What are the roles of faith and reason in discovering truth?

Answer 1

Faith means believing in that which cannot be conclusively demonstrated. We believe in many things which experience tells us are there, even though we've never seen or measured them. Similarly, belief in God can be experienced through prayer, or a good relationship with believers, or through starting to follow religious tenets before one's belief has kicked in. Reason, on the other hand, uses argument, measurement, and proofs. These can be studied in the hope that they will initiate or bolster one's belief, but it is better to have faith as well.

Answer 2

Faith means believing in that which cannot be conclusively demonstrated. We believe in many things which experience tells us are there, even though we've never seen or measured them. Similarly, belief in God can be experienced through prayer, or a good relationship with believers, or through starting to follow religious tenets before one's belief has kicked in. Reason, on the other hand, uses argument, measurement, and proofs. These can be studied in the hope that they will initiate or bolster one's belief, but it is better to have faith as well.

See also the Related Links.

Link: Creation

Link: Can you show that God exists

Link: God's wisdom seen in His creations

Answer 3

Religious faith and reason are different ways of discovering truths that often can not be proven scientifically. They are compatible as long as faith happens to arrive at the same 'truths' as reason would determine, but more often faith and reason would come to entirely different conclusions.Benedict Spinoza acknowledged that reason could give no justification for the authority of the scriptures, which was dependent on the authority of the prophets, but maintained that by inculcating obedience they taught the way to salvation. Thus, the truth of The Bible is a matter of faith, not reason.
Faith may tell some that God exists, while reason may say that there is no God. Each has arrived at its own truth, and some will believe there is a God while others will believe not. Because reason is intuitively superior to faith some, such as Thomas Aquinus and William Paley, have sought to use reason to prove the existence of God, but such reasoning has so far failed to establish truths because of flaws in the reasoning.

Christian faith may say that the sun, moon and stars were created on the fourth day, when the earth already existed and plants were growing in the ground (Genesis 1:14-19, 12), but reason says this can not be. Once again, faith and reason are in opposition.