Jan. 28 Daily Question

According to Wilken (and Augustine from whom Wilken draws his thought), why is faith unavoidable? Why is it beneficial? Cite some passages.

Among the many points that Wilken makes, one in particular is that there is an inevitable component of faith that lies in how we live and execute our daily lives, and therefore is something that is better embraced than ignored. In the sense that faith is unavoidable, Wilken emphasizes the role that faith has in knowledge and obtaining it. Whereas it is thought that faith is something which detracts from one’s concept of ‘knowing,’ it is emphasized that it is important to consider that many things we think we know are actually things we believe. In truth, it is that faith maintains the structure of our lives and of understanding, and it is “reason [that] begins with faith” (Wilken). A lot of history and what we hold to be factual is really something that cannot be verified (according to many forms of scrutiny against scripture) unless guaranteed by an authority on the subject, but when it comes to many of the things we hold to be true, that ability to confirm validity exists equally as much as it does for matters of religion. It cannot be said, therefore, that possessing faith in the context of religion substitutes reason and facts, because there exists the same uncertainty with secular knowledge that is best supplemented faith and belief. On a level much more important than knowledge and learning, regarding life, “the sacred bond of the human race” would be shattered” without the presence of faith (Wilken). Not everything can be held with absolute certainty, and sometimes that is acceptable. In a different sense, seeing how faith is something unavoidable and present in our lives, having faith (as opposed to not having any) is something that can contribute greatly to one’s life. In a spiritual sense, “faith is the portal that leads to the knowledge of God,” but in a sense that applies to knowing and living, “faith… has to do with the knowledge that draws one deeper into what is known” (Wilken). It enables humanity to transcend and reach higher levels of knowing and being, because there is only so much that we know to be absolutely true, but so much more that we have reason to believe in.