Is Faith Rational?
A Hermeneutical-Phenomenological Accounting for Faith
By (author) W. Stoker
Is faith rational? Some respond by providing proofs for God’s existence. Others hold that no reasons for the Christian faith can be given. This book discusses different ways of accounting for faith, i.e. classical apologetics, the transcendental view that faith is part of human nature, and the view that argues for the rationality of faith on the basis of direct perceptions of God that appear to be objective. The author subsequently proposes a rational accounting for the Christian faith in our secularized and religiously pluralistic society. His starting point is the lasting religious experience of believers in everyday life. He also discusses the question of how this accounting for faith can function in a world of both secular worldviews and other religions. Religious experience is not subjective or arbitrary but rational. In these experiences human beings are involved with God. Religious experience can be described phenomenologically as an experience that transcends our capacities. God reveals himself to people primarily in narratives. Narratives have a rational structure and the Gospel narratives provide, in narrative form, arguments for faith. The assent to faith involves the whole person and stamps his life story and conduct. Assent to faith is thus affective, but that does not exclude its being rational. The positive reason for faith lies in experience itself. There are no reasons for faith outside the faith itself, but this does not mean that there are no points of contact in human existence for the Christian faith.
Is faith rational? Some respond by providing proofs for God’s existence. Others hold that no reasons for the Christian faith can be given. This book discusses different ways of accounting for faith, i.e. classical apologetics, the transcendental view that faith is part of human nature, and the view that argues for the rationality of faith on the basis of direct perceptions of God that appear to be objective. The author subsequently proposes a rational accounting for the Christian faith in our secularized and religiously pluralistic society. His starting point is the lasting religious experience of believers in everyday life. He also discusses the question of how this accounting for faith can function in a world of both secular worldviews and other religions. Religious experience is not subjective or arbitrary but rational. In these experiences human beings are involved with God. Religious experience can be described phenomenologically as an experience that transcends our capacities. God reveals himself to people primarily in narratives. Narratives have a rational structure and the Gospel narratives provide, in narrative form, arguments for faith. The assent to faith involves the whole person and stamps his life story and conduct. Assent to faith is thus affective, but that does not exclude its being rational. The positive reason for faith lies in experience itself. There are no reasons for faith outside the faith itself, but this does not mean that there are no points of contact in human existence for the Christian faith.
- By (author) W. Stoker
Other Titles in this Series
The Art of Theology
Hans Urs von Balthasar's Theological Aesthetics and the Foundations of Faith
Volume 25
Levinas and the Greek Heritage followed by One Hundred Years of Neoplatonism in France
A Brief Philosophical History
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The Limits and Possibilities of Postmetaphysical God-Talk
A Conversation between Heidegger, Levinas and Derrida
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On the Meaning of ‘Miracle’ in Christianity
A Philosophical Evaluation of the Current Miracle Debate and a Proposal of a Balanced Hermeneutical Approach
Volume 68
John Henry Newman’s Theology of History
Historical Consciousness, Theological 'Imaginaries', and the Development of Tradition
Volume 60
The Hammer of the Cartesians
Henry More's Philosophy of Spirit and the Origins of Modern Atheism
Volume 53
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