From: Jim Armstrong (jarmstro@qwest.net)
Date: Fri May 23 2003 - 13:11:57 EDT
Well, FWIW, reason and faith appear at least complementary, manifesting
the "contrasting" meaning of antithetical rather than the "opposed"
meaning. As a matter of experience we humans begin our sojourn in this
world in a mode that is basically all faith (at least as contrasted with
reason). With maturity, reason grows and moves into the forefront as the
dominant mode of operation, not displacing faith but increasingly the
predominant way day to day living is conducted. With time a separate
identifiable domain of faith takes on definition precisely because it
constrasts with the rational. For most, this is characterized as a
domain of spiritual faith that is the essence of the topic. In that
sense, "Reason is the precondition of faith.", bringing definition to
what faith is. However there is also the less recognized unconscious
and ubiquitous use of mental constructs about life, nature, and people
that are are very real everyday moment-by-moment expressions of faith.
These mental constructs are also at the heart of scientific
understanding. In that sense, faith was really never left behind with
the development of reason, but is interwoven with it, though distinct
from it. So I see faith and reason as complementary and inextricably
interleaved, with each serving to bring greater definition to the other
as one reflects on them and their interactions.
Jim Armstrong
Dick Fischer wrote:
> Hi Burgy, you wrote:
>
>> I had said my books were packed away for the move, but I was mistaken;
>> Tillich's DYNAMICS OF FAITH was still on my night table. Here are a few
>> passages from this book -- a primary source on Tillich:
>>
>> "Reason is the precondition of faith;
>
>
> The first phrase is 180 degrees out. Reason is the antithesis of
> faith. Why quote any further?
>
> Dick Fischer - Genesis Proclaimed Association
> Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
> www.genesisproclaimed.org <http://www.genesisproclaimed.org/>
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