Fr. JC Maximilian

The idea of Faith being a type of Reason, or more properly a method of Reason, almost seems nonsensical in today’s world. For many people Faith and Reason are viewed as at least distinct, and at worse opposing ways of knowing something. In these few pages, Msgr. Giussani makes a strong demonstration that not only is Faith and Reason not in opposition to each other, but that Faith is the fullest flower of Reason.

First a couple of definitions. “The way to do something” is Giussani’s definition of Method, and he defines Reason as that energy peculiar to human beings by which we know. Faith is just one method of reason. It is an indirect method of knowing something, because it is mediated by a witness. Other methods of reason would include observation (the use of our senses), and the scientific method which is based on analysis and dialectic.

Msgr. Giussani argues that faith is the most important of all the methods of reason because it uses the entire person, my whole “I”. The other methods only use part of me — my intellect, my sight, my hearing, etc. Why does faith use all of my “I”? Because I have to trust the witness. This requires a relationship. I cannot relate to a witness with only my eyes, only my ears, only my intellect. For it to be a real relationship, I bring my entire “I” into it. It takes a love for truth, and such a love engages the entire person.

All of human society and history is based on this method of reason. If we do not trust each other, we would have chaos. We have faith that people will obey the traffic rules. Culture is simply the development of knowledge, which requires me to trust in the discoveries that others have made, and then in the future people with trust in my discoveries and add their own. All of this is based on the method of Faith.

The key in this method of reason which is faith is whether or not we can trust the witness. Trust in the person is vital, but we can trust unreasonably, as well as reasonably. The other morning a woman called me before 8 a.m. She started to tell a tale of woe and how she needed money for “personal items.” She slurred her speech as she talked to me, giving me the impression that she had been drinking. For me to believe all that she told me, for me to put faith in what she said, would be unreasonable. So by what criteria do we evaluate the witness? How do we know if we are trusting the witness reasonably? We know that it is right to trust a witness (1) when that person really knows what she or he is saying, and (2) when that person does not what to deceive us. If we believe that a person knows what they are talking about, and we have no reason to believe that they are trying to deceive us, if we make these judgments about the witness, then it is unreasonable NOT to trust what the witness has to say.

So what does this say about our Christian faith? Is Jesus Christ a trustworthy witness? Are the Apostles and the entire Christian culture for the past 2000 years?