Daily Question Jan 28

According to Wilken (and Augustine from whom Wilken draws his thought), why is faith unavoidable? Why is it beneficial? Cite some passages.

Wilken first defends early Christian thinkers in their rationality, claiming that they were no less thoughtful and reasonable than pagan philosophers at the time, and were open to debate and appealed to evidence and reason. He then cites Augustine’s assertion that thinking and believing are intertwined: “No one believes anything unless one first thought it believable… Everything that is believed is believed after being preceded by thought… Not everyone who thinks believes, since many think in order not to believe; but everyone who believes thinks, thinks in believing, and believes in thinking.”

Wilken claims that Christianity introduced the notion that “faith is the portal that leads to the knowledge of God.” But faith isn’t just limited to knowledge about religious or divine matters. Augustine made the comparison to historical knowledge, such as that Cicero killed those who conspired against him, saying that such a historical statement should be “I believe” type of statement rather than an “I know” one, since after all, the truthfulness of historical events cannot be ascertained or verified through scientific experimentation. Knowledge of history, then, requires faith to a certain degree. As Wilken puts it, “faith is a constituent part of historical knowledge.”

Augustine also notes that since historical knowledge requires witnesses, this already necessitates faith in the witness and those who pass the knowledge along, leading to an inevitable belief in authority. For example, Augustine shows that “a child cannot know with absolute certainty who his father is unless he believes what his mother (authority) tells him.” Knowledge, then, cannot be reached by pure reason alone. Some sort of belief in what other people tell you is necessary. This could be defined as faith. Wilken succinctly solidifies this perspective with the statement, “Christian thinking is inescapably bound to the witness of others.” Thus, faith is unavoidable.

The benefit to faith, then, is clear — faith is the only thing that can actually lead us to God. As Wilken puts it, “there can be no knowledge of God without faith, for faith is the distinctive way we know God.” The benefit, then, is the knowledge of God that is gained through faith. Beyond just the knowledge, faith enters us into a relationship and intimacy with God: “it is only in loving surrender that we are able to enter the mystery of God.”