Logical Faith
"...Olga, in the tone of someone mechanically repeating a lesson, told her that all this was of no importance, it would all pass away, and God would forgive her."
People often think of rationalism and Christianity as two ends of a spectrum. The former, they argue, is the embodiment of reason and the latter, they say, is a manifestation of faith, or the lack of reason.
But this is a false dichotomy. If anything, Christianity and rationalism are distant cousins—their animosity is fuelled more by their shared features than their dissimilarities. Both ideologies claim to arrive at truth by logical means.
This might surprise you if you’ve come to think of Christianity as the acme of irrational thinking. Isn’t it a Christian value to never question your faith, and blindly believe in church-dogma?1
No, not really. Many Christians do profess something like blind belief, but it’s not part of Catholic doctrine, as far as I know. If Christ is truth and reason is an instrument of truth, then surely, Catholics argue, reason must also lead to Christ.
Take a look at the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Or anything from Ed Feser—whose writing is more digestible to contemporary readers than the Sicilian saint’s theology. Their reasoning is logical, abstract, and stringent—rational beyond a doubt, even coldly so.
Now, you might disagree with Saint Thomas’ premises, or his conclusions. You might even think he commits a fallacy or two. But surely you must concede that his work is an attempt at rationality. It’s like reading a mathematical proof and finding mistakes in it—the proof is only irrational insofar as it failed at rationality. But the author did try.
For simplicity’s sake, by Christians I mostly intend Roman Catholics. All kinds of funny denominations have been popping up since Luther made the jump, and some of my conclusions don’t fit the most outlandish strains. They nevertheless apply to the more classical Protestant lineages (the ones that don’t have drag shows in their churches).