Theology is a term that is used to refer to the study of God. The study attempts to understand better the nature of God as He is explained in the Bible. Faith is the belief in the things that an individual hope for. Reason and faith are accompaniments playing a big role in the study of theology. God gave people reason as a tool that would help them to make conclusions on different information. The reason is a critical part of the study of Christianity and faith. It is impossible to confess the Christian faith without reason. The reason is hence a key aspect of Christianity since God advices human beings to be an agency as derived from the Bible. However, there is no theological study that has managed to entirely explain the real nature of God since God is above man. The mutual relation between faith and reason is explained in churches. Theologians and the church accept that reason is an important aspect when to explaining the Christian doctrines. The church also warns against the risks of reason as a requirement of holding the Christian faith. Rationalism is a state when reason goes beyond the expected limits hence analyzing what it is not supposed to. Hence, the reason in faith is important only when it sticks to the expected limits.
The reason should always be enlightened by faith. When faith is accompanied by some diligence, then it leads to a better understanding of the difficult attributes of God, which are also difficult to understand. God gives humans the grace to understand all these mysteries. For one to come to terms with the mysteries, it is expected that he or she should use an analogy. The use of analogy is the effort to gain knowledge naturally (Migliore n.p). Besides, humans identify the idea behind the mysteries by relating them to other mysteries. It is however unfortunate that reason is not capable of penetrating completely through some of these mysteries. It only explains best through some of the truths that are among its main proper objects.
The truth is that faith that is above reason. However, it does not mean that there will ever be any ideal disagreement between the two elements. The main reason behind this assumption is that the same God who instills faith in human beings is the same one who reveals some of the mysteries that requires deep reason. It is God who gives human beings the capacity to reason when things and circumstances are vague (Vanhoozer n.p). There is no moment when truth can oppose another truth. In the same manner, God can never deny Himself anything nor a chance. These contradictions come about as a result of the fact that most of the major aspects of faith are not explained in accordance with the norms of the church. Besides, people confuse the views without merit for reason.
Faith and reason always are closely related. The two elements always function together in complementing each other. Faith is accompanied by hope for the things that the people cannot actually see and the confidence in meeting the expectations. Reason carries the benefit of developing the foundations of faith. The development of foundations of faith means that it is through reasoning that man was able to establish faith and besides to know what it entails. Reason helps in developing the foundations of faith and thus brought the perceptions of divinities (Collins 45). For instance, faith usually delivers reason from some major mistakes and also helps in protecting reason as well as equip it with more knowledge.
The reason is an important aspect of theology as it helps to develop knowledge which is ideal in theology. People are therefore in a position to understand the nature of God better and what He expects of man. Besides, the common knowledge of man does not alter the human understanding of God. The main benefit of reason in theology is the fact that it gives an individual the critical sense and the ideal arguments which will ensure that a Christian understands the answers to the questions concerning God and His nature (Migliore n.p). With reason, deistic attitudes are not in any way a threat to religion. The attitudes are rather elements that confuse people on the difference between the incoherent and the supernatural as well as the legendary and the traditional.
Reason carries different roles in theology. Among the critical roles include analyzing. Theology aims at analyzing information, determining the value of the information and also identifying the relationship between various sources of information. However, theology does not have the capacity to explain more about the supernatural mysteries (Collins 45). The reason for explaining the mysteries is beyond the capacity of man and hence cannot be well explained. Due to this reason, therefore, the theologians establish the need of having a deeper and better explanation on the mysteries and from this point is where reason fits theology. Reason explains the mysteries of religion, among them the mystery of faith.
Besides the analysis of religion, reason lays a strong foundation theologically and the preambles of faith. Moreover, reason also indicates that every individual has the thirst for spiritual fulfillment and is obligated to accept the word of God. All human beings have the potential of believing in God, in Jesus Christ as well as religion. The church is under the influence of reason on the foundations of theology (Vanhoozer n.p). Faith is under the influence of divine grace and originates from a point in theology. Faith is brought about by theological reasoning.
Reasoning in theology helps in deepening the concepts underlying in theology. Theology is aimed at getting a clear understanding of the general truths of faith. Theology works towards discovering the depths of the truths of faith and also identifying how these truths are related to faith (Torrance n.p). The reason is hereby required in answering the critical questions on theology, truth, and faith. With reasoning, the theologians are able to identify the fitness of the truths. They also explain the importance of these truths towards the existence of human beings and how the truths help in interpreting the world.
Reason plays a big role in defending the faith. Reason takes a keen look at some of the major objections towards faith and identifies the ideas that prove that indeed faith can defend itself. The reason takes a keen look at the objections that are raised towards religion or rather the Christian beliefs (Migliore n.p). Theology acknowledges that most of the critics come from ignorance that is found within the faith itself. Through reason, the theologians work towards correcting some of the misunderstandings especially those that are grounded on strong grounds. The theologians give a concrete explanation of the Christian doctrine as a way of ensuring that the critics understand the definition of faith.
Theological reasoning helps in demonstrating what faith is all about. Reason comes after completing all the other tasks, among them analyzing, laying a strong foundation, deepening and also defending. By demonstrating the aspects of faith, theological reasoning brings together the concepts of faith from a viewpoint of human beings and the perception of what revelation is all about (Collins 46). The two elements ensure that they come up with a revelation that can be easily taught and understood by the people. Theologians believe that the message of the word of God is not meant to remain as a secret but should rather be spoken to the entire world (Vanhoozer n.p). The message is spoken with the aim of transforming the world so that people can live in accordance with the will of God. Theologians hence find it necessary to utilize their reasoning capacity to spread to the world the good values of the Kingdom of God among them compassion, peace, truth, justice and also harmony among the people.
Faith is a mystery that is not easily understood. Hence, reasoning is required in order to interpret this mystery and have a better understanding of it. Reasoning help individuals believe in God and also indicates that people should find it in their minds to accept the word of God. The reason, therefore, acts as the foundation for faith. Without reason, there would possibly be no faith. However, the two elements are complementary to each other since they help to understand what constitutes the component of either faith or reason. For instance, reason helps in laying the foundation for faith and defending it. It also ensures that people clearly understand what faith entails and also ensures that people demonstrate some acts of faith.
Work cited
Collins, Kathleen. "Faith and Reason: Christian Strategies Under Post-Soviet Repression in Central Asia." The Review of Faith & International Affairs 15.1 (2017): 43-55.
Migliore, Daniel L. Faith seeking to understand: An introduction to Christian theology. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2014.
Torrance, Thomas F. The trinitarian faith: The evangelical theology of the ancient Catholic church. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.
Vanhoozer, Kevin, and Martin Warner, eds. Transcending boundaries in philosophy and theology: reason, meaning, and experience. Routledge, 2016.
