Faith Without Reason
This morning at my church some of our children sang and some read lines. The performance was…well, it was a performance. Part of the dialogue stuck out to me, though.
Child 1: How could the creator of the world love me that much? I just can’t wrap my head around it.
Child 2: Thankfully, you don’t have to. You just have to wrap your heart around it.
This says to me that faith isn’t rational, that reason should not be considered when it comes to matters of faith.Should we not, though, be required to give some reason for our belief? I’m know that many will say that if you can give reasons for it, then it isn’t faith. To those, I would offer that maybe our definition of faith should be reconsidered.
W. K. Clifford says that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” (W. K. Clifford, “The Ethics of Belief”)
It occurs to me that this time of year is an exceptional time to ask this question as many people across our country are either gearing up to celebrate their special holiday (be it Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa) or are already thick in celebration. What we celebrate largely depends on what we believe, but where do our beliefs come from? Have we just accepted what others have told us to believe? Have we examined our reasons for believing? Should we even worry with reasons?
What do you think?
