Faith Alone

Faith and Reason are two things of the same type. They are of the same type in that both Faith and Reason tend to lack value in and of themselves, and instead are valuable in relation to those objects which they are focused upon. For example, Reason is not valuable in and of itself, it is only valuable in that we use it to examine other things. If there is nothing to think about, then thinking serves no purpose, and it cannot possibly work. Thought, by nature, requires a subject. Thinking requires subjects, it is the very act of linking them in the mind, a theme Chesterton touches on in Orthodoxy. Likewise, Faith too is an instrument that does not, and perhaps cannot, stand alone. For Faith, if we take my standard definition, is belief, trust and acceptance of something which we then act upon. Without the thing to be believed, trusted and accepted, what is faith? Action based on nothing? Does it even exist? Can it possibly have any value?

I have been challenged multiple times recently with regard to a singular question, related to the above. "What is the value of Faith?" And we are not speaking of religious faith, or faith in Christ, or even faith in reality, but the value of faith, separated from all possible things in which one might PLACE their faith. It was this question, asked repeatedly, that led me to begin this essay. It is somehow thought by atheists that if we examine this thing called "faith" in a vacuum seperate from everything that gives it meaning, that we will see straight away how worthless it is, and therefore, that we need it not. Indeed, I was even challenged on this by a Catholic I know, who I fear has listened to far too much modern criticism of faith, and to too little G.K. Chesterton. I say this because, as always, Chesterton makes an interesting point that I think we must relate to the present question. What is the value of Faith, separated from the object of faith? It is precisely the same as the value of Reason separated from all manner of things that one could think about.

Mr. Chesterton makes the following point in "Orthodoxy," ironically while dealing with evolution, yet another common point of argument between the Christian and Atheist worlds (though God only knows why...);

"But if [evolution] means anything more, it means that there is no such thing as an ape to change and no such thing as a man for him to change into. It means that there us no such thing as a thing. At best, there is only one thing, and that is a flux of everything and anything. This is an attack not upon faith, but upon the mind; you cannot think if there are no things to think about. You cannot think if you are not seperate from the object of thought."

Of the same type and kind is faith, for you cannot have faith if there is nothing to have faith in, you cannot believe, when cut off from all that is believable. The atheist asks me to give him the value of faith, seperate and isolated, alone and desolate. And I cannot answer, for faith is not faith without that which we place our faith in. And even worse, the atheist has brought us to questioning the "value" of something seperate from that which it is related and dependent upon, which destroys not faith, or not JUST faith, but reason and logic and all manner of thought.

So our first recourse, in defense of both Faith and Reason, these two peculiar means of judgment for Man, is to note that it is simply absurd to attempt to weigh them independent of the objects in which we we might invest them. It is silly to look at Faith or Reason in a vacuum. Yet if the atheist insists that it be done, what can we do to defend these now toppling towers?

I must admit that I wrote the first half of this essay some time ago, and I have now returned to it to answer that which was before unanswerable. I would like to argue that it is perhaps possible to defend both by noting that they have a certain value in terms of their potentiality. Even separated from the objects necessary for the mechanics to function, Faith and Reason are valuable. The sheer ability to exercise either one is an important and valuable ability to have, precisely because without them we simply could not go on living. The ability to act upon something we believe, instead of being paralyzed by a lack of knowledge, regardless of what that belief might be, and taken in as much of a vacuum as we can, must be a valuable skill, for it is the only possible skill that defeats the trap of solipsist thought. While the solipsist may not know whether anyone or anything else exists, he can still choose to act based on the belief that is informed by his senses. It is that ability to act that is valuable. Likewise, with Reason, it is, as an ability, an important tool. But unlike Faith, it is not indispensable in quite the same way. Reason truly cannot be assessed separate of objects, for while faith has a certain potentiality to it, a certain ability to act that gives it value, reason is an intellectual exercise, not an exercise of the will. Without objects to use, Reason simply is not. Which means that we may conclude, at least, that an attack upon the value of Faith certainly will not threaten it, but will always threaten Reason. So by what means may we find value in Reason, then?

If we accept that Faith has a certain intrinsic value as the ability to act on a belief, regardless of what that belief is, then it is possible to resuscitate Reason by highlighting its potential relationship with Faith. For we must remember that Faith itself has no means by which to judge the object one places faith in. The very act of locating something to have faith in requires an exercise of reason, though not necessarily a strong exercise of it. Likewise, a reasonable search for a truthful belief to live one's life in support of will require the use of Reason to find that Truth. It is simply unavoidable for the responsible, intelligent person who wants to have faith, he must use reason to first locate his object. Thus we may note that the value of reason in a vacuum doesn't lie in itself, but in its relationship to faith, in that of its supporting role and searchlight function. Reason is what informs, guides, and directs our faith, or at least it is what most of us try to use to those ends. Reason and Faith then, not only are two things of the same type, but are intrinsically and intimately related. They cannot, in fact, be separated, as so many atheists attempt in their challenges to Christians. Moreover, we can now rest assured that any attempt to isolate one from the other, or from all objects in which they might be invested, will simply lead us back to the conclusion that they are not only valuable, but indispensable and inextricable.