Faith, Reason and Doubt

Essay by tekkie7University, Ph.D.A+, May 2006

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I-STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Introduction.............................................................................4

Purpose of the Study..................................................................6

Endnotes..................................................................................7

PART II - REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Six Impossible Things.................................................................8

Two Kinds of People...................................................................12

The Paradox.............................................................................15

A Fragile Faith..........................................................................17

A Scientist and a Christian?..........................................................21

The Obstacle Course...................................................................22

Some Words on Proof..................................................................32

Two Faces of Doubt....................................................................36

The Bridge...............................................................................39

Skepticism, Proof, and Objectivity.................................................41

A Lesson from Geometry.............................................................42

Science and Truth......................................................................43

The Bounds of Human Knowledge.................................................45

The Best Minds.........................................................................48

The Threefold Journey...............................................................51

Faith of Jesus ..........................................................................55

Fides et Ratio, One or Both?........................................................60

The Real Problem.....................................................................64

Justified Faith..........................................................................75

The Emotional Realm of Authority................................................81

The Counterfeit Argument..........................................................84

Morality & The Quintessential Rhetoric..........................................87

Faith: Choosing God's will over our own ideas..................................94

PART III - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

A Basic Choice........................................................................98

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PART I - STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Introduction

There is a story that a teacher once asked a class for a definition of faith. One of the children answered: "Faith is when you believe something which you know ain't true."

This account is traceable to Mark Twain, though I don't think it was original with him. I will assume it is a product of someone's genius and sense of humor rather than a true story.

The point is that it could be a true story. In our modern society, faith is viewed as a wispy, tenuous thing, vague and shadowy. Many people, believers and unbelievers alike, could sympathize with the schoolboy's definition. Yet this kind of double mindedness is even more unbecoming an adult than it is a child, and even more unbecoming a believer than an unbeliever.

Over the last several years, a growing understanding has slowly dawned on me. I have come to a better conception of what faith actually is-- and, almost as importantly, what it is not.

As I grew in understanding, I also became aware that many...