KIERKEGAARD : FAITH IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH LOGIC

The term blind faith seems to have a negative connotation. In the recent events of

terrorism around the world, people associate such term with religious extremism, which means

taking the word of a religions holy book literally, going the extra mile executing its teachings

word for word and not recognizing the constant evolution of society by adhering to archaic

practices. This is not the first time in history that this problem of blind faith is recognized. The

theologian philosopher Thomas Aquinas attempts to counter this kind of culture by presenting his

five proofs for Gods existence. For him faith in the Lord should not be a form of blind faith but

rather a belief in God that is accompanied by the exercise of a human beings God-give logical

capacity. This kind of approach to faith seems to be much needed to finally put a stop to an

extremist approach in faith.

However, the existentialist Soren Kierkegaard has a totally different approach in

understanding a human beings ability to believe. Unlike medieval philosophers, he posits that

logical reasoning is not needed in faith; in fact logic is incompatible with faith. The reality of

God is not achieved through a step-by-step set of logically sound arguments but rather faith is

characterized by taking a plunge into uncertainty. Soren Kierkegaard is thus most identified with

the concept of leap of faith. The paradox of the Christian incarnation is presented as an offense to

reason, which can only be overcome by a leap of faith 1. This means that once the believer starts

to seek for logical explanations for his God, his faith is already converted into a perverted form

of faith: a faith that requires reasons to fill in the believers doubt. For example, you are holding

an apple right now. You can see the color of the apple, you taste the sweetness of the apple and

you can smell the fragrance of the apple. There is no tension nor doubt that is created within the

1 http://www.iep.utm.edu/kierkega/
person as to an empirical object such as the apple. It is there and his five sense tell him that the

apple exist. But the person cannot say that he has faith in the apple. For it is through logic and

not through faith that he arrives with the conclusion that the apple exists.

But the nature of God is precisely the opposite as that of the apple or any object in this

world subject to empirical investigation. God does not reveal himself through the senses of the

believer. Why would a Christian or a Muslim believe that God exists when in fact there is

nothing that is revealed before him? This is the precise character of faith. For true faith requires

no reason, requires no explanation and does not seek assurance. It is precisely the absence of

logic that allows faith to be retained in its purest form. To illustrate this point further, let us go to

a more mundane example: suppose your spouse is out partying, how do you assure yourself that

your spouse will not cheat on you out of a drunken impulse? It you do not have faith in your

spouse, you start to establish different evidences that will assure you that no cheating is

happening: you try to call other people in the party, you drive by the place to see whats going

on, you employ a friend to spy on your spouse for you. Are those things that a person who has

full trust and confidence to another would do? Of course not. On the other hand, a spouse that

has genuine faith to his or her better half would not seek evidence: he or she trusts the other

enough to know that he will remain faithful to him or her. This is the precise characteristic of

faith, whether it be faith in God or faith in another person, it defies all logical explanation. You

believe just because you believe.

Going back to the problem stated in the beginning: how does one counter this culture of

religious extremism, this so called blind faith? For starters, this use of the term blind faith as

something that is negative must be done away with because the very essence of faith is that it is

blind. A faith that seeks for reason is not faith at all. I cannot propose a solution as to this
problem of believers using their religion to justify crimes committed against humanity, but one

thing is sure: no amount of logical discussion can change the mind of a believer. For if a person

has truly taken the so-called leap of faith, not even the most logical and scientifically sound

arguments can convince him that his belief is flawed. In this age where the global community

moves toward the direction of what is logical and away from what is magical, one truth remains

the same, as it has been the case since medieval times: faith is a powerful and primal force within

the human being and its impact on humanity cannot be denied.