"Beyond" reason but not contrary to reason

[CutlerB]

It is often said that there are things and truths by faith that go “beyond but not against” reason. I struggle with understanding what that means. Could someone give an example and/or explanation of what is meant by something being superior but not contradictory to reason?

 

[jonathan_hili]

Hi Cutler,

I guess to use “reason” in this context means that theology (and all that’s involved: doctrine, Scripture, philosophy, etc.) (i) is coherent and doesn’t use ideas or language in a way that contradict themselves, e.g. God has created humans to be both completely free and completely determined; (ii) makes sense or can be understood by the human intellect - it is not nonsense, e.g. God’s triunity means He is three persons in one person (this is nonsense); and (iii) is capable of being discerned by humans, questioned, discussed, developed, critiqued, etc.

Now, it is said that “faith” goes beyond reason. By this, we mean that articles of faith are by their nature incapable of being reached through reason alone (they require revelation) or fully understood with the human intellect. When we consider that the “object” of theology is God and how superior God is to us, it is no surprise that divine truths are things that must be - to a degree - revealed to humanity and accepted on faith (we cannot fully understand God; indeed, some theologians have argued that all we can truly say about God is negation: God is not this or that, but we can’t say anything positive about God). The doctrine of the Trinity is a perfect example of this. Triune divinity was revealed by Christ and certainly not something our reason could have guessed at, and although we have some understanding of it, it is vague and very far from a complete comprehension.

So this is what we can mean by “faith” going beyond reason. But, of course, because these truths are truths of God and God is inherently reasonable (Christ is the logos of God, that is, by one understanding, the logical ordering), they can never contradict reason. Something true in theology, if it seems like a contradiction is either (i) an apparent contradiction (a paradox), (ii) misunderstood theology, or (iii) misapplied reason.

However, having faith, that is, trusting in God is very reasonable and certainly not beyond reason (i.e. not a gigantic leap in the dark).

Hope that helps somewhat.

Jonathan

 

[BethanieRyan]

The first example that pops in my head is that God created the world.

While science and reason has helped us understand how the world was made, neither science nor reason can prove or disprove that God made it. (In my opinion. Some great theologians have contended that a creator God can be found by reason alone e.g. St. Thomas Aquinas)

So God making the world is beyond reason (as in reason alone can’t grasp it) but it is not contrary to reason (reason can’t disprove it either). (again, in my opinion)