Philosophy
- The “faith before reason” paradigm holds that faith leads reason to truth. The paradigm argues that faith enriches one’s vision, which, in turn, directs reason to see the truth. Some of the renowned advocates of this narrative include St. Anselm and St. Augustine.
- Some of the objections of the “faith before reason” paradigm include the following. First, this paradigm is solely dependent on faith, which is a subjective dimension. Secondly, reason is often too discredited since the quality of reasoning to establish the truth is not recognized.
- The “reason before faith” paradigm for addressing the relationship between faith before reason is anchored on the Aristotelian epistemology. This doctrine holds that the inductive reasoning approach ultimately results in faith being grounded on reality and evidence. An example of an advocate of this perspective is St. Thomas Aquinas.
- Some of the objections of the “reason before faith” paradigm include the following. First, this approach over relies on reason to the extent that faith is shrugged off as a factor needed to attain salvation. Another objection to this point of view is that reason has limitations.
- The “faith alone” paradigm for addressing the relationship between faith and reason argues that one must have a leap of faith to reach the truth. Since reason has limits, one has to depend on faith solely. An example of an advocate of this perspective is Soren Kierkegaard.
- The mythos worldview entails explaining the world’s functioning based on deities. In contrast, logos involve the use of reasoning or logic to elaborate on the world’s mechanisms. These differing perspectives denote how faith and reason impact the way human beings view reality.
- An objection which those affirming the notion, “God is unbounded by temporal consequence,” will encounter in the long run is that a God outside time might not know what exact time it is at a given moment.
- In this scenario, there is no dilemma if a particular consistent view is adopted.
- This dilemma can be resolved by understanding the following elements. First, God is unbounded by time, and secondly, a proper understanding of predestination can make one conclude that man’s freedom and God’s freedom are intertwined.
- The application of proper understanding regarding God’s time helps one realize that faith before reason and faith before reason are very critical ideologies.