As a flaming atheist in the 1960’s, I was disgusted by what I was learning about the Roman Catholic Church. As late as the end of the nineteenth century, the Church insisted that its faithful should not read the Bible. When I pursued its teachings, I was repeatedly warned to not rely on reason. I was taught that Roman Catholics should rely solely on faith supported by Church dogma. Anything beyond that would expose them to error.
Recently, I was surprised to discover that, as early as the First Vatican Council in the
late nineteenth century, the Roman Catholic Catechism endorsed reasoning as a means of learning about our creator. Catechism of The Catholic Church #159 (ucatholic.com). Apparently, what I had been taught was based, not on official Church teaching, but on my sources’ misunderstanding of their Church’s teaching. Apparently, the Roman Catholic Church does not want us to shut off our brains and just follow teachings blindly. It wants us to ask questions because, to do so, strengthens our faith.
So what did St. Paul mean by telling the Corinthians, “We live by faith, not by sight.”? Was he rejecting reasoning? Instead, might he have meant that for him, reason, based on what he could see, could take him only so far on his path towards God. So, upon which can we depend – faith or reason? Might it be both? Might it be that faith goes beyond reasoning, and reasoning enables faith? For skeptics like me, reasoning is essential to the development of faith. For believers, reasoning can strengthen their faith by reassuring them of its validity.
Reasoning can be deductive, inductive or a comparison of arguments for and against a position. The Meaning of Life Video Series shows how easy it is to master reasoning.
However, reasoning has its limits. Positions based on reasoning can be shown to be false
by arguments that refute them, just as those based on scientific discovery can be proven false by subsequent discovery. We can know nothing absolutely. Even reasoning that stands the test of time, can only take us so far. Jesus taught us that “apart from me, you can do nothing”.
The God-given power of reasoning supports our faith that He wants us to accept His
invitation to eternal intimacy with Him and to prepare ourselves by discerning and accomplishing His will. Because we can’t do what God wants on our own, He enables
our accomplishment by offering us revelation. However, to benefit from His revelation we must have enough faith in it to do our best to receive it. Become At One with Creator provides some ways to recognize His revelation and continually benefit from it. It is our faith in His revelation that takes us beyond reasoning. Reasoning is necessary but insufficient.
The roadmap is clear. Enriching what reasoning leads me to conclude with the products of my pursuit of ongoing revelation has been working for me for well over a decade. Could it work for you? Jesus taught that all you need do is knock, ask and search. Gentlemen and Ladies, start your engines!
Del H. Smith conducts research into life’s meaning and is the award-winning author
of the Amazon Best Seller, Discovering Life’s Purpose.
and Reason