Is faith reasonable? To answer this we must first look at the definitions of the words. For faith, let’s turn to the Bible, for reason, we’ll turn to the dictionary.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
– Hebrews 11:1-3 (ESV)
Reason – “a sufficient ground of explanation or of logical defense; especially : something (as a principle or law) that supports a conclusion or explains a fact.”
Faith is belief without observation. Reason is belief based on observation. Let’s see how each lines up with different aspects of life.
Legal System
Faith – The judge has a feeling about your guilt, so he goes ahead issues a virdict without examining the evidence.
Reason – A verdict is issued after examining the evidence and assessing whether or not the evidence is overwhelmingly in support of conviction.
Medicine
Faith – The doctor believes that God will heal you, so he offers up a prayer on your behalf. Six hours later your appendix bursts because it was God’s will not to save you.
Reason – The doctor performs enough tests and examinations to support a diagnosis, then she offers to correct the problem and saves your life.
Science
Faith – An ancient text makes claims of how the world came to be, thus that must be how it was. Any evidence which contradicts this must be ignored or somehow explained away.
Reason – Through observation, theories can be developed and tested to explain how things came to be. If later evidence ends up conflicting with the previous theories then the theories will be adjusted to match the logical conclusions of the data.
I could conlcude with some long discourse where I try to delicately answer the question, pulling in different nuances of “reasonable,” instead, I’ll let Benjamin Franklin have the final word:
“The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.”
– Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1758