Fr Joseph Pallattil

Epistemology is a branch of philosophy which is dealing with knowledge. It is defined as theory of knowledge. In search of knowledge, ultimately of truth, there is always dispute between faith and reason. Which does bring truth? Faith or reason?  Some say faith is important, others stand for reason. St Augustine, the Christian philosopher, comes to  a conclusion that faith and reason go hand in hand.  They are equally important. Augustine expressed the relationship between faith and reason in a phrase, that is “believe that you may understand.”

Augustine believed that knowledge of God comes before faith in Him, but faith in God brings with it a constant desire for deeper understanding. To phrase it simply, Christians earnestly want to understand what they believe. The meaning of this statement has been debated for centuries. Many people believed that Augustine gave faith a logical priority in the relationship between faith and reason.  Augustine’s view, however, was more complex. He actually saw faith and reason operating in a reciprocal manner in Christian thinking. He believed that faith is required for understanding, but also that reason is essential to understanding. He did so under the governing biblical principle that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). This  statement echoes the words of the writer of Hebrews when he said “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

Faith and reason work in a reciprocal manner. Believing in God, we see new vision of truth. As we reason through these vision, our belief in God is further confirmed. We believe in order to understand because, like Augustine, we know that without affirming the existence of God and His law, we cannot make ultimate sense of the world around us. Let us put God first in all our thinking in order that we may reason well. As St John Paul II rightly pointed out in his encyclical ‘Fides et Ratio,’ “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”