The idolatry of reason

The idolatry of reason

Reason is a faculty that tends to be damaged by the effects of sin, like any other faculty. Thomas Aquinas was given a special grace of CHASTITY early in life so that he could reason properly.

I understand why Luther says reason often leads people astray — it does — but it’s because the faculty is corrupted in virtually everyone. Reason isn’t the problem, sin is the problem.

This is why it’s important, or so I argue, that we refrain from prioritizing our own judgments, derived from our corrupted sense of reason, over those of the saints and the historical church. To do otherwise is the sin of pride.

And that’s what Luther ended up doing — he can hate reason all he wants, but if he acted on his own judgments and encouraged others to do the same, that’s precisely the germ of “You have your truth, I have mine.” The zygote of modern relativism.

The church saying “reason is sufficient to deduce natural law” does not mean “most people can use reason to deduce natural law.” If I understand correctly, it means reason can be used to *confirm* natural law and see its reasonableness; ie, natural law is not purely a matter of faith, like the Trinity or the Eucharist. Many times, I’ve had the experience of thinking a Catholic rule was nonsense, but then after following it for a little while, I looked back at it and now it made sense. I used reason to confirm natural law, so that obeying it doesn’t need to be an act of faith forever. I suspect Jesus was referring to this when he said “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” (John 7:17). Doing comes before knowing. 🤯

(I’ve been excited about this for years, long before I was Catholic, but helped confirm Catholicism for me — the idea that rationality is an emotional achievement, requiring the exertion of the will even more than the mind.

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