Faith as The Mode for Knowledge

…but the righteous shall live by faith. –Hab. 2:4

I graduated from Seattle Pacific University just over a year and a half ago with a Bachelors degree in Philosophy. One thing I learned in the Philosophy program was how to develop an argument. I learned how to respond to those with whom I was arguing and how to win, either by pointing out faults in their arguments, or crafting better arguments myself.

This was an invaluable education and I have profited greatly from it, but I learned another lesson from this experience as well. As a Christian, I hold the unpopular view that Christianity is the only true religious system and that hell is real and lasts forever and all humans are going there unless they accept Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives and receive the benefits of His death, burial, and resurrection. As a Calvinist, I hold the unpopular and controversial view that God is in sovereign control of the entire course of history. These two views together account for many of the philosophical arguments I have engaged in over the past few years.

The lesson I have learned over the years is this: no matter how great the argument, no one is going to be convinced that God exists or that He is sovereign over every detail of history. There is simply no argument known to man that will convince anyone of these two truths. Yet the paradox is that they are true and must be known.

So, if two of the greatest truth’s of life are unavailable via argumentation, yet everyone needs to know them, how can anyone learn them?

The answer is faith! “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Cor. 1:20-21).   

The great truth’s of life are only accessible by faith, which is God’s gift to His people. One cannot know or accept His Providence except by faith. I know this on a personal level. I have not always held so strictly to the Reformed view of Providence and, when approached for the first time with the doctrine, violently rejected it. Yet the Lord did work in my own heart to convince me of the truthfulness of the doctrine both by the testimony of the Scriptures and of the Holy Spirit working in my own heart.

Though these truths are only available through the discernment of faith, they are not devoid of logic and reason. Indeed, I do believe that as one is revealed these truths, the reasonableness of them becomes apparent for the first time and they do seem far more reasonable than the other options.

Philosophically, the position described above is referred to as fideism, fide being the Latin word for faith. It is not a blind leap, as many would argue. Rather, in my own experience I see it as a longer process whereby God, in His patience, has borne with my weakness and led me to the truth after a while of questioning. This seem to be the normal mode, though there are many cases where, in an instant, God has revealed the great truth’s of the Gospel to a person in a moment.  This whole process is a wonderful display of God’s condescending to humanity to reveal Himself, the Creator and Sustainer of all.