“Reason, Unfettered by Faith”

A

Critique

by

R. Alan Woods

Rhema Rising, c2007.

Mr. Krauss, a professor of physics and astronomy at Case Western Reserve University, and a visiting professor at Vanderbuilt University, in his most recent book- “Hiding In The Mirror”- states the following: “I remain convinced that reason must be unfettered by faith if we are to truly educate our children and our students, and if we as a society are to overcome violence committed in the name of religion” as his thesis in the article “Reason, unfettered by faith”.

Krauss wrote this article in response to a statement made by the Pope that emphasized a direct and necessary correlation between faith and reason. His intended audience(s) in this article are college students and their educators- Mr. Krauss’ peers. The topic was of intense interest because of the violent assault upon Western culture’s democratic ideals and Christian beliefs by Islamic radicals. Mr. Krauss is convinced this assault to be based upon an unreasonable interpretation of specific writings in the Koran which have created and promoted a viscious, violent, radical form of Islam. Krauss implies implicitly that religious faith is antithetical to reason because it is based upon a belief in something that cannot be verified by utilizing the scientific method of empiricalization. He implies that ignorance and faith are synonymous. He draws a false conclusion. He fails to define what he means when he uses the terms reason and faith. He also implies that all religion is based upon superstition and ignorance in addition to being inherently violent and evil. In other words, people of the Islamic faith- or any faith-based religious belief for that matter- are not utilizing logic and are not operating from a position of reason. Krauss implies that religious faith is anachronistic and that it hinders the education of our children and deludes them through the unreasonableness of faith as to what is real and true.

Krauss’s argument is appalling in that he is the living proof of his own “illogical” thesis. He has failed to recognize that faith and reason are inseparable. Mr. Krauss has “The Faith” confused with “faithing” (the Greek word for faithing is pistis: a three dimensional action verb) which requires an action(s) that is based upon a reasonable supposition of belief that a predetermined result will eventually occur from that action which will in turn provide the reasonable basis upon which that action(s) was originally predicated. I have said on many an occasion, “A Christian is not nor has he/she ever been required to throw his/her brain out the window when he/she comes to salvation through Christ” (Woods, 1992). On the contrary, Christians are required to be the most reasonable, stable-minded, and sane persons on this good Earth.