FAITH AND REASON IN THE ATTAINMENT OF TRUTH - A STUDY OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Human life is marked by many difficulties, and people have always searched for the truth that lies behind them. In that search, faith and reason have traditionally been treated as two sources that justify religious belief. Because both appear to serve the same epistemic function, philosophers and theologians have long asked how the two are related. They have also asked how a rational person should treat claims that come from each.¹

Thinkers have answered in several ways. Some hold that faith and reason cannot conflict. On this view, reason properly used and faith properly understood never produce competing claims. Others maintain that the two can, or even must, come into genuine conflict over certain propositions or methods. Those who accept a conflict disagree about which should prevail. Kierkegaard gives priority to faith, even to the point where faith becomes positively irrational. Locke stresses the reasonableness of faith so strongly that a doctrine which contradicts itself or known facts is, for him, shown to be unsound.² A third group assigns each its own domain. In this arrangement, an apparent conflict is settled in favour of faith when the claim is religious or theological. It is settled in favour of reason when the claim is empirical or logical.³ More recently, the logical positivists denied that any area of thought or experience is properly governed by faith. They held that every meaningful statement is open to rational examination. This position challenges religious thinkers to explain how non-rational language can carry meaningful cognitive content.³

The modern period has added further pressure. Plantinga argues that the supposed conflict between science and religion is largely superficial and that the deeper conflict lies between science and naturalism.⁴ Crosby shows that faith and reason play real roles in both religious and secular life, which suggests that neither can be dismissed.⁵ Kebu observes that modern society tends to prioritise reason at the expense of faith, and that this produces scepticism, relativism and a loss of meaning. He concludes that Augustine's thought remains relevant as a bridge between the two.⁶

It is against this background that the philosophy of Saint Augustine of Hippo offers a promising resource for this controversy. John Paul II describes faith and reason as two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.⁷ Augustine himself calls them the two forces that lead us to knowledge.⁸ His formula crede ut intelligas (believe in order to understand) is balanced by intellige ut credas (understand in order to believe), and the two belong together.⁸ Terka shows that Augustine treats authority as the support of faith and understanding as its crown.⁹ Ayres and his co-editors report that Augustine does not treat authority and reason as two rival paths, but as distinct elements of one integrated path of ascent to wisdom.¹⁰ Özkaya Demirhan argues that Augustine finds truth possible only when reason and belief work together. In her account, the will is damaged by original sin and hinders the mind. Faith purifies the will so that reason can grasp divine mysteries.¹¹ Saygı adds that, in the Christian tradition represented by Augustine and Aquinas, faith is morally praiseworthy because it springs from free will and not from compelling evidence.¹²

On this reading, there is no incompatibility between faith and reason, but an ultimate harmony. Faith does not oppose reason. It calls for the full development of reason. Reason in turn needs faith to strengthen and guide it.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The central philosophical problem is how the authority of faith and the authority of reason relate to each other when a religious belief is justified or shown to be true. This raises several concrete questions. How should Christians handle apparent conflicts between faith and reason, or between the teaching of the Bible and the teaching of science? In particular, how should they handle apparent conflicts between what the Bible seems to say about the origin and development of life and what contemporary science says about it? If reason and faith, which rests on authority, come into disagreement, how are their respective claims to be settled?

This work maintains throughout that faith and reason are complementary, and that neither should be sacrificed for the other.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to explain the nature and roles of faith and reason in human life. It examines how they influence one another and how each needs the other in the attainment of truth. The study also aims to make the subject accessible to ordinary readers. It is hoped that Christians will come to take delight in understanding and contemplating what they believe. They should then be ready to give a satisfactory account of the hope that is in them, as 1 Peter 3:15 urges.

1.4 Method of the Study

The study uses the phenomenological method, through critical exposition and textual analysis of relevant materials. The primary sources are the works of Saint Augustine. The secondary sources include scholarly books, journal articles, commentaries, encyclopaedias and other library resources.

1.5 Scope of the Study

The study centres on the philosophy of Saint Augustine of Hippo. It focuses on the interdependence of faith and reason in the attainment of truth and on how the two should be handled in human life.

1.6 Significance of the Study

Why should anyone care about this question? What can a Christian or a non-Christian gain from it? The work is written for general readers who want to explore questions such as the following. Is Christian belief rational? What is the best way to help others see the reasonableness of Christian faith? Can faith and reason still be thought incompatible? Can a person of faith also be a person of reason? Does reason lead the believer into unbelief? Can faith still be regarded as an arbitrary influence on the intellect?

The study can serve as a useful resource for those who attack belief in God on the basis of reason alone. It can also help inquirers who are weighing rationalism against revelation. It seeks to correct misconceptions among lay people, scientists, psychologists, religious extremists and Christian believers. It underlines that faith should be grounded in reason and that reason should in turn be open to faith. Faith provides the foundation on which reasoning rests, and reason is a necessary condition for a well-grounded faith. In an age that often prizes reason over faith, this Augustinian synthesis speaks directly to contemporary doubts.⁶

Endnotes

1. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Faith and Reason."
2. Søren Kierkegaard, Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992); John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. Peter H. Nidditch (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), bk. 4, chs. 17–19.
3. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Faith and Reason."
4. Alvin Plantinga, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
5. Donald A. Crosby, Faith and Reason: Their Roles in Religious and Secular Life (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011).
6. Fransiskus Jonpaul Jorgin Kewa Kebu, "Credo ut Intelligam: Relevansi Pemikiran Agustinus bagi Krisis Iman di Era Modern," JURRISH https://prin.or.id/index.php/JURRISH/article/view/9001.
7. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio (Encyclical Letter, 1998), Introduction.
8. Augustine, Contra Academicos 3.20.43; Sermo 43.9.
9. Mariusz Terka, "Intellige ut credas i crede ut intelligas? Kilka uwag o rozumności wiary w nauczaniu św. Augustyna" [journal and year to be confirmed], https://theo-logos.pl/items/f3ccf3b2-db6c-425b-9429-e65409d239ab.
10. Chapter 24, "The Duplex Via: Authority and Reason at Cassiciacum," in The Intellectual World of Late Antique Christianity: Reshaping Classical Traditions, ed. Lewis Ayres, Michael W. Champion and Matthew R. Crawford (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023)
11. Özden Özkaya Demirhan, "The Relationship between Faith, Reason, and Will in Augustine," Entelekya Logico-Metaphysical Review
12. Muhammet Saygı, "The Predominant Christian Interpretation of Religious Faith in the Middle Ages: Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas," Darülfünun İlahiyat 34 (2023)