Is "Rational Faith" an Oxymoron?

Posted by on

 

Recently, Apologetics Awareness was kind enough to share my review of Stephen T. Davis' excellent book Rational Faith.   As the tweet above shows, "Rich" responded by claiming that the idea of "rational faith" is an oxymoron.  I encouraged Rich to read the book, but alas, I was told he would not be wasting his cash.  The irony here is that Davis' entire project in the book is to demonstrate the contrary!  But is Rich right?  Is "rational faith" an oxymoron?

At this point, it would seem helpful to define just what an oxymoron is.  For simplicity purposes, an oxymoron is when one combines words that contradict one another.  Examples would include a silent scream, jumbo shrimp or plastic silverware.  You get the idea!  So, Rich is basically claiming that if one claims their faith is rational, they are guilty of a contradiction.  Faith, by definition, (according to Rich) is irrational.  Rich is, of course, not the first the person to suggest this.  The late author Mark Twain famously wrote, "Having faith is believing in something you just know ain't true.”  And famed biologist and religious critic Richard Dawkins writes "Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."  But if the truth be told, these types of claims greatly misrepresent Christianity1 from both a historical and biblical perspective.

As philosopher and theologian Kenneth Samples explains, the historic Christian view of faith is very different from the stereotypical definition represented above:

"Reason is respected, even prized, within the Christian tradition.  A powerful theological-philosophical consensus within the history of the faith has argued that the Christian religion involves knowledge, is compatible with reason, and is even the product of reason.  This agreement has often been expressed in the common statement, 'faith seeking understanding.'  Its most articulate and persuasive spokespersons through the centuries have been distinguished thinkers such as Augustine, Anselm and Thomas Aquinas."2

And what does the Bible have to say about faith?  Samples explains:

"Biblical faith isn't synonymous with wishful thinking.  The root words for faith in both the Old Testament (Hebrew) and the New Testament (Greek) mean 'trust.'  These biblical terms convey a confident reliance on someone or something.  But that trust must be placed in a credible (reasonable and/or reliable) source or object...biblical faith is never blind.  Rather, for both traditional Jews and Christians, the believer must know that the object of their trust is trustworthy.  Faith in the biblical sense is confident trust in a credible source; that source can be God, Christ, the truth, a parent or teacher, etc.  Thus, scripturally speaking, rather than being in opposition to reason, faith's very definition includes a necessary rational component...[i]n Scripture, faith involves knowledge.  For example, saving faith depends on knowing certain historical facts about Jesus's life, death and resurrection.  Christians have faith in Jesus Christ by believing h is the Messiah (God's specially anointed servant), the incarnate Son of God, and the crucified and risen Savior of the world...[t]he Christian faith is directly connected to the rational knowing process.3

Theologian Alister McGrath says it best:

"Belief in God is not irrational, but possesses its own distinct and robust rationality.  It represents a superb way of making sense of things."4

Indeed.  Rational faith is not an oxymoron at all.  A rational faith represents both the historical and biblical understanding of faith.  When one asserts otherwise, they merely demonstrate their failure to understand their intended target.  

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Footnote:
1. As a Christian, that is the type of faith I am interested in correctly understanding and communicating.  I will leave it to adherents to other faiths to defend their views.
2. Dr. Kenneth Samples, Christianity Cross-Examined: Is it Rational, Relevant and Good?, p. 60.  For those interested in learning more about the deep intellectual heritage of the Christian faith, I recommend Dr. Samples book Classic Christian Thinkers.
3. Ibid, p. 60-61.
4. Alister McGrath, "Isn't Science More Rational than Faith?, as quoted by Dr. Kenneth Samples, p. 59.

Related Posts

Are All Christians Dumb?

Jesus and the Golden Rule

Apologetics 315 Podcast 025 – Ken Samples – Is Christianity Good?

Ten Ways Servant-Slavery in Israel Differed from Chattel Slavery

Comments

Post a Comment