Locke on Faith and Reason
There has been much written about the relationship between “faith and reason” in western philosophy. John Locke’s “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” explains the relationship between faith and reason. Locke makes the following distinction in Book 4, Chapter 17 of the Essay:
- According to Reason
- Above Reason
- Contradictory to Reason
I will now explain those three distinctions from Book 4, chapter 17 which is titled “Reason”:
-
According to Reason would be any type of natural knowledge we receive from sensation and reflection. Example: 2+2=4, white is not black, Aristotle was a man.
-
Above Reason would be any type of proposition which cannot be explained by our usual method of acquiring knowledge. Example: Believing in miracles or communication from God (i.e Revelation). Specific examples would be: Believing that God spoke to Moses, the Red Sea parted, Jesus turned water into wine, God will one day bring the dead back to life.
-
Contradictory to Reason are propositions which are inconsistent with,or irreconcilable to our clear and distinct ideas. Examples of Contradictory to Reason would be propositions like 1=7, 3+3=2, a man is proved to be both guilty and not guilty, Jesus was an historical figure who really existed but he did not exist.
So, Locke did accept the idea that God can communicate with man in some extraordinary way. And that we could accept the testimony of historically recorded miracles and communications from God that is found in the bible without doing violence to “Reason”. But, he makes a very important distinction between “above reason” and “contradictory to reason”. In the chapter titled “Enthusiasm” he says this: