Essay on Faith & Reason

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Analytical Reading & Writing –Question 5: How do faith and reason contribute to an understanding and appreciation of life and the universe?
For many people around the world, faith and reason both contribute to a broader understanding and appreciation of life and the universe. Before going deeper into the question, ‘faith’ and ‘reason’ needs to be defined so that there is a better understanding of what they mean. ‘Faith’ is when an individual has a strong belief in someone with higher power, be it Jesus or the Buddha, while ‘reason’ is the necessity of logical and critical evidence before choosing to believe in someone with high power. Both Faith and reason do contribute equally to a broader understanding and appreciation of life and the universe as faith gives people a way of appreciating life and reason gives people knowledge on how to appreciate life and the universe. The main arguments that will be featured are how faith and reason contributes to a wider understanding and appreciation of life and the universe.
“A religion is generally regarded as a set of beliefs and practices, usually involving acknowledgment of a divine or higher power, by which the people order the conduct of their lives both practically and in a moral sense” (Healey, J. 2009, pp.1). Armstrong (2009) is pointing out that science cannot explain everything and that there are no scientific equations with which you can use to find responses to life’s moral questions. These responses come from the wisdom of others which was passed down from generations to generations. Science will only give you facts and reasons, the Bible will give you wisdom and an understanding of faith. According to Armstrong (2009), “God” is a powerful superiority to the influential Muslims, Christians and Jewish thinkers. Although God’s existence cannot be proved to us, God can be felt by spiritual practices with a compassionate life that will encourage our hearts and minds to see new capabilities. DeVos (2002, pp.19) says that faith is something you declare and live with as faith is active. In the worst circumstances, whether it is your personal life or business, faith gives you something to get a grip of and hang on to. Thus, faith does contribute to a broader understanding and appreciation of life and the universe as faith gives us many perspectives, the unity of families and communities and it inspires the hearts and minds of many to see new capabilities beyond their imagination.
It is no surprise why ‘faith’ has been a long mystery for science as by meaning, faith demands belief that is deprived of supporting proof and it is also a theory that cannot be more opposed to the ideologies of scientific examination (Healy 2009, pp.14). “Science studies the physical world and seeks to ‘make sense of’ it” (Woolnough 2010, pp.88). As extensive as history has been documented, humans have been creating theories to clarify how it works and they have also been examining their world. “The world excites our curiosity and both science and mathematics provides us with tools to satisfy our puzzlement, but it also generates wonder” (Berry 2012, pp.21). As time went on, new scientific equipment was created and it played an important role in the changing study of the world. According to Birkett (1997, pp.11), she talks about the two scientific equipment that were invented and they were the telescope and microscope and it allowed scientists to extend their human minds, thus what was previously too minor or too distant away to be seen by the naked eye can now be observed. Thus, reason does contribute to a boarder understanding and appreciation of life and the universe as science demands the proof that is strained from the physical world to create universal ideologies that can be articulated in scientific laws. The proof and ideologies that are found and created contributes to
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