Science versus Religion, Reason versus Faith:
The reasonability of Faith in God.
By: Dominador N. Marcaida Jr.
Reason,
with its handmaiden Science, and Faith with its handmaiden Religion, does not
contradict each other in the matter of explaining about the existence of God,
or of gods, because God, or gods, merely exist in the human mind to explain the
mysterious phenomenon of life in the universe. In reality, there is only nature
(from the Latin word “nascor”,
meaning “birth”, “originate”, “generate” “engender”) that tries to explain the
origin of everything that exists or that has life. Hence, that which humans call God, or gods, is
the very existence of everything in nature, which is the proper subject of both
science and religion.
In
fact, even the biblical God, Yahweh, or Jehovah, comes from the Tetragrammatons’
“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh”, which is from
the Hebrew verb הוהי,
meaning
“to be”, “to exist.”
Philosophy,
as a science of reason, refers to God as a thing that exists in itself (ipsum esse subsistens), one which is of pure
existence, a self-subsisting existence.
The
term “God” is a conventional term used conveniently to refer to the phenomenon
of existence, or life, in the universe.
Religion
is the vehicle used by people for such belief in the existence of existence itself
(i.e., God, or gods). It is also a sociological phenomenon that changes with
the predominant mode of production of society as it goes from one period to the
next period of history.
Faith
is belief in something that comes from human intuition, or from the will or the
heart of man.
Science
is the exercise of reason through some sensory evidence of reality being
presented to the mind for analysis or synthesis. When science becomes capable
of explaining the entire phenomenon about the existence of everything in the
universe, such as its explanation about the origin of life from the first
symmetry-breaking quantum-like fluctuation in the original void that resulted in
the Big-Bang to its explanation about the evolutionary process through natural
selection, then faith, and with it religion, becomes an unnecessary tool to
explain reality. But until the time that science and reason is not able to
present to us a reliable answer to the ultimate question concerning the origin
and operation of the universe, then we have to contend with the explanation
that faith and religion offers us regarding these things.
The
rituals of religion are merely human celebrations of life and the wonders of
survival of daily life in the natural environment.
Hence,
to my opinion, there should be no quarrel between science and religion because
both are merely human attempts to try to comprehend reality as it is
perceptible and appreciable at present, nor between reason and faith because
both are mere exercises of the faculties of the mind and heart of man, nor
between theists and atheists because the thinking and musing of both kinds of
people are necessary and required to arrive at the truths and certainty of the
things and phenomenon of nature, including the wonders of life in the universe
we presently live in.
Therefore,
there should be no exclusion of people, and of no one, even to the point of painful
tolerance, in matters of searching for the truth about life. Let us just embrace
everyone, in good will, to make one’s life on earth peaceful, memorable and
meaningful even in the midst of our disagreements over some arguments for or
against this or that principle and about our individual discoveries and beliefs
concerning the truths of life.
Whatever
people had made out of religion, whether they made a big profitable enterprise
out of it or just a sincere quest for the sacred and the divine, is their own
business. Let us just rely on the good sense of people to discern rightfully,
and to choose properly in which one to trust over the so many varieties of
religions proliferating nowadays in our pluralistic society. Lest we also forget
to just arm ourselves so tightly in self-defense against some religious
fanatics who are out there waging a holy war to promote the concept, or the cause,
of their own God.
THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN FAITH AND RELIGION
Faith
is the motor
That
makes religion run.
Remove
faith
And
religion dies.
Because
faith
Is
the blind obedience given
To
everything that
religious
authorities dictate,
religion
and faith is one,
almost
an inseparable pair.
But
according to Jewish thought,
Their
religion runs essentially
On
three motors, or acts,
Based
on the principle of the Shema:
Prayer,
fasting and almsgiving.
This
Jewish teaching
Was
borrowed by the Christian religion
Where
the Christian evangelists
Also
affirmed the same principle and acts.
This
teaching of the Christian evangelists
Was
supported by Peter Chrysologus
When
he said that: “If you pray, fast;
if
you fast, give alms.”
The
Christian Apostle Paul
Modified
this teaching
Of
the evangelists when he said
That
three things remain:
Faith,
hope and charity.
But
the greatest of these three,
According
to this apostle, is charity.
The
teaching of these two Christians,
That
of Peter Chrysologus and Apostle Paul,
Is
similar because prayer is the outward
expression
of faith; fasting, of hope;
and
almsgiving, of charity.
If
these two Christian teachings were combined,
That
of Peter Chrysologus and Apostle Paul,
The
result will be that almsgiving is the greatest
Of
these three Christian acts.
However,
according to the hierarchy
That
Peter Chrysologus used,
these
three Christian acts
Start
on prayer, or on faith.
.
Hence,
no fasting and no almsgiving will happen
If,
in the first place, there is no prayer,
Which
is the expression of faith.
Eventually,
if there is no faith,
There
is no religion.
Therefore,
ultimately, the motor
that
makes the engine of religion
run
is faith.
It
could be worse if religion is run
With
the motor of almsgiving,
Like
what many religious groups do
That
run on the engine of money.
