In response to the notion that one should toss out reasoning and adopt a more “sola fide” approach to spirituality, I would also like to point to the Tradition of the Church in regards to these matters. Please understand that I am not advocating that one should rely soley on reason. I am a Roman Catholic, and as such I believe (with the Tradition of the Church) that both Faith and Reason work together. Faith should inform our reason and guide it (see the document Fides et Ratio), but consider if what you are saying is true- that reason has little or nothing to do with discernment or christian spirituality. if thhis is the case, then what is wisdom? if one never examines the ways of God, then how can they be known. if you did not use your reasoning faculties to write a response to this person’s question, then how did you do it at all?
What I am advocating is careful discernment. The saints did the same, and there are plenty of examples in scripture. true, God’s ways are not the ways of this world, but He does work with His people in such a way that they may come to know his through thier reason as well as thier experiances and faith. don’t forget that when God tells Joseph to go to Egypt, Ha also tells him why. the same is true of Abraham and any other saint you may choose. The saints act on Faith, but they do not act blindly- they act with loving trust and hope. When Francis of Assisi couldn’t decide whetther to live in solitude or to continue preaching even he sought the advice and discenment of others- isn’t that what this forum is all about?
the head does not lead- the head understands the direction of the Spirit (Sometimes) and directs the virtues. the learned men did not throw away thier books, infact, many of them wrote new books. they followed the call of Christ through prayerful discernment, and through thier reflection they came to greater understandings of God. If we do not follow in thier footsteps, then we are well-meaning fools. We need the instruction of our Church and our brothers and sisters in faith.
No, please do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. we need both faith and reason in our spirituality. If we follow only when we feel like it, then we don’t follow at all. What happens when there are no more “feelings” of the direction which God is leading? This is a very common experiance of the saints, and thier answer has always been to follow the Magesterium, obeying thier spiritual directors, and sound reasoning. Otherwise you commit the fault of “loving the gift more than the giver”- the feeling of love more than the beloved. when a desert comes to a person like that, they quickly retreat to where they were and abandon the development of virtue