“Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can say no more… Faith, without depending on reason for the slightest justification, never contradicts reason and remains ever reasonable. Faith does not destroy reason, but fulfills it.”
I started reading Thomas Merton’s “The Ascent to Truth” and it is, as usual for Merton’s books, well written and insightful. If there is a theme to this book it is that reason does not lead entirely to faith, it will only guide you to the point at which you can no longer rely on it. The trouble of course is knowing when it is time for reason to take a rest.
“The intelligence has no right to be consciously unintelligent.”
“Consciously unintelligent” – does anything describe North American culture better? We know we watch useless, worthless TV for hours every week (yes American Idol watchers, I’m talking to you). We know that there are better things to do with our time. It is probably the greatest sin of our generation: our reason is wasted in the pursuit of pleasure and entertainment.
Faith is often seen not only as a substitute for reason but as its opposite. Don’t bother exploring the reasonableness of your religion; accept that it is reasonable on faith. But one cannot accept as reasonable that which he has spent no time convincing himself is reasonable by means of both his reason and his faith.
“One of the paradoxes of our age is that millions of men who have found it impossible to believe in God have blindly submitted themselves in human faith to every charlatan who has access to a printing press, a movie screen, or a microphone.”
And it has only worsened since you wrote that in the 1950’s, Mr. Merton. He wrote this in 1951 prior to the ubiquity of television and the internet. I think it is accurate to say that we have not become less inclined to submitting ourselves in human faith to those who employ these means of self-proliferation… not to mention any names… <cough>Oprah</cough>
Martin Luther’s self-proliferation is played out again and again whenever someone by technological means proposes to overthrow the current establishment by way of propagating contrary ideas. In a world where technology is king, the man with the microphone is a prophet. And each time a new prophet speaks, a certain number of sympathizers jump on board.
But eventually they too turn on each other and form and reform ad infinitum until they are no more than a loose body of believers that begins to resemble the opposite of what they started as.
And if it becomes large enough, the movement itself becomes the establishment and is therefore fair game for dissent and reform. And round and round we go… The bulk of any dissenting group is often comprised of people who are more in love with the act of dissent than they are in bringing about the opposite of what they are protesting.
Protest is exciting, it is an emotional thrill -and it is easy. Far easier than, say, figuring out a rational plan to disprove those ideas you claim are untrue. Protest imbues the protester with a sense of personal freedom and individual power. But power to do what? Those who stir their emotions and give them hope are generally interested in the same things themselves and it should come as no surprise that they gather followers who will be useful to them in attaining their goals.
Any music, protest, art, or religion that appeals primarily to emotion will gain momentum to be sure, but it can lose it just as quickly if the appeal loses its flavour. And that is why the search is always on for the next effective appeal – by way of offense or giving a sense of belonging to masses that have never belonged makes no matter as long as the dollars end up in the right place.
I would rather converse with someone who believes in things that are erroneous than someone who has few thoughts on any subject at all. “We cannot respect their error,” Merton says “but at least we have to admit that they worked hard to reach it.” And it seems rare for anyone to work hard at reaching either error or truth. Just point me in the direction of someone who believes something, anything, strongly and I will have a great conversation. Not just believes, but has worked hard and reasoned his way into the belief.
Related posts:
- Francis Collins on Faith and Reason Francis Collins (Wikipedia entry): “Faith is not the opposite of reason. Faith rests squarely upon reason, but with the added component of revelation. So such...
- Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) Merton was born on this day in 1915… a couple of my favorite quotes: “Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes...
- Blog Title Change I changed the title from “A Mind Awake” (after a book about C.S. Lewis) to “The Ascent to Truth” (after a book by Thomas Merton). ...
- The will Even if it is by His grace that He allows us to choose Him, we are still able to choose or reject Him. this should...
- Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) Thomas Merton died on this day in 1968. Apart from scripture itself, Merton’s writings, without question, have been the single biggest source of artistic inspiration...
