Reason vs. Faith, Again

Posted by jns on 3 June 2007

This week Bob Park (What’s New for 1 June 2007) revisits presidential candidate Sam Brownback’s positive response when asked during a debate whether he was one who did not “believe” in evolution:

BELIEFS: BROWNBACK DEFENDS SCIENTIFIC ILLITERACY BY EXAMPLE.
A month ago at the Republican Presidential debate, there was a show of hands of those who don’t believe in evolution. One who raised his hand, Sam Brownback, was moved to explain why in yesterday’s New York Times: “I believe wholeheartedly that there cannot be any contradiction between faith and reason.” Which faith does he have in mind? Different faiths are often at war with each other, but no wars are fought over science. Science relies on Nature as the sole arbiter. There was much more, all in the language of the intelligent design movement, including the substitution of “materialism” for “naturalism.”

The op-ed in question is “What I Think About Evolution” (Sam Brownback, New York Times, 31 May 2007). In it he, apparently, tries to soften his position and find a way to say that he doesn’t not believe in evolution, mostly by trying to deny most of what evolution is and is all about, and then claiming that he doesn’t not believe in that. It’s not a successful tactic.

In matters of conflict between science and theology, there is a famous aphorism of the late John-Paul II: “Truth cannot contradict truth”, which is to say that if there is an apparent conflict between theological truth and scientific truth, it must be apparent only and due to incomplete understanding, because “truth cannot contradict truth”. Not so long ago I wrote an essay on the matter (“Evolution and the Vatican“), in which I ended up tracing the “truth cannot contradict truth” idea back to Pope Leo XIII, and then following forward papal writings and attitudes about evolution. In the context of mature Catholic theology it makes clear sense. Once again, it reminds me of my feeling that a mature theology like that of the Catholic church makes what passes for fundamentalist theology seem juvenile and exceedingly simple-minded by comparison.

Unfortunately, Mr. Brownback misunderstands and perverts the deep significance of “truth cannot contradict truth” — quite knowingly, I suspect — by offering in his op-ed “clarification” this updated fundamentalist version:

The heart of the issue is that we cannot drive a wedge between faith and reason. I believe wholeheartedly that there cannot be any contradiction between the two.

In other words: “faith cannot contradict reason”. Or, I suspect, he’d prefer “reason cannot contradict faith”, because he goes on to say that “Faith seeks to purify reason…”, which does not indicate a comparison of equals. He seems to assert that reason and faith are equally reliable except when there’s a contradiction, then faith wins — of course.

“Faith” is not interchangeable with a concept like “theological truth”. Faith, claimed as a revelation by the faithful, has virtually no connection to theological debate — debate is not necessary — and no connection to the use of reason which, in the context of a mature theology, is a God-given faculty provided to assist in the discovery of “truth”. “Faith” is a personal matter, but hardly the foundation of doctrine or theology.

Is this a naive misinterpretation of the John-Paul II aphorism, or a willful bending to suit Brownback’s own purposes? Either one is deplorable and neither does much to bolster Brownback’s claim that he doesn’t reject evolution, well, not reject entirely. In my opinion Brownback has only dug his hole deeper, but I’m sure his supporters will have faith that it brings him closer to heaven.