Does Faith trump Reason?

In reading a scholarly work on the history of philosophy and religion, the author, referring to the phrase, “philosophy is the handmaid of theology,” stated that Philo of Alexandria and the early Church Fathers embraced the following,

…the principle of the subordination of philosophy to Scripture or, as it came to be known, the subordination of reason to faith.  Scripture, in their view, contained certain beliefs which though rationally undemonstrable, are fundamental, and [that] philosophy, whenever it happened to disagree with them, had to yield.

I have several issues with this statement that I think is important for us to clarify because this is not an uncommon secular misunderstanding.  

1)    “the subordination of reason to faith.” 

First, this phrase deviates substantially from the preceding “the subordination of philosophy to Scripture” for they are not equivalent statements.  Philosophy is not subordinated to ‘faith’ but to The Faith (i.e. Sacred Scripture and Tradition). Now faith, in the lower case, comes in two forms; one that is based upon rational demonstrability, such as my faith that Alexa will wake me up at 7:00 a.m. and that my all-important coffee maker will function. It is faith based on reason.  The other is “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen,” which faith “…comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”  It is a personal and individual faith based on acceptance of God’s divine revelation. The similarity between the two is that, as a person of free-will, I may choose to have (or lack) faith in both examples above, but neither choice determines the outcome. Alexa will wake me up and God did reveal himself.  Lower case ‘faith’ is subjective; however, the Faith is objective, and it is the latter that carries the weight of divine authority.  Human faith, demonstrable or not, does not validate the integrity of reason or divinely revealed truth.  What is, simply is.

 2)   "[faith] as rationally undemonstrable,"

Since the author does not discern between personal faith and the Faith, both will be addressed. Are both personal faith and the Faith reasonably demonstrable?  My answer is yes and no. Yes, both were demonstrated, for example, when God spoke to Moses and Moses believed him. And again, both were demonstrated when the Word became Incarnate, dwelt among us and, for example Peter believed Jesus was the Christ. These are examples of faith in action. The answer is no, because neither of these can be rationally demonstrated on demand to suit the narrow constraints of the scientific method.   

3)    "That philosophy, when it happened to disagree with them, had to yield."   

The Faith, or the Deposit of the Faith, in which we speak among ourselves as Christians, is understood to be the core tenants of the Church based on Sacred Scripture and Apostolic Tradition. This is the ‘faith’ that trumps Reason (when there is a conflict between the two), by subordinating philosophical concepts to Catholic dogma, because the Faith has the authority of divine revelation, the litmus test for truth. Philosophy was not willy-nilly subordinated to what the Church Fathers ‘happened’ to disagree with, but was (and is) subordinated to revealed truth when philosophy and revelation conflict.  And, yes, this was something that Philo of Alexandria did understand.

Philo, whom the author mentions, was a Hellenic Jew who wholly admired both Greek philosophy and Judaisim, so much so that he attempted to reconcile the two.  As a biblical exegete of the Septuagint (Old Testament translated into Greek), he understood that the biblical ‘Word’ or Logos, was God communicating directly through spoken word to Abram (Genesis 12) and Moses (Exodus 3). Now many of the Greeks acknowledged a Logos as well, as something of a divine intelligence guiding the universe, but their Logos never actually spoke or revealed itself as God.  Philo failed in his attempt to convince the Greeks, but his attempt is an example of Greek (human) wisdom getting close, yet falling short of God’s revealed wisdom in Sacred Scripture. Likewise, we as Christians understand that according to the Old and New Testaments, the Word became Incarnate and walked and talked among us and his teachings philosophy must yield to as well.

It is good to clarify even amongst ourselves ideas and phrases to ensure we are on the same page.  It is even more critical when dealing with non-Christians. When discussing Christianity, I tend to stay away from “I believe” or “I think” because the personalization of the Faith is potentially degraded to a human opinion. When someone asks me what I believe, my response is, “The Church teaches, or Jesus said, or Scripture says,” because my opinion is not 100% trustworthy.  St. Cyprian bishop of Carthage, brilliant as he was, understood this when he refused to opine on spiritual matters but instead referred to Sacred Scripture.