Ben Myers – Faith Gives Fullness to Reasoning

Over at ABC Religion and Ethics, Australian/Greek philosopher N.N. Trakakis wrote an essay on Why I Am Not Orthodox which quickly becomes Why I am not Religious. He documents his journey from Greek Orthodoxy to Atheism.

In response, Ben Myers has a great rejoinder on Faith Gives Fullness to Reasoning: A Response to Nick Trakakis.

Ben writes:

Clement, who still thought of himself as a Greek philosopher, was not advising his friends to abandon reason. He was inviting them to undergo a change of disposition, to adopt an attitude of basic trust. Once this has happened, they will “sober up” and will start to notice that the world makes a great deal of sense when it is seen through the eyes of faith. Faith can lead to philosophy but cannot be founded on it. Clement offhandedly assures his friends that he actually has “an abundance of persuasive arguments” about Christ, but these are for people who have already begun to “contemplate this clear faith in the virtues” – that is, to experience the way of life initiated by faith.

The best part is how I smile to myself when I see a great Barthian scholar doing theistic apologetics!