Locke
on Reason and Faith.
The issue of the relation between reason and faith was very important in the
seventeenth century ( a period of religious and political strife in
England). Some religious positions are important with respect to Locke:
- Extreme fideism: "Credo quia impossibile."
Here the idea is that the very absurdity of faith is a reason for
religious belief. Faith, in this view is worthy because it goes
against reason: it's a mark of faith to believe against all evidence.
- Moderate fideism: Appeal to the authority and tradition
of the Church to adjudicate religious issues in the light of reason's
inability to do so.
- Enthusiasm: the belief in one's authority in religious
matters because of one's infusion by the Holy Ghost.
- Deism, which accepted natural religion, but rejected of
revelation and the supernatural, i.e. the Mysteries of faith (e.g., virgin
birth , the resurrection from the dead, the idea that Christ is the
Messiah).
Lk
distinguishes between reason and faith:
- Reason is the inferring or demonstrating of certain or
probable truths from the ideas gotten through experience. With
respect to reason, statements can be divided into three categories:
- statements in
accordance with reason, i.e., truths attainable by reason.
- statements contrary
to reason, i.e., inconsistent with what we know to be true, e.g.,
more than one God; trinity (probably)
- statements above
reason, i.e., consistent with what we know to be true, but unattainable by
reason such as the resurrection, the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth
the rebellion of the fallen angels.
- Faith is
believing what is disclosed by revelation and cannot be discovered by
reason. Locke distinguishes between the original revelation by God to some person, and traditional revelation which is the original
revelation transmitted by a human to another
- Traditional revelation cannot
be surer than what we know by our natural capacities.
- The proper realm of
faith is statements above reason. Hence faith goes beyond reason
but cannot contradict it.
- One must have reasons
for believing that alleged revelation is true revelation. Ex.
immoral precepts disqualify, since reason tells us that God is good.
Hence, importance of the rational study of the sources of revelation:
textual exegesis of Scriptures
NOTE: So, Locke accepts that if P is divinely revealed we ought to accept it;
however, he wants proof that P is divinely revealed.
- Reason demands the
rejection of credo quia impossibile and of enthusiasm.
NOTE: Since Locke. accepts revelation, he isn't a deist.
Belief
and toleration: belief doesn't directly depend on our will, although we can
affect it by inquiring on a subject matter or not. (IV, 20, 16) This
provides the basis for his claim in the Letter on Toleration, that
therefore belief cannot be forced, and consequently the State should exercise
religious toleration (atheists and Catholics excluded, however).