The
connection between reason and faith seem to
yield a contradiction: if one is to prove faith
through reason, then there must be an understanding
of God in the first place. In Corinthians, Paul
tells us that knowledge was given to us by God.
And in our limited source of understanding we
effortlessly aim to prove God’s existence
– in vain. Human’s ability to reason
was given to us by God, human’s knowledge
of God was not through man’s so-called
wisdom, but rather God making Himself known
to us. In the reality of knowing God and possessing
an ability to reason, one might fall victim
to believing that their faith in God is a product
of a conviction nourished through human’s
self-generated wisdom. We can reason because
God gave us the ability. Faith, then, is something
that following generations must employ; a ripple
of God’s word passed to succeeding generations
as an invitation in to God’s domain. Generations
are becoming more and more clever through technology.
With the advancement in communication and a
growing global consciousness that is being fueled
by rhetoric, our faith in God – and believing
that all knowledge is the signature of God –
grows dimmer. Reason and faith are two separate
entities (as man and God are).
To
soar to yonder starry skies
To reason’s power is given,
But faith and prayer can higher rise
And scale the gates of heaven.
This
is a short poem about reason and faith. Fenerty
believes that faith is something independent
of reason, he believes that to have faith in
God one must do what God has asked through the
knowledge granted to us.
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