There are three sources of Truth: rationalism, empiricism, and faith. Throughout much of history, faith dominated, though without proper knowledge, faith can lead to wrong conclusions just as surely as the other two can when exercised without balance.
With the Enlightenment, Reason became the most sought after source of Truth, and with Modernism it became Empiricism (in the form of Science). This was later replaced by feelings and emotion in the Post Modern movement.
Each of the three sources of Truth are co-dependent. You cannot achieve a balance worldview without all three.
Now, each of the Sources also has a version that is corrupted and leads to falsehood. Reason can lead to Reductionism, Empiricism can lead to Scienceism, and Faith can lead to Heresy.
Reductionism is the idea that everything is ultimately purely physical and can be understood through human thought. Scienceism is the idea that the investigative methods of the physical sciences are applicable or justifiable in all fields of inquiry. Heresy is putting faith in something other than the First Cause, which is God.
When we talk about seeking after Truth, we are talking about looking for Evidence. Evidence is that which tells us that a given thing is true. Now Reason is evidenced by is consistency with Logic, Empiricism is evidences by its ability to predict future outcomes. But, what about Faith?
The Scriptures tell us that "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." So, Faith is evidenced by unseen things. To the Modern (or Post-modern) man this sounds like utter nonsense. But, that is where the flaw of Scienceism comes in; the idea that we can observe absolutely everything that there is. But, if there is something that is unseen, then it defies Empiricism, and required an outside source to reveal it to us. To the rationalist or the scientist, this is often difficult to accept; to realize that they are not the highest arbiter of Truth.
It is critical, then, to see that Biblical Faith is not blind. It is the "evidence of things not seen." So, faith is evidenced by revelation from God. This means that Faith is not a human act. Reason is a purely human act (though not a human creation), and Empiricism is partly a human act and partly a materialistic act, but Faith comes from God, and is given as a gift to those who ask.
Faith is the most important of the sources of Truth, since it comes from Truth Himself. Still, to live in this world we need all three. And it is important to know how to use each of these tools, as well as how to observe when they are being misused. Many will present "evidences," but their conclusion is not Truth. For Reason, this may come in the form of a logical fallacy, for Empiricism, this may come in the form of a faulty research study, and for Faith this may come as a heretical revelation. But, "even if myself or an angel from heaven were to preach a different Gospel than the one you received, a curse be one him."
In a world full of Information, full of people making "truth claims," it is critical that we learn to discern fact from fiction. We must exercise our reason, our observation, and our faith, "rightly dividing the Word of Truth."
So, join me in praying this prayer:
“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9)
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