And that although our senses may mislead us at times, still most of the information that we gather through use of senses and reason are reliable and accurate. We develop our grasp of true and real through the objects that are to be found in our consciousness. These things are incorporated in our consciousness through the acceptance that the things that occur around us, and the things that are visible are real, physical and tangible.
Moreover, at the pursuit of truth, one can become his own deceiver by supposing that the facts and opinions laid upon him are all imaginary and false, the way he reasons out concludes the outcome of his perception of truth. This statement presupposes that someone’s prejudices are always relevant and influential in the pursuit of truth. Judgment, its perversion or in its honest form coincides with how one shall arrive to his vision of truth. Furthermore, Descartes also added certainty breeds belief that nothing is really certain.
That opinions and perceptions can always be altered based on how one must judge according to his senses, and how they become fictitious in one’s mind. This renders the rationality that one achieves truth based on his own circumspection and his own distinct perception of what he affirms. And with regards to God’s existence, Descartes acknowledges his possessed power to produce objects, but nonetheless, humans still have the ability to reason out for the affirmation of whether he may want to believe what he can conceive (Descartes I-VI).
On the other hand, David Hume argues that human reason in its form has accustomed man to his skeptical considerations (Hume 133). Skepticisms pushed man to go beyond principles and discover further than what is only laid before them. This kind of skepticism has made man renounce belief and opinion due to their intense reflection for reality and truth. Further Hume added, this kind of attitude has made humans more constrained to have his own philosophy. Man has made so many innovations towards their search for truth.
Man has continually made advances in principles for conduct and reasoning. They philosophize reasons regarding common life to create stability for greater truth (Hume 134). Thus skepticism has helped a lot in the human pursuit of truth. This skepticism of human reason has helped furnish arguments, retain convictions and refine these arguments based on their experiences and senses. Faith VS Reason Given the arguments, is it faith or reason that shall be considered superior against the other? Both sides do have their own legitimacy when it comes to search for the truth.
Truth relied on faith, is based on either religious grounds, or personal inquiry guided by divine knowledge. Hence, truth in this context is that which is summoned for by God or the highest being. And truth in this sense is not debatable; for each and every human being carries his own set of beliefs that is unquestionable and unyielding. On the other hand, truth that is based on reason is also unquestionable since it offers empirical and material basis from where it is derived. Truth conveyed from human’s logical reasoning comes from series of tests and modifications that makes it accurate, clear and stable.
Humans who have employed reason as a means for their pursuit of truth are those who have persevered to furnish their ideas and theories to make sound and fair judgment that shall be rendered rational by thinkers and philosophers. Therefore, there is no outmost judgment that one can make on whether faith is more superior than reason in the pursuit of truth, or vice versa. Both entail different processes and both are anchored on different tenets that people shall use in their search for truth. And another thing is that, the two doctrines differ on how they perceive truth.
One perceives truth based on religious aspect, and the other sees truth on its empirical and physical basis. Thus, it is not possible to attest the superiority of one over the other although it is possible to measure the accuracy of truth discovered based on material facts and end results that each of the doctrine has developed.
References Descartes, Rene. Meditations I-VI. Hume, David. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. Tertullian. Prescription Against Heretics. Retrieved November 6, 2007 from http://www. tertullian. org/articles/bindley_test/bindley_test_07prae. htm The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians: Chapters I-IV.
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