Faith, Reality, and the ‘Diamond Net’ of Reason

Only when reason has been uplifted by faith may it spread its wings and ascend towards reality and truth. To sever the power of reason from the agency of faith is to render the mind idle—it is to condemn the mind to a state of dormancy and impotence. Far from being opposing and mutually exclusive faculties or departments of human experience, reason and faith reinforce each other—they are abstractly distinguishable factors of a single process that gradually unfolds throughout the course of the mind’s conscious development. Indeed, on the mind’s pathway towards reality, reason cannot help but run on the rails of faith—a faith in its own efficacy. Now, the notion that reason and faith are inseparable and interpenetrating forces, rather than hostile foes, demands explanation. Our purpose in this brief essay is to illustrate how these two factors are complementary and mutually reinforcing movements in the life of mind.