Is Faith Incompatible With Reason?

[Quiddity]

Ain't it fascinating how great minds work in the same way:

Regarding the "two wings" of the soul: These signify wings of ascent. One is the wing of knowledge, the other of faith, as this is the means of the ascent of the human soul to the lofty station of divine perfections.
(Compilations, Baha'i World Faith, p. 382)

Regards,
Scott

Wow, that is fascinating! Who wrote that? UHJ?

 

[fantome profane]

I believe it was Einstein who said, "Religion without science is lame, and Science without religion is boring."

Close, but no:no: . What Einstein actually said was this:

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind

 

[Popeyesays]

Wow, that is fascinating! Who wrote that? UHJ?

Abdu'l Baha, sometime between 1900 and 1908, I'm not sure of the date.

Regards,
Scott

 

[Ozzie]

Is Faith incompatible with reason? Are the two things at odds? Does one have to give up the one to have the other?

Are there some circumstances in which faith is compatible with reason and other circumstances in which faith is incompatible with reason? If so, what are the circumstances in which faith and reason are compatible? What are the circumstances in which they are incompatible?

IMO faith is in no way incompatible with reason. Faith may shift as a function of perspective, so does reason. It is a separate "act of faith" to consider faith mutually exclusive with reason, and so deny faith any place in one's mental universe. Isn't this to render oneself a prisoner of the intellect? It seems to deny one's own perspective is but one of many available.

 

[Ozzie]

Close, but no:no: . What Einstein actually said was this:

I like Einstein's perspective.

 

[Tigress]

Soren Kierkegaard suggested that "faith" properly internalized is neither rational or irrational...

That's pretty much my stance.

 

[autonomous1one1]

Greetings. Concepts of faith and reason are defined many ways and I am sure by some definitions they would be determined to be incompatible. Faith is sometimes confused with belief in something for which there is no evidence, or in something intrinsically unbelievable (Tillich). However, that is not my view and in my thought, faith and reason are highly compatible and complementary. Guess I am in full agreement with the Pope (thank you Victor) and others.

 

[Tiberius]

I do not think they are compatible. They share no common ground. There is no part of reason that can be described with faith, and no part of faith that can be described with reason.

 

[lunamoth]

Faith and reason are quite compatible and both work to gether in a dance as we approach the various choices and challenges that meet us in this life. They indeed share a common ground and that is summed up as 'trust.' I can choose to trust something or someone based upon faith or reason, but usually it's an interplay of both.

 

[Hacker]

Faith and reason are quite compatible and both work to gether in a dance as we approach the various choices and challenges that meet us in this life. They indeed share a common ground and that is summed up as 'trust.' I can choose to trust something or someone based upon faith or reason, but usually it's an interplay of both.

I agree, I think reason is necessary in order to have faith in something.

 

[Fluffy]

If you are using faith as a synonym for either belief or trust then no, it is not incompatible with reason. However, it seems very strange to use it in this way. For example, a scientist clearly does not have knowledge but merely reasoned belief but to describe his understanding as faith would be very weird indeed.

I generally use faith to describe a belief that is more important than the justification upon which it rests. That includes those beliefs that have no justification. If a person has a vested emotional interest in a particular belief then he will continue to hold it regardless or in the abscence of reasoned argument. For me, faith is by definition incompatible with reason since I find this to be a useful way to define it.

Whether religious belief can accurately be defined as faith in this sense is what is commonly debated. I happen to believe that it can be.